Mykola Platonovych Bazhan (; – 23 November 1983) was a Soviet

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, poet, highly decorated political and public figure. He was an academician of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR (1951), Merited Science Specialist of Ukrainian SSR (1966), Merited Art Specialist of Georgian SSR (1964), People's Poet of Uzbek SSR.

Career

Bazhan was a People's Deputy of the

Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union The Supreme Soviet of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics ( rus, Верховный Совет Союза Советских Социалистических Республик, r=Verkhovnyy Sovet Soyuza Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respubl ...

for two of five convocations (1946–1962), and the

Supreme Council of the Ukrainian SSR Supreme may refer to: Entertainment * Supreme (character), a comic book superhero * ''Supreme'' (film), a 2016 Telugu film * Supreme (producer), hip-hop record producer * "Supreme" (song), a 2000 song by Robbie Williams * The Supremes, Motown-e ...

for six of nine convocations (1963–1980). He was a member of the

Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union The Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, – TsK KPSS was the executive leadership of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, acting between sessions of Congress. According to party statutes, the committee direct ...

and was elected to the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Ukrainian SSR on several occasions at the party's congresses (17 of and 21 of 25). In 1943–49 Bazhan was a Deputy Chairman of the Council of Minister (Commissars) of the Ukrainian SSR.

Biography

Mykola Bazhan was born in city of Kamenyets, an administrative center of

Podolia Governorate The Podolia Governorate or Podillia Governorate (), set up after the Second Partition of Poland, was a governorate (''gubernia'', ''province'', or ''government'') of the Russian Empire from 1793 to 1917, of the Ukrainian People's Republic from 1 ...

, yet his youth years he spent in

Uman Uman ( uk, Умань, ; pl, Humań; yi, אומאַן) is a city located in Cherkasy Oblast in central Ukraine, to the east of Vinnytsia. Located in the historical region of the eastern Podolia, the city rests on the banks of the Umanka River ...

Kiev Governorate Kiev Governorate, r=Kievskaya guberniya; uk, Київська губернія, Kyivska huberniia (, ) was an administrative division of the Russian Empire from 1796 to 1919 and the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic from 1919 to 1925. It wa ...

. His father Platon Artemovych Bazhan, a native of Poltava region, was a military

cartographer Cartography (; from grc, χάρτης , "papyrus, sheet of paper, map"; and , "write") is the study and practice of making and using maps. Combining science, aesthetics and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality (or an im ...

and a veteran of the

Ukrainian People's Army The Ukrainian People's Army ( uk, Армія Української Народної Республіки), also known as the Ukrainian National Army (UNA) or as a derogatory term of Russian and Soviet historiography Petliurovtsy ( uk, Пет� ...

. In 1923 Mykola Bazhan graduated from the Uman Cooperative College and moved to

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 ...

where he studied at a cooperative institute at first and later at an institute of foreign relations. He was active in the

Futurist Futurists (also known as futurologists, prospectivists, foresight practitioners and horizon scanners) are people whose specialty or interest is futurology or the attempt to systematically explore predictions and possibilities abou ...

literary movement, and his first poem was published in Kiev in 1923 and his first book "Seventeenth Patrol" 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.Hayina Kovalenko. They divorced in 1938, and he remarried, to Nina Lauer, shortly thereafter. During the 1930s Bazhan's works were viewed as "anti-proletarian" and became a subject of a number official anti-nationalist campaigns. In

1937 Events January * January 1 – Anastasio Somoza García becomes President of Nicaragua. * January 5 – Water levels begin to rise in the Ohio River in the United States, leading to the Ohio River flood of 1937, which continues into Fe ...

he felt his arrest was imminent and he rarely slept at home. In 1939 Bazhan was awarded the

Order of Lenin The Order of Lenin (russian: Орден Ленина, Orden Lenina, ), named after the leader of the Russian October Revolution, was established by the Central Executive Committee on April 6, 1930. The order was the highest civilian decoration b ...

for his translation into Ukrainian of the epic poem "The Warrior in the Tiger's skin" by the medieval Georgian poet

Shota Rustaveli Shota Rustaveli ( ka, შოთა რუსთაველი, c. 1160 – after c. 1220), mononymously known simply as Rustaveli, was a medieval Georgian poet. He is considered to be the pre-eminent poet of the Georgian Golden Age and one of th ...

. Bazhan found out about this, from a newspaper, while hiding from his imminent arrest in a city park in Kiev. He was eventually told by

Nikita Khrushchev Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (– 11 September 1971) was the First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964 and chairman of the country's Council of Ministers from 1958 to 1964. During his rule, Khrushchev s ...

that his arrest had been ordered, but Stalin was fond of his Rustaveli translation, and changed his mind. In 1940 Mykola Bazhan joined the

Communist Party of the Soviet Union "Hymn of the Bolshevik Party" , headquarters = 4 Staraya Square, Moscow , general_secretary = Vladimir Lenin (first) Mikhail Gorbachev (last) , founded = , banned = , founder = Vladimir Lenin , newspaper ...

and in the same year became a member of the Presidium of the Writers' Union of Ukraine. During the

Great Patriotic War The Eastern Front of World War II was a theatre of conflict between the European Axis powers against the Soviet Union (USSR), Poland and other Allies, which encompassed Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Northeast Europe (Baltics), and Sout ...

