Ivan Petrovych Kotliarevsky ( uk, Іван Петрович Котляревський) ( in

Poltava Poltava (, ; uk, Полтава ) is a city located on the Vorskla River in central Ukraine. It is the capital city of the Poltava Oblast (province) and of the surrounding Poltava Raion (district) of the oblast. Poltava is administrativel ...

– in

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 ...

, now Ukraine) 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, poet and playwright,

social activist Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range ...

, regarded as the pioneer of modern

Ukrainian literature Ukrainian literature is literature written in the Ukrainian language. Ukrainian literature mostly developed under foreign domination over Ukrainian territories, foreign rule by the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, Poland, the Russian Empire, t ...

. Kotliarevsky was a veteran of the

Russo-Turkish War The Russo-Turkish wars (or Ottoman–Russian wars) were a series of twelve wars fought between the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire between the 16th and 20th centuries. It was one of the longest series of military conflicts in European histo ...

Biography

Kotliarevsky was born in the Ukrainian city of Poltava in the family of a clerk Petro Kotliarevsky of Ogończyk Coat of Arms. After studying at the Poltava Theological Seminary (1780–1789), he worked as a tutor for the

gentry Gentry (from Old French ''genterie'', from ''gentil'', "high-born, noble") are "well-born, genteel and well-bred people" of high social class, especially in the past. Word similar to gentle imple and decentfamilies ''Gentry'', in its widest c ...

at rural estates, where he became familiar with Ukrainian folk life and the peasant

vernacular A vernacular or vernacular language is in contrast with a "standard language". It refers to the language or dialect that is spoken by people that are inhabiting a particular country or region. The vernacular is typically the native language, n ...

. He served in the

Imperial Russian Army The Imperial Russian Army (russian: Ру́сская импера́торская а́рмия, tr. ) was the armed land force of the Russian Empire, active from around 1721 to the Russian Revolution of 1917. In the early 1850s, the Russian Ar ...

between 1796 and 1808 in the Siversky Karabiner Regiment. Kotliarevsky participated in the

Russo-Turkish War (1806–1812) The Russo-Turkish War (1806–1812) between the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire was one of the Russo-Ottoman Wars. Russia prevailed, but both sides wanted peace as they feared Napoleon's moves to the east. Background The war broke ...

as a staff-captain (something of 1LT or junior CPT) during which the Russian troops laid the siege to the city of

Izmail Izmail (, , translit. ''Izmail,'' formerly Тучков ("Tuchkov"); ro, Ismail or ''Smil''; pl, Izmaił, bg, Исмаил) is a city and municipality on the Danube river in Odesa Oblast in south-western Ukraine. It serves as the administra ...

. In 1808 he retired from the Army. In 1810 he became the

trustee Trustee (or the holding of a trusteeship) is a legal term which, in its broadest sense, is a synonym for anyone in a position of trust and so can refer to any individual who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility to ...

of an institution for the education of children of impoverished nobles. In 1812, during the French invasion of Imperial Russia he organized the 5th Ukrainian Cossack Regiment in the town of Horoshyn (Khorol uyezd,

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

) under the condition that it will be left after the war as a permanent military formation. For that he received a rank of

major Major ( commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicato ...

.Ivan Kotliarevsky. Eneida: Excerpts. Translated by Andrusyshen C. H & Kirkconnell W. in the anthology ''The Ukrainian Poets 1189–1962''.
Published for the Ukrainian Canadian Committee by the University of Toronto Press in Toronto, 1963. He helped stage theatrical productions at the Poltava governor-general's residence and was the artistic director of the Poltava Free Theater between 1812 and 1821. In 1818 together with Vasyl Lukashevych, V. Taranovsky, and others he was the member of the Poltava Freemasonry Lodge ''The Love for Truth'' ( uk, Любов до істини). Kotliarevsky participated in the buyout of

Mikhail Shchepkin , birth_date = , birth_place = Krasnoe, Kursk Province, Russian Empire , death_date = (aged 64) , death_place = Yalta, Russian Empire , resting_place = , occupation = Actor , language = Russian , nationality = Russian , period ...

out of the serfdom. From 1827 to 1835 he directed several philanthropic agencies.

The first modern Ukrainian writer

Ivan Kotliarevsky's

mock-heroic Mock-heroic, mock-epic or heroi-comic works are typically satires or parodies that mock common Classical stereotypes of heroes and heroic literature. Typically, mock-heroic works either put a fool in the role of the hero or exaggerate the heroic ...

1798 poem ''

Eneida ''Eneida'' ( uk, Енеїда, Ukrainian for "Aeneid") is a Ukrainian burlesque poem, written by Ivan Kotliarevsky in 1798. This mock-heroic poem is considered to be the first literary work published wholly in the modern Ukrainian language. A ...

'' ( uk, Енеїда), is considered to be the first literary work published wholly in the

modern 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 lan ...

. It is a loose translation of an earlier poem (russian: Вирги́лиева Энеи́да, вы́вороченная наизна́нку) published in 1791 by the

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

poet

N. P. Osipov Nikolay Petrovich Osipov (russian: Николай Петрович Осипов) (1751 in Saint Petersburg – in Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire) was a Russian writer, poet and translator. He is best known for his mock-heroic 1791 poem (russian ...

, but his text is absolutely different. In 1845 wrote a Belarusian version of "" in Russian magazine "Mayak". Although Ukrainian was an everyday language to millions of people 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 inva ...

, it was officially discouraged from literary use in the area controlled by

Imperial Russia 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. The ...

