Hnat Martynovych Khotkevych ( uk, Гнат Мартинович Хоткевич, also ''Gnat Khotkevich'' or ''Hnat Khotkevych'', born December 31, 1877 – died October 8, 1938) was a

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles and techniques to communicate ideas. Writers produce different forms of literary art and creative writing such as novels, short stories, books, poetry, travelogues, p ...

, ethnographer,

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

, musicologist, and

bandurist A banduryst ( uk, бандури́ст) is a person who plays the Ukrainian plucked string instrument known as the bandura. Types of performers There are a number of different types of bandurist who differ in their particular choice of instrumen ...

. Khotkevych was a renaissance man and was multi-talented. Although he was trained as a professional engineer, he is known more as a prolific Ukrainian literary figure, and also as a dramatist, composer and ethnographer, and father of the modern bandura.

Early life and education

Khotkevych was born in

Kharkiv Kharkiv ( uk, wikt:Харків, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine.domestic worker A domestic worker or domestic servant is a person who works within the scope of a residence. The term "domestic service" applies to the equivalent occupational category. In traditional English contexts, such a person was said to be "in service ...

, though little is known about his father, who left the family in the mid-1880s. As a youth he learned to play the

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

and

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

and later learned to play the bandura through observing the blind folk kobzars of the region. He completed his tertiary studies in engineering at the

Kharkiv Polytechnic Institute The National Technical University "Kharkiv Polytechnic Institute" (NTU "KhPI") ( uk, Національний технічний університет "Харківський політехнічний інститут"), in the city of Kha ...

in 1900, and then worked as a railway engineer.Khotkevych, Hnat
in ''

Encyclopedia of Ukraine The ''Encyclopedia of Ukraine'' ( uk, Енциклопедія українознавства, translit=Entsyklopediia ukrainoznavstva), published from 1984 to 2001, is a fundamental work of Ukrainian Studies. Development The work was creat ...

'', online. Retrieved 14 October 2012.

Literature

Khotkevych began writing as a student, and had his first story published in 1897, "The Georgian lady". Later there appeared "The Prodigal Son" (1898), "Analogies of Life" (1901), and "Mountain Aquarelles" (1914). His first major successful work was a novel about life in the Carpathian mountains, ''The Stone Soul'', which was published in 1911. Other novels followed: ''Aviron'' (1928), ''Berestechko'', and ''Tarasyk''. An eight-volume collection of his writing was published in 1928; many of his unpublished works have been lost. Khotkevych incorporated original folkloric and ethnographic material, in particular folk songs, tales, customs and even dialectical and lingual differences of the region or time which he was writing about. He included many aspects of the modernist style popular in Ukraine at the time.

English Translations

English translations of Hnat Khotkevych's works include: * Short stories: “The Hunger Strike”, “In a Free Country p. 260”, “The Three”, “Facing the Door” and “It Had To Be Thus”.

Theatre

As a youth he had the chance of seeing a number of theatrical performances in Kharkiv. He was so taken by these performances that in the summers he organized a theatre in the village of Derkachi for the peasants. In 1903 he organized a Ukrainian workers theatre in

Austro-Hungarian Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

rule. In 1910 whilst in Halychyna he once again organized a theatrical troupe made up of illiterate

Hutsuls The Hutsuls (sometimes the spelling variant: Gutsuls; uk, Гуцули, translit=Hutsuly; pl, Huculi, Hucułowie; ro, huțuli) are an ethnic group spanning parts of western Ukraine and Romania (i.e. parts of Bukovina and Maramureș). They ...

who had great success touring Western Ukraine performing the ethnographic plays he had created. In 1912 he returned to Kharkiv and after being released from incarceration renewed the activities of the Kharkiv Ukrainian Theatre until his internal exile to Russia in 1914. He continued writing plays, the most interesting was the work

Bohdan Khmelnytsky Bohdan Zynovii Mykhailovych Khmelnytskyi ( Ruthenian: Ѕѣнові Богданъ Хмелнiцкiи; modern ua, Богдан Зиновій Михайлович Хмельницький; 6 August 1657) was a Ukrainian military commander and ...

which chronicle the life and times of the renowned Kozak leader in the mid 17th century. In 1936 he played the role in the film ''Nazar Stodolya'', which appeared in 1937, but after being shown briefly for two weeks was removed from showings. Khotkevych wrote a number of studies on the history of theatre in Ukraine such as "The Folk Theatre in Galicia", and "The Theatre in 1848".