Bazhan became a military reporter and the editor of the newspaper ''For the Soviet Ukraine''. In 1943 he published a book, ''Stalingrad Notebook'', for which in 1946 he received the

Stalin Prize Stalin Prize may refer to: * The State Stalin Prize in science and engineering and in arts, awarded 1941 to 1954, later known as the USSR State Prize The USSR State Prize (russian: links=no, Государственная премия СССР, ...

. In 1953-59 Bazhan headed the Writer's Union of Ukraine. During the "

Khrushchev thaw The Khrushchev Thaw ( rus, хрущёвская о́ттепель, r=khrushchovskaya ottepel, p=xrʊˈɕːɵfskəjə ˈotʲ:ɪpʲɪlʲ or simply ''ottepel'')William Taubman, Khrushchev: The Man and His Era, London: Free Press, 2004 is the period ...

", on July 2, 1956 he raised before the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine the issue of rehabilitation several repressed writers: Vasyl Bobynsky,

Hryhorii Epik Hryhorii Danylovych Epik ( uk, Григорій Данилович Епік) (January 17, 1901 – November 3, 1937) was a Ukrainian writer and journalist. He supported the Soviet Ukrainization during the 1920s, which likely led to his arrest and ...

Ivan Kulyk Ivan Yulianovych Kulyk ( uk, Іван Юліанович Кулик; born Izrail Yudelevich Kulyk; January 14, 1897 – October 10, 1937) was a Ukrainian poet, writer, translator, diplomat and Communist Party activist. He also wrote under the na ...

Mykola Kulish Mykola Hurovych Kulish ( uk, Микола Гурович Куліш) (19 December 1892 – 3 November 1937) was a Ukrainian prose writer, playwright, pedagogue, veteran of World War I, and Red Army veteran. He is considered to be one of the le ...

, and many more. In 1970 Bazhan was nominated for a

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...

in literature, but he was forced by Soviet authorities to write a letter refusing his candidature. From 1957 and until his death, Bazhan was the founding chief

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, photographic, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, orga ...

of the Main Edition of

Ukrainian Soviet Encyclopedia The ''Ukrainian Soviet Encyclopedia'' ( uk, Українська радянська енциклопедія, ''Ukrayinska radyanska entsyklopediya'') was a multi-purpose encyclopedia of Ukraine, issued in the USSR. First attempt Following th ...

publishing. The publishing was not completed in his lifetime; the first edition was, however, as the initial Ukrainian Soviet Encyclopedia in 17 volumes was released 1959–1965. A second (and final, as events would develop) 12-volume work was released 1977–1985. The enterprise was additionally responsible for a large number of other major Ukrainian reference works. Bazhan also was one of co-authors of the

Anthem of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic The State Anthem of the Ukrainian SSR was the Soviet republican anthem of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic when it was one of the republics of the Soviet Union. Background The Ukrainian People's Republic had instituted "Shche ne vmerla U ...

. He died in

in 1983.

Moisei Fishbein Moysey (Moses) Abramovich Fishbein ( uk, Мойсей Абрамович Фішбейн; 1 December 1946 – 26 May 2020) was an influential Ukraine, Ukrainian poet and translator of Jews, Jewish origin. Biography Moysey Fishbein was born on 1 Dec ...

, a notable Ukrainian poet was Bazhan's literary secretary.

Bazhan in English

A collection of English translations of Bazhan's futurist poetry titled ''Quiet Spiders of the Hidden Soul'' was published by the Academic Studies Press in 2019.

Awards and prizes

Shota Rustaveli State Prize The Shota Rustaveli State Prize (created in 1965) is the highest prize awarded by Georgia in the fields of art and literature. The first prize-winners of this prize were Konstantine Gamsakhurdia (writer), Irakli Abashidze (poet) and Lado Gudiashvil ...

of the

Georgian SSR The Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic (Georgian SSR; ka, საქართველოს საბჭოთა სოციალისტური რესპუბლიკა, tr; russian: Грузинская Советская Соц� ...

(1937) *

(1939, 1954, 1960, 1964, 1974) *

Order of the Red Banner The Order of the Red Banner (russian: Орден Красного Знамени, Orden Krasnogo Znameni) was the first Soviet military decoration. The Order was established on 16 September 1918, during the Russian Civil War by decree of th ...

(1940s) *

(1946, 1949) *

Order of the Red Banner of Labour The Order of the Red Banner of Labour (russian: Орден Трудового Красного Знамени, translit=Orden Trudovogo Krasnogo Znameni) was an order of the Soviet Union established to honour great deeds and services to th ...

(1948, 1967) * Taras Shevchenko State Prize of the

Ukrainian SSR The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic ( uk, Украї́нська Радя́нська Соціалісти́чна Респу́бліка, ; russian: Украи́нская Сове́тская Социалисти́ческая Респ ...

(1965) * State Prize of the Ukrainian SSR (1971) *

Hero of Socialist Labour The Hero of Socialist Labour (russian: links=no, Герой Социалистического Труда, Geroy Sotsialisticheskogo Truda) was an honorific title in the Soviet Union and other Warsaw Pact countries from 1938 to 1991. It repre ...

(1974)

External links

Bazhan's poetry in English translation

References