Pavlo Hryhorovych Tychyna ( uk, Павло Григорович Тичина; – September 16, 1967) was a major

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 ...

poet, translator, publicist, public activist, academician, and statesman. He composed the lyrics to 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 ...

Life

Born in Pisky in 1891, he was

baptize Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christians, Christian sacrament of initiation and Adoption ...

d on January 27, which was mistakenly considered his

birth date A birthday is the anniversary of the birth of a person, or figuratively of an institution. Birthdays of people are celebrated in numerous cultures, often with birthday gifts, birthday cards, a birthday party, or a rite of passage. Many rel ...

until recently. His father, Hryhoriy Timofiyovych Tychynin, was a village

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Churc ...

and a teacher in the local

grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary school ...

. His mother, Maria Vasylivna Tychynina (Savytska), was eleven years younger than Pavlo's father. Pavlo had nine siblings: five sisters and four brothers. At first young Tychyna studied at the district's elementary school which was opened in Pisky in 1897. His first teacher was Serafima Morachevska who later recommended him to try his talent in

chorus Chorus may refer to: Music * Chorus (song) or refrain, line or lines that are repeated in music or in verse * Chorus effect, the perception of similar sounds from multiple sources as a single, richer sound * Chorus form, song in which all verse ...

. In 1900 he became a member of an archiary chorus in the Trinity (Troitsky) monastery near

Chernihiv Chernihiv ( uk, Черні́гів, , russian: Черни́гов, ; pl, Czernihów, ; la, Czernihovia), is a city and municipality in northern Ukraine, which serves as the administrative center of Chernihiv Oblast and Chernihiv Raion within ...

. Simultaneously young Tychyna studied in the Chernihiv theological school. In 1906 Pavlo's father died. In 1907 Pavlo finished his school. In 1907-1913 Tychyna continued his education in the Chernihiv Theological Seminary. There he became friends with the future poet,

Vasyl Ellan-Blakytny Vasyl Ellan-Blakytny ( uk, Василь Еллан-Блакитний) or Vasily Mikhailovich Blakitny (Russian: Василий Михайлович Блскитный), born Vasyl Ellansky ( uk, Василь Елланський; January 12, 1894 ...

. He also met

Mykhailo Kotsiubynsky Mykhailo Mykhailovych Kotsiubynsky ( uk, Михайло Михайлович Коцюбинський), (September 17, 1864 – April 25, 1913) was a Ukrainian author whose writings described typical Ukrainian life at the start of the 20th centur ...

who greatly influenced his early works. In 1912-1913 Tychyna's works get published in the various local publications. In 1913-1917 he was studying at the Economics department of the Kyiv Commercial Institute which he did not finish. At the same time, he worked on the editorial boards of the Kyiv newspaper

Rada The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA; ) is a drama school in London, England, that provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in the Bloomsbury area of Central London, close to the Senat ...

and the magazine Svitlo (1913–14). In summers he worked for the

statistical bureau. Later he worked as the assistant to chorus-meister in the

Mykola Sadovsky Mykola ( uk, Мико́ла, Mykóla, ) is a Slavic variant, more specifically a Ukrainian variant, of the masculine name " Nicholas", meaning "victory of the people". It may refer to: People *Mykola Arkas (1853–1909), Ukrainian composer, wr ...

theater. When

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

broke out the institute transferred to

Saratov Saratov (, ; rus, Сара́тов, a=Ru-Saratov.ogg, p=sɐˈratəf) is the largest city and administrative center of Saratov Oblast, Russia, and a major port on the Volga River upstream (north) of Volgograd. Saratov had a population of 901,36 ...

. Tychyna, whilst on the road to the institute's new location, became ill and was forced to stop and recover from his sickness. He found sanctuary at the house of another poet,

Volodymyr Samiylenko Volodymyr ( uk, Володи́мир, Volodýmyr, , orv, Володимѣръ) is a Ukrainian given name of Old East Slavic origin. The related Ancient Slavic, such as Czech, Russian, Serbian, Croatian, etc. form of the name is Володимѣр� ...