. ''Eneida'' is a parody of Virgil's ''

Aeneid The ''Aeneid'' ( ; la, Aenē̆is or ) is a Latin epic poem, written by Virgil between 29 and 19 BC, that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Trojan who fled the fall of Troy and travelled to Italy, where he became the ancestor of ...

'', where Kotliarevsky transformed the

Trojan Trojan or Trojans may refer to: * Of or from the ancient city of Troy * Trojan language, the language of the historical Trojans Arts and entertainment Music * ''Les Troyens'' ('The Trojans'), an opera by Berlioz, premiered part 1863, part 189 ...

heroes into

Zaporozhian Cossacks The Zaporozhian Cossacks, Zaporozhian Cossack Army, Zaporozhian Host, (, or uk, Військо Запорізьке, translit=Viisko Zaporizke, translit-std=ungegn, label=none) or simply Zaporozhians ( uk, Запорожці, translit=Zaporoz ...

. Critics believe that it was written in the light of the destruction of

Zaporizhian Host Zaporozhian Host (or Zaporizhian Sich) is a term for a military force inhabiting or originating from Zaporizhzhia, the territory beyond the rapids of the Dnieper River in what is Central Ukraine today, from the 15th to the 18th centuries. These ...

by the order of

Catherine the Great , en, Catherine Alexeievna Romanova, link=yes , house = , father = Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst , mother = Joanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp , birth_date = , birth_name = Princess Sophie of Anha ...

. His two plays, also living classics, ''

Natalka Poltavka ''Natalka Poltavka'' ( uk, Наталка Полтавка, ) is a Ukrainian play written by Ivan Kotlyarevsky. The Opera in 2 acts, ''Natalka Poltavka'', was the last scheduled performance by The Kyiv Opera Company at the National Opera House ...

'' (Natalka from Poltava) and '' Moskal-Charivnyk'' (The Muscovite-Sorcerer), became the impetus for the creation of the Natalka Poltavka opera and the development of Ukrainian national theater.

Legacy

* The Kharkiv I. P. Kotlyarevsky National University of Arts, in

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

, Ukraine, is named after him. * Monument to Kotliarevsky was erected by Fedir Lyzohub in

* Numerous boulevards and streets in Ukrainian cities are named after the poet, the largest ones being in

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

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 ...

, Vinnytsia, Khmelnytsky,

Chernivtsi Chernivtsi ( uk, Чернівці́}, ; ro, Cernăuți, ; see also other names) is a city in the historical region of Bukovina, which is now divided along the borders of Romania and Ukraine, including this city, which is situated on the u ...

, Pryluky, Lubny and

Berdychiv Berdychiv ( uk, Берди́чів, ; pl, Berdyczów; yi, באַרדיטשעװ, Barditshev; russian: Берди́чев, Berdichev) is a historic city in the Zhytomyr Oblast (Oblast, province) of northern Ukraine. Serving as the Capital city, ...

English translation

Partial translations of ''Eneida'' date back to 1933 when a translation of first few stanzas of Kotliarevsky's ''Eneida'' by Wolodymyr Semenyna was published in the American newspaper of Ukrainian diaspora

Ukrainian Weekly ''The Ukrainian Weekly'' is the oldest English-language newspaper of the Ukrainian diaspora in the United States, and North America. Founded by the Ukrainian National Association, and published continuously since October 6, 1933, archived copies ...

on 20 October 1933. However, the first full English translation of Kotliarevsky's

magnum opus A masterpiece, ''magnum opus'' (), or ''chef-d’œuvre'' (; ; ) in modern use is a creation that has been given much critical praise, especially one that is considered the greatest work of a person's career or a work of outstanding creativity, ...

''Eneida'' was published only in 2006 in Canada by a Ukrainian-Canadian Bohdan Melnyk, most well known for his

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

translation of

Ivan Franko Ivan Yakovych Franko (Ukrainian: Іван Якович Франко, pronounced ˈwɑn ˈjɑkowɪtʃ frɐnˈkɔ 27 August 1856 – 28 May 1916) was a Ukrainian poet, writer, social and literary critic, journalist, interpreter, economist, ...

fairy tale

Mykyta the Fox ''Mykyta the Fox'' ( uk, Лис Микита) is the first Ukrainian animated series made in the country since it declared independence. History of creation The series is based on the eponymous satirical fairy tale in verse by Ivan Franko (an ada ...

( uk, Лис Микита). List of English translations: *Ivan Kotliarevsky. Aeneid: ranslated into English from Ukrainian by Bohdan Melnyk — Canada, Toronto: The Basilian Press, 2004. — 278 pages. .

References

External links

Ivan Kotlyarevsky: Ukrainian author
in ''

Encyclopædia Britannica The (Latin for "British Encyclopædia") is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It is published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.; the company has existed since the 18th century, although it has changed ownership various t ...

''
Kotliarevsky, Ivan
in ''Encyclopedia of Ukraine''
Works by Ivan Kotliarevsky for reading online in Ukrainian
in ''Welcome to Ukraine'', 1999, 1
Excerpts from Ivan Kotliarevsky, ''Eneida''
(translated into English)
Text of ''Eneida''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kotlyarevsky, Ivan Petrovych Ukrainian humorists 1769 births 1838 deaths Writers from Poltava Ukrainian Freemasons Ukrainian nobility Russian people of the Napoleonic Wars Ukrainian poets Ukrainian male writers Ukrainian satirists Ukrainian dramatists and playwrights