George S. N. Luckyj
Encyclopedia
George Stephen Nestor Luckyj (1919 - November 22, 2001) was a scholar of Ukrainian literature
, who greatly contributed to the awareness of Ukrainian literature in the English-speaking world and to the continuation of legitimate scholarship on the subject during the post-war period.
Luckyj was born in 1919 in the village Yanchyn, today Ivanivka, close to Lviv
. His father was Ostap Lutsky, a Ukrainian modernist
poet and member of the Polish Senate, and his mother was Irena Smal-Stotska, the child of Stephan Smal-Stotsky, a Slavic philologist and Austrian parliament member.
After studying German literature at the University of Berlin, he fortunately went to England right before World War II for a summer program at Cambridge University. After the Soviet occupation of Western Ukraine, formerly Poland, in 1939, his father was taken by the NKVD
and eventually died in a concentration camp. In 1943, Luckyj joined the British army
and worked as a Russian interpreter in occupied Germany.
In 1947, he moved to Saskatoon
, Canada
for a position teaching English literature at the University of Saskatchewan
. Two year afterwards, he left for New York to pursue a doctorate at Columbia University
. His Ph.D. dissertation became the key Ukrainian literary scholarly text, Literary Politics in the Soviet Ukraine, 1917–1934. He also participated in the activities of the Ukrainian Academy of Arts and Sciences, an important scholarly instituation begun by Ukrainian émigrés in New York.
He became a professor at the University of Toronto
and was involved in the creation of the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies and Canadian Association of Slavists. His writing, both scholarly and of translation, was prodigious until his death in 2001.
Ukrainian literature
Ukrainian literature is literature written in the Ukrainian language. Ukrainian literature had a difficult development because, due to constant foreign domination over Ukrainian territories, there was often a significant difference between the spoken and written language...
, who greatly contributed to the awareness of Ukrainian literature in the English-speaking world and to the continuation of legitimate scholarship on the subject during the post-war period.
Luckyj was born in 1919 in the village Yanchyn, today Ivanivka, close to Lviv
Lviv
Lviv is a city in western Ukraine. The city is regarded as one of the main cultural centres of today's Ukraine and historically has also been a major Polish and Jewish cultural center, as Poles and Jews were the two main ethnicities of the city until the outbreak of World War II and the following...
. His father was Ostap Lutsky, a Ukrainian modernist
Modernism
Modernism, in its broadest definition, is modern thought, character, or practice. More specifically, the term describes the modernist movement, its set of cultural tendencies and array of associated cultural movements, originally arising from wide-scale and far-reaching changes to Western society...
poet and member of the Polish Senate, and his mother was Irena Smal-Stotska, the child of Stephan Smal-Stotsky, a Slavic philologist and Austrian parliament member.
After studying German literature at the University of Berlin, he fortunately went to England right before World War II for a summer program at Cambridge University. After the Soviet occupation of Western Ukraine, formerly Poland, in 1939, his father was taken by the NKVD
NKVD
The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs was the public and secret police organization of the Soviet Union that directly executed the rule of power of the Soviets, including political repression, during the era of Joseph Stalin....
and eventually died in a concentration camp. In 1943, Luckyj joined the British army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
and worked as a Russian interpreter in occupied Germany.
In 1947, he moved to Saskatoon
Saskatoon
Saskatoon is a city in central Saskatchewan, Canada, on the South Saskatchewan River. Residents of the city of Saskatoon are called Saskatonians. The city is surrounded by the Rural Municipality of Corman Park No. 344....
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
for a position teaching English literature at the University of Saskatchewan
University of Saskatchewan
The University of Saskatchewan is a Canadian public research university, founded in 1907, and located on the east side of the South Saskatchewan River in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. An "Act to establish and incorporate a University for the Province of Saskatchewan" was passed by the...
. Two year afterwards, he left for New York to pursue a doctorate at Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
. His Ph.D. dissertation became the key Ukrainian literary scholarly text, Literary Politics in the Soviet Ukraine, 1917–1934. He also participated in the activities of the Ukrainian Academy of Arts and Sciences, an important scholarly instituation begun by Ukrainian émigrés in New York.
He became a professor at the University of Toronto
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...
and was involved in the creation of the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies and Canadian Association of Slavists. His writing, both scholarly and of translation, was prodigious until his death in 2001.
Translations
Luckyj was well-known for his translations of Ukrainian literature, which have exposed large new audiences to its depth and quality.- The Hunters and the Hunted, Ivan BahrianyiIvan BahrianyiIvan Bahrianyi was a Ukrainian writer and politician. The writer's real name was Ivan Pavlovych Lozoviaha.-Biography:Ivan Bahrianyi was born in the village of Kuzemyn, Okhtyrskyi Raion, Sumy Oblast, in eastern Ukraine...
(1954, 1956) - Iwan Majstrenko's Borotbism: A Chapter in the History of Ukrainian Communism (1954)
- Elie Borschak's Hryhor Orlyk: France's Cossack General (1956)
- Dmytro Doroshenko's "Survey of Ukrainian Historiography" (1957)
- Mykola Khvyliovy's Stories from the Ukraine (1960)
- Hryhory Kostiuk's Stalinist Rule in the Ukraine: A Decade of Mass Terror (1960)
- George Y. Shevelov's Syntax of Modern Literary Ukrainian (1963)
- A Little Touch of Drama by Valerian PidmohylnyValerian PidmohylnyValerian Pidmohylny was an important Ukrainian novelist, most famous for the realist novel Misto...
(1972) - Panteleimon Kulish's Black Council (1973)
- Mykola KulishMykola KulishMykola Kulish was a Ukrainian prosaic, drama writer, pedagogue, veteran of the World War I, Red Army veteran.-Brief biography:Kulish was born in a village of...
's Sonata Pathètique (1975) - Yevhen Sverstiuk's Clandestine Essays (1976)
- Mykhailo Kotsiubyns'kyiMykhailo KotsiubynskyMykhailo Mykhailovych Kotsiubynsky , was a Ukrainian author whose writings described typical Ukrainian life at the start of the 20th century...
's Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors (1981) - Pavlo Zaitsev's Taras Shevchenko: A Life (1988)