, in

Dobrianka Dobrianka ( uk, Добрянка; russian: Добрянка) is an urban-type settlement in Chernihiv Raion, Chernihiv Oblast, Ukraine. It hosts the administration of Dobrianka settlement hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. Population: Dob ...

. During the war he worked with various Ukrainian publications. In 1920 Pavlo became a member of Pluh. After an immediate success with his poetry, in 1923 he moved to

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.Hart Hart often refers to: * Hart (deer) Hart may also refer to: Organizations * Hart Racing Engines, a former Formula One engine manufacturer * Hart Skis, US ski manufacturer * Hart Stores, a Canadian chain of department stores * Hart's Reptile W ...

after moving to Kharkivn and in 1927 the famed VAPLITE. In the 1920s Tychyna was a member of Kharkiv city council as an independent. Controversy about the ideological tendencies of VAPLITE and the content of several of Tychyna's poems led to him being criticized for ideological reasons. As a response, Tychyna stopped writing and everybody assumed that it was the end to his writings. Later he became a member of

Chervonyi Shliakh ''Chervonyi Shliach'' ( uk, Черво́ний шлях) was a political and literary-scientific monthly that was founded in 1923 in Kharkiv, Ukraine. It continued to be published until February 1936. The first directors of the magazine were p ...

, and started to study

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

, and

Turkic language The Turkic languages are a language family of over 35 documented languages, spoken by the Turkic peoples of Eurasia from Eastern Europe and Southern Europe to Central Asia, East Asia, North Asia (Siberia), and Western Asia. The Turkic languag ...

, and became the activist of the Association of Eastern Studies in Kyiv.

Work

His initial work had strong connections to the

symbolist Symbolism was a late 19th-century art movement of French and Belgian origin in poetry and other arts seeking to represent absolute truths symbolically through language and metaphorical images, mainly as a reaction against naturalism and realis ...

literary movement, but his style transformed a number of times during his long career and frequently aped the acceptable

socialist realism Socialist realism is a style of idealized realistic art that was developed in the Soviet Union and was the official style in that country between 1932 and 1988, as well as in other socialist countries after World War II. Socialist realism is ch ...

. His first works exploded onto the

avant-garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...

Ukrainian scene with their colorful imagery and dynamic rhythms. However, as the Communist approach to artistic expression hardened and the role of a state-supported artist became more defined and restricted, Tychyna's poetry shifted rather dramatically, using clear pro-Communist political language, including a famous ode to

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secreta ...

, and the lyrics of the

state anthem A national anthem is a patriotic musical composition symbolizing and evoking eulogies of the history and traditions of a country or nation. The majority of national anthems are marches or hymns in style. American, Central Asian, and European n ...

of the

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

. In 1933 the newspaper ''

Pravda ''Pravda'' ( rus, Правда, p=ˈpravdə, a=Ru-правда.ogg, "Truth") is a Russian broadsheet newspaper, and was the official newspaper of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, when it was one of the most influential papers in the co ...

'' published his poem "The Party leads" in 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 ...

. Tychyna was often criticized by

Ukrainian exiles 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 * Som ...

for the praising of Communism in his work and co-option by the regime, but recent scholarship has stressed his subtle distancing and mocking of Communist excesses and brutality through over-the-top suffusive praise.

Controversy

Tychyna represents a complicated figure in both a political and academic sense. Many Ukrainian exile intellectuals and scholars involved in the analysis of Ukrainian literary history could not accept Tychyna's submission to political authority and apparent abandonment of many of his literary companions to the horrors of

Stalinism Stalinism is the means of governing and Marxist-Leninist policies implemented in the Soviet Union from 1927 to 1953 by Joseph Stalin. It included the creation of a one-party totalitarian police state, rapid industrialization, the theory ...

. The true merit of his later poetry has been difficult to judge in such a bitter environment, which is only now relaxing. It also becomes difficult to determine Tychyna's true intent and emotions in such a repressive environment. Tychyna's willingness to work with authorities, however, did not prevent Soviet authorities from forcing him to write a letter rejecting his candidature 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 ...

