Olha Petrivna Kosach (29 June 1849 – 4 October 1930), better known by her pen name Olena Pchilka ( uk, Олена Пчілка), 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 ...

publisher, writer,

ethnographer Ethnography (from Greek ''ethnos'' "folk, people, nation" and ''grapho'' "I write") is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. Ethnography explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject o ...

, interpreter, and civil activist. She was the sister of

Mykhailo Drahomanov Mykhailo Petrovych Drahomanov ( ukr, Михайло Петрович Драгоманов; 18 September 1841 – 2 July 1895) was a Ukrainian intellectual and public figure. As an academic, Drahomanov was an economist, historian, philosopher, and ...

and the mother of

Lesya Ukrainka Lesya Ukrainka ( uk, Леся Українка ; born Larysa Petrivna Kosach, uk, Лариса Петрівна Косач; – ) was one of Ukrainian literature's foremost writers, best known for her poems and plays. She was also an active ...

Olha Kosach-Kryvyniuk Olha Petrovna Kosach-Kryvyniuk (Ukrainian: Ольга Косач-Кривинюк; May 26, 1877 – November 11, 1945) was a Ukrainian writer, translator, and physician. A member of the Prosvita cultural movement, she worked to establish a Ukrai ...

, Mykhailo Kosach, Oksana Kosach-Shymanovska, Mykola Kosach, Izydora Kosach-Borysova and Yuriy Kosach.

Early years

Pchilka was born in

Hadiach Hadiach ( uk, Га́дяч, Hadyach, ; russian: Гáдяч, Gadyach, pl, Hadziacz), sometimes spelled Hadyach, Gadyach, Gadiach, Haditch, or Hadziacz, is a city of regional significance in Poltava Oblast (province) in the central-east part of U ...

, into the family of a local landowner Petro Drahomanov. She received a basic education at home and completed her education at the Exemplary Boarding School of Noble Maidens (

Kyiv 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 ...

) in 1866. She married Petro Kosach sometime in 1868 and soon moved to Novohrad-Volynsky, where he worked. Her daughters

was born there. Pchilka is, perhaps, the most well-known Ukrainian female poet. She died in

, aged 81. Pchilka recorded folk songs, folk customs, and rites, and collected folk

embroidery Embroidery is the craft of decorating fabric or other materials using a needle to apply thread or yarn. Embroidery may also incorporate other materials such as pearls, beads, quills, and sequins. In modern days, embroidery is usually seen on c ...

Volhynia Volhynia (also spelled Volynia) ( ; uk, Воли́нь, Volyn' pl, Wołyń, russian: Волы́нь, Volýnʹ, ), is a historic region in Central and Eastern Europe, between south-eastern Poland, south-western Belarus, and western Ukraine. Th ...

, later publishing her research. She published numerous works, and was active in the feminist movement, particularly in cooperation with Nataliya Kobrynska with whom she published an almanac in

Lemberg Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in Western Ukraine, western Ukraine, and the List of cities in Ukraine, seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is o ...

"Pershyi Vinok". Olena Pchilka with Lesya Ukrainka

Interpreter

Pchilka also was an interpreter and translated into the

Ukrainian language Ukrainian ( uk, украї́нська мо́ва, translit=ukrainska mova, label=native name, ) is an East Slavic language of the Indo-European language family. It is the native language of about 40 million people and the official state langu ...

many famous works, such as those of

Nikolai Gogol Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol; uk, link=no, Мико́ла Васи́льович Го́голь, translit=Mykola Vasyliovych Hohol; (russian: Яновский; uk, Яновський, translit=Yanovskyi) ( – ) was a Russian novelist, ...

Adam Mickiewicz Adam Bernard Mickiewicz (; 24 December 179826 November 1855) was a Polish poet, dramatist, essayist, publicist, translator and political activist. He is regarded as national poet in Poland, Lithuania and Belarus. A principal figure in Polish Ro ...

Alexander Pushkin Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin (; rus, links=no, Александр Сергеевич ПушкинIn pre-Revolutionary script, his name was written ., r=Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin, p=ɐlʲɪkˈsandr sʲɪrˈɡʲe(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ ˈpuʂkʲɪn, ...

and others.

Works

Among the most prominent of her works are the following: * "Tovaryshky" (Comradesses, 1887), * "Svitlo dobra i lyubovi"(The light of goodness and love, 1888), * "Soloviovyi spiv" (Nightingale singing, 1889), * "Za pravdoyu" (For a truth, 1889), * "Artyshok" (

Artichoke The globe artichoke (''Cynara cardunculus'' var. ''scolymus'' ),Rottenberg, A., and D. Zohary, 1996: "The wild ancestry of the cultivated artichoke." Genet. Res. Crop Evol. 43, 53–58. also known by the names French artichoke and green articho ...

, 1907), * "Pivtora oseledsya" (One and a half herring, 1908), * a play "Suzhena ne ohuzhena" (1881), * a play "Svitova rich" (World thing, 1908) and others.

References

External links

*
Olena Pchilka
at the

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 ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pchilka, Olena 1849 births 1930 deaths People from Hadiach People from Gadyachsky Uyezd Ukrainian non-fiction writers Ukrainian women poets Ukrainian feminists Ukrainian ethnographers Ukrainian publishers (people) Ukrainian dramatists and playwrights Ukrainian women anthropologists Burials at Baikove Cemetery 19th-century pseudonymous writers 20th-century pseudonymous writers