10 Ukrainian Literary Icons

Discover more about the authors who have played a pivotal role in spreading Ukrainian literature to a global audience

By Google Arts & Culture

Titus van Rijn, the Artist’s Son, Reading (1656/1657) by Rembrandt Harmenszoon van RijnKunsthistorisches Museum Wien

The impact of Ukrainian writers extends far beyond Ukraine's borders, as their books are embraced by readers worldwide.

Ivan Franko by Oristarchus BANDRUK for Fotografii Starogo Lvova (Old Lviv Photos) Source: http://www.galychyna.if.ua/CFC Big Ideas in association with the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy

1. Ivan Franko

Meet Ivan Franko, who was preaching and fighting for the principles and values described in his poems. He stated the need for Ukrainian people to stand up for themselves and their culture, to fight for freedom despite poverty, hardship, and political uncertainty.

Lesya Ukrainka (1978)National Center of Folk Culture "Ivan Honchar Museum"

2. Lesya Ukrainka

Meet Lesya Ukrainka, who reconceived the present through the prism of the world history and mythology. The permanent message of her works was to induce people to wake up from the dream, to throw off the yoke and be free.

Ahatanhel Krymsky by Agathangel of Crimea. Photo from open sourcesCFC Big Ideas in association with the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy

3. Ahatanhel Krymsky

Explore the creation of an entire school of Orientalism in Ukraine with Ahatanhel Krymsky, the publisher of Ukrainian Grammar works, Notes from the History of the Ukrainian Language, and The Dialect of Ancient Kyiv.

Vasyl Stus by Online edition of Espresso WestCFC Big Ideas in association with the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy

4. Vasyl Stus

Poetry by Vasyl Stus is as worthy of recognition as his biography. He is rightfully regarded as a genius and one of the greatest Ukrainian poets of all time. Stus was invited to lecture abroad and even nominated for a Nobel Prize.

Olha Kobylyanska by Participants of the congress of Ukrainian writers in Lviv. Olga Kobylyanska in the center in the first row. Osyp Makovey is third from the left in the second row. Photo by WikipediaCFC Big Ideas in association with the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy

5. Olha Kobylianska

Meet Olha Kobylianska, known as one of the most significant Ukrainian modernist writers and an active participant in the women’s emancipation movement.

Illustration to the biography of Hryhorii Skovoroda by Yurii PavlovychNational Museum of the History of Ukraine

6. Hryhorii Skovoroda

This first original secular thinker is considered the founder of Ukrainian philosophy, as well as one of the most famous poets of the 18th century - Hryhorii Skovoroda.

7. Olena Teliha

Her name is carved in Ukrainian history, not only a great artist, author, poet, and even a patriot, who bravely stood with her country till her last days. Learn the story about Olena Teliha's life.

Postage stamp of Ukraine. Taras Shevchenko. Gypsy fortune teller (2008)National Museum of the History of Ukraine

8. Taras Shevchenko

Meet a key figure of Ukrainian literary culture, Taras Shevchenko, often called simply Kobzar. He is a folk singer who performed historical poems and religious and moralistic songs accompanied by the kobza instrument.

Ivan Kotlyarevskyi by Ukrainian writer and poet Ivan Kotlyarevsky (1769-1838), classic of Ukrainian literature. From Wikimedia Commons, the free media repositoryCFC Big Ideas in association with the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy

9. Ivan Kotlyarevsky

Thanks to his poem Eneida, Ivan Kotlyarevsky is regarded as the founder of the modern Ukrainian language. Taras Shevchenko, Ukraine's greatest poet, called Kotliarevsky his father.

10. Marko Vovchok

Learn why Marko Vovchok, or Mariia Vilinska originally, took on a pseudonym in the form of a man's name and how she challenged gender norms and amplified women's voices in Ukrainian literature.

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CFC Big Ideas in association with the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy

Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien

National Center of Folk Culture "Ivan Honchar Museum"

National Museum of the History of Ukraine

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