Ostap Vyshnia (real name Pavlo Hubenko, – 28 September 1956) was a Ukrainian writer, humourist, satirist, and medical official (

feldsher According to the World Health Organization, a feldsher (german: Feldscher, pl, Felczer, cs, Felčar, russian: фельдшер, sv, Fältskär, Finnish: ''Välskäri'') is a health care professional who provides various medical services limit ...

). Nicknamed by many critics as the Ukrainian Mark Twain and the Ukrainian Printing King; His fame was said to have competed in early Soviet Ukraine only two:

Taras Shevchenko Taras Hryhorovych Shevchenko ( uk, Тарас Григорович Шевченко , pronounced without the middle name; – ), also known as Kobzar Taras, or simply Kobzar (a kobzar is a bard in Ukrainian culture), was a Ukraine, Ukrainian p ...

and

Vladimir Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 19 ...

Early life

Pavlo Hubenko was born in a large peasant family of 17 children on 13 November 1889 in the ''

khutir A khutor ( rus, хутор, p=ˈxutər) or khutir ( uk, хутiр, pl. , ''khutory'') is a type of rural locality in some countries of Eastern Europe; in the past the term mostly referred to a single-homestead settlement.

'' (farmstead) Chechva near the small town of , in

Zinkiv Zinkiv (, ) is a city in Poltava Oblast, Ukraine. It serves as the administrative center of Zinkiv Raion. Population: Gallery File:Будинок (вул. Леніна, Зіньків).JPG, Modern architecture Modern architecture, or mode ...

uyezd, at the time in the

Poltava Governorate The Poltava Governorate (russian: Полтавская губерния, Poltavskaya guberniya; ua, Полтавська Губернія, translit=Poltavska huberniia) or Poltavshchyna was a Governorate (Russia), gubernia (also called a provin ...

of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

. Today his place is in

Sumy Oblast Sumy Oblast ( uk, Сумська́ о́бласть, translit=Sumska oblast; also referred to as Sumshchyna – uk, Су́мщина) is an oblast (province) in the northeastern part of Ukraine. Population: The oblast was created in its most r ...

while

is a city in

Poltava Oblast Poltava Oblast ( uk, Полта́вська о́бласть, translit=Poltavska oblast; also referred to as Poltavshchyna – uk, Полта́вщина, literally 'Poltava Country') is an oblast (province) of central Ukraine. The administrative ...

, both in

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

. He studied in elementary school in

, later enrolling into the

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 ...

military-nursing school which he finished in 1907. He worked as a nurse in the Army and then at the surgical department of the South-Western Railways hospital. He finally managed to take the tests to enroll into the

Kyiv University Kyiv University or Shevchenko University or officially the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv ( uk, Київський національний університет імені Тараса Шевченка), colloquially known as KNU ...

in 1917, but later (1919) dropped out of it and was fully was overtaken by journalism and literary works. In 1919 he was captured by

Bolshevik The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...

s while being in the Ukrainian Army and heavily sick of

typhus Typhus, also known as typhus fever, is a group of infectious diseases that include epidemic typhus, scrub typhus, and murine typhus. Common symptoms include fever, headache, and a rash. Typically these begin one to two weeks after exposure. ...

. Remarkable is the fact that he also served as the chief of the medical-sanitary directorate of Ukrainian Ministry of Railways (Transport). Until 1921 he spent time 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.Directorate of Ukraine The Directorate, or Directory () was a provisional collegiate revolutionary state committee of the Ukrainian People's Republic, initially formed on November 13–14, 1918 during a session of the Ukrainian National Union in rebellion against Ukr ...

he became known for his phrase: ''Inside the wagon - Directory, under the wagon - territory''. In 1933, he was sentenced to 10 years in a forced labour camp. Vyshnia was one of the few representatives of the Renaissance group who survived the execution.

Career and repression

Hubenko's first published work, ''Denikin's Democratic Reforms'', appeared on 2 November 1919 in the newspaper ''Narodna Volia'' under the pen name P. Hrunsky. Several satirical articles were also printed in this same newspaper by the young writer. His period of regular publication began in April 1921, when he became a journalist with the government newspaper ''News of the All-Ukrainian Central Executive Committee'' ( uk, Вісті ВУЦВК). The pen name ''Ostap Vyshnia'' first appeared in ''The Peasant Truth'' on 22 July 1921, in the feuilleton ''Odd Fellow, Really!''. In 1933 he was sent to the labour camps for ten years, and he was able to return to his literary career only in 1943. He was rehabilitated in 1955.

Death

Ostap Vyshnya died on 28 September 1956 in

. His funeral reportedly filled

Khreshchatyk Khreshchatyk ( uk, Хрещатик, ) is the main street of Kyiv, Ukraine. The street has a length of . It stretches from the European Square (northeast) through the Maidan and to Bessarabska Square (southwest) where the Besarabsky Market is ...

street. He is buried at the

Baikove Cemetery Baikove Cemetery ( uk, Байкове кладовище) is a historic cemetery memorial in Holosiiv Raion of Kyiv, Ukraine. It is a National Historic Landmark of Ukraine and is known as a necropolis of distinguished people. It was established in ...

Works

''Hard Times'' (translation into English of best humour & satire spanning his whole career), published 1981, transl. by Yuri Tkacz, Bayda Books, Australia

References

External links

* Yurkova, O.V.
Ostap Vyshnia (ВИШНЯ Остап)
'. Encyclopedia of History of Ukraine. * Koshelivets, I.

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:Vyshnya, Ostap 1889 births 1956 deaths Kiev Military Medical School alumni Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv alumni Ukrainian writers Soviet writers People from Sumy Oblast People from Poltava Governorate Ukrainian people of the Ukrainian–Soviet War Gulag detainees Ukrainian male writers Burials at Baikove Cemetery 20th-century male writers