Olena Pchilka
Encyclopedia
Olha Petrivna Kosach better known by her pen name Olena Pchilka, was a Ukrainian
publisher, writer, ethnographer, interpreter, civil activist. Sister of Mykhailo Drahomanov
in family of a local landowner Petro Yakymovych Drahomanov. Her basic education Pchilka received at home and then later finished the Exemplary Boarding School of Noble Maidens (Kiev
) in 1866. She was married to Petro Antonovych Kosach sometime in 1868 and soon moved to Zvyahel where he worked. Here was born one of her daughters Lesya Ukrainka
. Pchilka is, perhaps, the most well-known Ukrainian female poet. She died in Kiev
.
Pchilka recorded folk songs, folk customs and rites, and collected folk embroidery
in Volhynia
, later publishing her research.
She published numerous works, and was active in the feminist movement, particularly in cooperation with Natalia Kobrynska with whom she published an almanac in Lemberg
"Pershyi Vinok".
, Volodymyr Vynnychenko
and other intellectuals. She however was not only critical of Jewish people, but more of the Russian chauvinism, to which a great deal of people leaned.
many famous works, such as those of Nikolai Gogol
, Adam Mickiewicz
, Aleksandr Pushkin
and others.
Ukrainians
Ukrainians are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine, which is the sixth-largest nation in Europe. The Constitution of Ukraine applies the term 'Ukrainians' to all its citizens...
publisher, writer, ethnographer, interpreter, civil activist. Sister of Mykhailo Drahomanov
Mykhailo Drahomanov
Mykhailo Petrovych Drahomanov was a Ukrainian political theorist, economist, historian, philosopher, ethnographer and public figure in Kiev. Born to a noble family of Petro Yakymovych Drahomanov who was of a Cossack descent. Mykhailo Drahomanov started his education at home, then studied at the...
Early years
She was born in HadiachHadiach
Hadiach is a historic city in Poltava Oblast in the central-east part of Ukraine. Located on the Psel River the city is an administrative center of the Hadyatskyi Raion...
in family of a local landowner Petro Yakymovych Drahomanov. Her basic education Pchilka received at home and then later finished the Exemplary Boarding School of Noble Maidens (Kiev
Kiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
) in 1866. She was married to Petro Antonovych Kosach sometime in 1868 and soon moved to Zvyahel where he worked. Here was born one of her daughters Lesya Ukrainka
Lesya Ukrainka
Larysa Petrivna Kosach-Kvitka better known under her literary pseudonym Lesya Ukrainka , was one of Ukraine's best-known poets and writers and the foremost woman writer in Ukrainian literature. She also was a political, civil, and female activist....
. Pchilka is, perhaps, the most well-known Ukrainian female poet. She died in Kiev
Kiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
.
Pchilka recorded folk songs, folk customs and rites, and collected folk embroidery
Ukrainian embroidery
Ukrainian embroidery occupies an important place among the various branches of Ukrainian decorative arts. Embroidery has a rich history in Ukraine, and has long appeared in Ukrainian folk dress as well as played a part in traditional Ukrainian weddings and other celebrations. Appearing all across...
in Volhynia
Volhynia
Volhynia, Volynia, or Volyn is a historic region in western Ukraine located between the rivers Prypiat and Southern Bug River, to the north of Galicia and Podolia; the region is named for the former city of Volyn or Velyn, said to have been located on the Southern Bug River, whose name may come...
, later publishing her research.
She published numerous works, and was active in the feminist movement, particularly in cooperation with Natalia Kobrynska with whom she published an almanac in Lemberg
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...
"Pershyi Vinok".
National question
Both in her writing and in her personal life Pchilka was critical to some of Jews that were ignorant towards the Ukrainian culture and laughed at it. She was critical to those Jews in Ukraine that were unrestrained practicing what was later qualified for the price gauging. For such of her remarks she was shunned and laughed at even by her contemporaries, such as Chikalenko, YefremovSerhiy Yefremov
Serhiy Yefremov was a Ukrainian literary journalist, historian, critic, political activist, statesman, and academician. He was a member of the Ukrainian Academy of Science and Shevchenko Scientific Society in Lviv...
, Volodymyr Vynnychenko
Volodymyr Vynnychenko
Volodymyr Kyrylovych Vynnychenko - Biography :Vynnychenko was born in Yelisavetgrad , the Kherson Governorate of the Russian Empire in a family of peasants. His father Kyrylo Vasyliovych Vynnychenko earlier in his life was a peasant-serf has moved from a village to the city of Yelisavetgrad where...
and other intellectuals. She however was not only critical of Jewish people, but more of the Russian chauvinism, to which a great deal of people leaned.
Interpreter
Pchilka also was an interpreter and translated into the Ukrainian languageUkrainian language
Ukrainian is a language of the East Slavic subgroup of the Slavic languages. It is the official state language of Ukraine. Written Ukrainian uses a variant of the Cyrillic alphabet....
many famous works, such as those of Nikolai Gogol
Nikolai Gogol
Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol was a Ukrainian-born Russian dramatist and novelist.Considered by his contemporaries one of the preeminent figures of the natural school of Russian literary realism, later critics have found in Gogol's work a fundamentally romantic sensibility, with strains of Surrealism...
, Adam Mickiewicz
Adam Mickiewicz
Adam Bernard Mickiewicz ) was a Polish poet, publisher and political writer of the Romantic period. One of the primary representatives of the Polish Romanticism era, a national poet of Poland, he is seen as one of Poland's Three Bards and the greatest poet in all of Polish literature...
, Aleksandr Pushkin
Aleksandr Pushkin
Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin was a Russian author of the Romantic era who is considered by many to be the greatest Russian poet and the founder of modern Russian literature....
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" (ArtichokeArtichoke-Plants:* Globe artichoke, a partially edible perennial thistle originating in southern Europe around the Mediterranean* Jerusalem artichoke, a species of sunflower with an edible tuber...
, 1907), - "Pivtora oseledsya" (One and a half herring, 1908),
- a play "Suzhena ne ohuzhena" (1881),
- a play "Svitova rich" (World thing, 1908) and others.
External links
- Olena Pchilka at the Encyclopedia of UkraineEncyclopedia of UkraineThe Encyclopedia of Ukraine is an English language, free, online encyclopedia covering wide range of issueson Ukraine, including its history, people, geography, economy, culture etc....