Ivan Kotliarevsky
Meet the prominent writer known as the "father of modern Ukrainian literature" who portrayed the lives of common people, leaving a lasting impact on the whole Ukrainian culture
Ivan Kotlyarevsky by Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine. ©2001 All Rights Reserved. Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies.CFC Big Ideas in association with the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy
Ivan Kotliarevsky made an immense contribution to Ukrainian culture which had a big role in the country's history. Thanks to his poem Eneida, he is regarded as the founder of the modern Ukrainian language. Taras Shevchenko, Ukraine's greatest poet, called Kotliarevsky his father.
Although Eneida takes its name from Virgil's piece (Aeneid), Kotliarevsky transformed its Roman heroes into cossacks and put them into the local context. It is an invigorating concentration of the Ukrainian style: its character, everyday life, and customs. This inspired Ukrainian people who started seeing their own characters in literature to believe in themselves.
Ivan Kotlyarevsky by National Technical University of Ukraine “Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute”CFC Big Ideas in association with the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy
The feature making Eneida so special is the fact that it's written in the modern Ukrainian language. Under the policy of the Russian Empire, it was regarded as a language of the lower class and discouraged from use. Kotliarevsky revived it, inspiring Ukraine's cultural growth.
Ivan Kotliarevsky was known to be a simple and kind man of humane character. He spent most of his life in his native town, Poltava, and significantly contributed to its development. For instance, during the war with Napoleon, he formed a Cossack regiment. He also established a theatre, as Kotliarevsky was a playwright too.
Lesya Ukrainka by A group of Ukrainian writers during the unveiling of Ivan Kotliarevsky monument in Poltava (1903). Sitting (left to right): M. Kotsiubynsky, V. Stefanyk, L. Ukrainka, H. Khotkevych, V. Samiilenko. Standing: O. Pchilka, M. Starytsky. Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine. ©2001 All Rights Reserved. Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies.CFC Big Ideas in association with the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy
Ivan Kotliarevsky greatly inspired the next generations of Ukrainian cultural and public figures. Here are some of the greatest Ukrainian writers pictured at the 1903 opening of his monument in Poltava: Mykhailo Kotsiubynsky, Vasyl Stefanyk, Lesya Ukrainka, and others.
The year of Eneida's publication, 1798, was an important milestone in the Ukrainian modern culture timeline. The figure of Ivan Kotliarevsky himself became a symbolic one embodying the essence of the Ukrainian cultural renaissance. As portrayed in the picture, he was attributed a defining role by the most prominent representatives of the Ukrainian intelligentsia.
Some of the writer's works were transformed into other masterpieces by various artists. Mykola Lysenko, the founder of Ukrainian classical music, wrote an opera based on Ivan Kotliarevsky's play, Natalka Poltavka, that is still performed on the stages of Ukrainian opera theaters.
Based on text by Vasyl Skakun
Original text from the album of the Prominent Ukrainians project, published jointly by Pictoric Illustrators Club, Pavlo Gudimov Ya Gallery Art Center, Artbook Publishing House and Ukraine Crisis Media Center.
Photo:
©2001 All Rights Reserved. Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies.