Music

As a student Khotkevych became well known for his bandura playing. He first purchased an instrument in 1894, and first performed on stage as a soloist in 1896. When he was expelled from the Kharkiv Polytechnical Institute he joined

Mykola Lysenko , native_name_lang = uk , birth_name = Mykola Vitaliyovych Lysenko , birth_date = 22 March 1842 , birth_place = Hrynky, Poltava Governorate, Russian Empire , death_date = 6 November 1912 (aged 70) , death_place ...

's touring choir as a bandura soloist. At a young age he was renowned as a virtuoso of the bandura. In 1902, he was asked to read a paper on the music and traditions of the folk bandurists known as kobzars at the XIIth Archeological Conference held in

Kharkiv Kharkiv ( uk, wikt:Харків, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine.preservation of kobzar music The idea of the preservation of kobzar music by means of sound recording originated in 1901–02. Kobzars were itinerant Ukrainian folk musicians who sung ''dumas'' and folk songs to their own accompaniment of kobza, bandura or lira. The 12th Ar ...

by means of

sound recording Sound recording and reproduction is the electrical, mechanical, electronic, or digital inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording te ...

using recently invented

phonograph A phonograph, in its later forms also called a gramophone (as a trademark since 1887, as a generic name in the UK since 1910) or since the 1940s called a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogu ...

Since that time this art-form became hugely popular throughout Ukraine. After emigrating to

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

in 1906 he traversed

Halychyna Galicia ()"Galicia"
''

Lviv Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in western Ukraine, and the seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is one of the main cultural centres of Ukraine ...

. In 1910, he had one of his bandura compositions – "Odarochka" – published in

Kiev Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...

which became the first composition published for the instrument. He returned to Central Ukraine in 1912 and was soon arrested, jailed and later exiled to

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

. He returned to Kharkiv only in 1917 where he taught Ukrainian Literature and Language at the Kharkiv Zoological College. In 1920 he organised a Ukrainian choir that performed ethnographic choral works and in the 1920s had numerous compositions published. From 1926 on, he taught the first conservatory level courses in bandura at the

Kharkiv Music and Drama Institute Kharkiv ( uk, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest city and municipality in Ukraine.

. A new textbook for the bandura was partially published (the 3 final books were lost at the publishing house). A collection of his compositions for the bandura was prepared but was also lost by the publishing house. Only a handful of students completed these courses such as Leonid Haydamaka, O. Herashchenko, O. Hayevsky, I. Oleshko, and

Hryhory Bazhul Hryhory Ivanovych Bazhul ( uk, Григорій Іванович Бажул transcribed as Georg Baschul) Note: Name was transcribed via German on Australian Government documents. (January 22, 1906 — October 17, 1989) was a Ukrainian bandurist ...

. Most were arrested in the early 1930s, however some found their way out to the West during World War II. In 1928, Khotkevych became the director of a special bandura studio, organized to retrain and convert the

Poltava Bandurist Capella The Poltava Bandurist Capella was vocal-instrumental ensemble who accompanied themselves on the multi-stringed Ukrainian bandura. It was initially established in February 1925, based on a male church choir who sang in the Ukrainian Autocephalous O ...

to play in the

Kharkiv style The Kharkiv Academic Style of Bandura Playing is a specific method of playing the Ukrainian folk instrument bandura. The instrument is held in a way that allows both hands equal access to all the strings. Firstly, the left hand has access to the ...