, likely due to his Ukrainian heritage. Tychyna was nominated for the

Nobel Prize in Literature ) , image = Nobel Prize.png , caption = , awarded_for = Outstanding contributions in literature , presenter = Swedish Academy , holder = Annie Ernaux (2022) , location = Stockholm, Sweden , year = 1901 , ...

in 1967 by

Omeljan Pritsak Omeljan Yosypovych Pritsak ( uk, Омелян Йосипович Пріцак; 7 April 1919, Luka, Sambir County, West Ukrainian People's Republic – 29 May 2006, Boston) was the first Mykhailo Hrushevsky Professor of Ukrainian History at Harvar ...

, but died in September that year.

Major works

*Clarinets of the Sun, (1918) *The Plow, (1919) *Instead of Sonnets or Octaves, (1920) *The Wind from Ukraine, (1924) *Chernihiv, (1931) *The Party is our Guide (1934) *Feelings of One Unified Family, (1938) *Song of Youth, (1938) *Steel and Tenderness, (1941) *We Are Going into Battle, (1941) *Patriotism in works of Majit Gafuri, (1942) *Funeral of a Friend, (1942) *The Day Will Come, (1943) *To Grow and Act (1949)

English translations

The poems of Pavlo Tychyna were translated into English by Stephen Komarnyckyj. * Tychyna Pavlo. ''The Raspberry’s Eyelash''. Translated and edited by Stephen Komarnyckyj. — Salzburg: Poetry Salzburg at the University of Salzburg, 2012. 120 pp.
Translations by Virlana Tkacz and Wanda Phipps

Awards

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, ...

1941 for collection of poetry "A feeling of the family united" (“Чуття єдиної родини”) *

Shevchenko National Prize Shevchenko National Prize ( uk, Націона́льна пре́мія Украї́ни і́мені Тараса́ Шевче́нка; also ''Shevchenko Award'') is the highest state prize of Ukraine for works of culture and arts awarded since ...

1962 (along with Oleksandr Honchar and Platon Maiboroda) for selected works in three volumes (1957) *

Hero of Socialist Labor 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 ...

February 23, 1967 for literary and civic activity * Order Red Banner of Labour (twice) *

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 ...

(five times) * Gold medal "

Sickle and Hammer The hammer and sickle (Unicode: "☭") zh, s=锤子和镰刀, p=Chuízi hé liándāo or zh, s=镰刀锤子, p=Liándāo chuízi, labels=no is a symbol meant to represent proletarian solidarity, a union between agricultural and industria ...

Legacy

;Street names * Kyiv * Chernihiv * Ivano-Frankivsk *

Vanadzor Vanadzor ( hy, Վանաձոր) is an urban municipal community and the third-largest city in Armenia, serving as the capital of Lori Province in the northern part of the country. It is located about north of the capital Yerevan. As of the 2011 cen ...

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''Ox ...

;Memorial plaques * Kyiv (at 5 Tereshchenko Street, also opened a museum-apartment of Tychyna) * Kharkiv * Ufa (at 79 Pushkin Street) * Chernihiv (on building of the former Theological Seminary) ;Monuments * Pisky village (bust) ;Museums * Pavlo Tychyna Museum in Kyiv

In popular culture

The following pop songs were written on Tychyna's poems: * ''"Veselo"'' by

Kurs Valüt Kurs Valüt is a Ukrainian EBM/synth-pop band from Dnipro, which was founded in 2017 by Yevhen Hordieyev. History and style The project's name Kurs Valüt means ''exchange rate'' in Ukrainian, it was used as a nickname for a party featuring ...

(2018) * ''"Yak upav zhe vin z konya"'', ''"Hey vdarte v struny"'', ''"Des na dni moho sertsya"'' by Pyrih i Batih (2021) * ''"Tam u topoli"'' by Artem Pyvovarov and Nastya Kamenskykh (2022)Video on YouTube
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References

External links