. He composed and arranged numerous works for this ensemble. In 1931 the ensemble received the privilege of being the first Soviet ensemble to be invited to tour North America. Unfortunately, the tour did not take place and Khotkevych was removed from the directorship of the ensemble in 1932. All of his pieces and arrangements being subsequently banned. Apart from his musical performance and compositions, Khotkevych also produced a number of books on Ukrainian folk instruments,For example "Muzychni instrumenty ukraïnsʹkoho narodu" published in 1930 and the bandura specifically. These books were openly criticised in the Soviet press and also banned from 1932.

Persecution

As an ethnographer he saw the type of persecution that blind kobzars suffered from Tsarist police whenever they visited the city. He was persecuted by Tsarist authorities because of his association with Ukrainian culture and the bandura. He was removed from studies in 1899, and in 1905 was forced to emigrate. When he returned from Austria-Hungary he was followed by police and incarcerated, and with the outbreak of World War I was forced into internal exile to Russia. From 1928 Khotkevych again had difficulties in all his publishing endeavours. Initially, manuscripts began to disappear at publishing houses and in the mail. Works had to be submitted three or four times, and then they were often sabotaged in the publishing houses. Khotkevych wrote numerous letters to complain, but little was done. From 1931, he suffered numerous personal attacks in the

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

press, which ultimately resulted in all his music and writing being banned in 1932 and him losing all employment. In 1933 his family starved during the

Holodomor The Holodomor ( uk, Голодомо́р, Holodomor, ; derived from uk, морити голодом, lit=to kill by starvation, translit=moryty holodom, label=none), also known as the Terror-Famine or the Great Famine, was a man-made famin ...

, as he was not given ration cards because he was officially unemployed. In 1934 someone tried to kill him by pushing him under the wheels of a train. As a result, he was hospitalised for a period with moderately severe injuries to his leg. In February 1938, during the Great Purge, he was arrested and tortured. In 1938 an

NKVD The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (russian: Наро́дный комиссариа́т вну́тренних дел, Naródnyy komissariát vnútrennikh del, ), abbreviated NKVD ( ), was the interior ministry of the Soviet Union. ...

tribunal in Kharkiv sentenced him to be shot and his property confiscated. The execution was carried out on 8 October 1938 and his body was buried in a mass grave on the outskirts of Kharkiv. Soviet sources initially falsely stated that he was sent to Siberia for 10 years without the right to correspond. False death certificates were issued to state that he died in 1943.

Postmortem

Khotkevych was politically rehabilitated by the Soviet government in 1956; however, only a small part of his literary output was republished. In 1977, despite being on a

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

list of noted cultural figures to be commemorated, nothing was published. In post-1991 Ukraine numerous works by this author have been republished and many manuscripts have found their way from the archives into publications due mainly to the efforts of the

Khotkevych foundation Hnat Martynovych Khotkevych ( uk, Гнат Мартинович Хоткевич, also ''Gnat Khotkevich'' or ''Hnat Khotkevych'', born December 31, 1877 – died October 8, 1938) was a Ukrainian writer, ethnographer, playwright, composer, musico ...

in Kharkiv. In 1989 a film was made after the Khotkevytch book ''Kaminna dusha''. directed by Stanislav Klymenko. A documentary about Khokevych's life "Sledovat' na sever mozhet'" was made in 1991.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Khotkevych, Hnat 1877 births 1938 deaths Writers from Kharkiv People from Kharkov Governorate Ukrainian composers Kobzarstvo Ukrainian male short story writers Ukrainian short story writers Soviet art historians Soviet male writers 20th-century male writers Ukrainian people executed by the Soviet Union Ukrainian language activists Ukrainian ethnographers Ukrainian music educators Soviet rehabilitations Executed Ukrainian people Kharkiv Polytechnic Institute alumni Ukrainian novelists Ukrainian people of Polish descent Musicians from Kharkiv