Writer Olga Yulianovna Kobylyanskaya: biography, creativity and interesting facts

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Olga Yulianovna Kobylyanska (1863-1942) - Ukrainian writer, famous figure who devoted his life to the struggle for equal rights for women and men; member of the Union of Writers of the USSR.

Childhood in Gura Humora and Suceava

Olga Kobylianska (1863-1942) was born on November 27 in the city of Gura Humora in the Carpathian Mountains (now this city belongs to Romania) and lived a long and eventful life of almost 80 years. For the most part, Olga spent her childhood with her brothers and sisters, whom she loved very much (she was born the fourth child in the family). Her life began in Gura-Humora, and then, at the urgent request of her father, their family was transferred to the city of Suceava, where the Ukrainian poet Nikolai Ustiyanovich lived next to the Kobylyansky family. Very soon, the future writer finds a new friend in the new city - her namesake and her neighbor, Ustiyanovich's daughter Olga. In the same city, Julian Kobylyansky, attaching great importance to the education of his children, sent his sons to a small school. Together with her older brothers, Olga began to gradually get used to the educational process.

Childhoodin Kimpolung

After Suceava, the Kobylyanskys moved to the Garden City, but they did not stay there - the father of the family had an attack, after which the local doctor decided that the patient simply needed fresh mountain air to heal. Olga Kobylyanskaya was constantly next to her father. The biography of the future writer continues further in the city of Kimpolung, where the whole family was forced to move in 1869, and where they subsequently live for fourteen long years. It was there that a young girl graduated from a small German school in four years. At first, learning was difficult, because German was a new language for young Olga, and yet nothing could be done - in Southern Bukovina in those years, German was the official language, because the curriculum in most schools was conducted in it.

Family

A lot can be said about any of the writers, using a variety of sources, so this writer has an interesting biography fact. Olga Kobylyanskaya was one of seven children in her family. In our time, it is difficult to imagine how much effort had to be spent to ensure that every child in the future grew up as a worthy person. Indeed, it was not easy for the parents of the future writer from the very beginning, in particular, it is worth noting the plight of Julian Kobylyansky, who was left an orphan almost in early childhood. Olga's father, despite the difficult situation, tried his best to get an education on his own, earning his living by lessons that he gave cheaply to the neighboring children. Thanks to his efforts, Kobylyansky soon got a jobcontract officer, and this was followed by a promotion - he was appointed mandator. However, the desire for justice of this man played a cruel joke with him: speaking out against a noble and well-connected landowner, he himself signed the verdict. And yet he did not give up and after some years he achieved a decent job in court.

Much less is known about Olga Kobylyanskaya's mother than about her father. A reliable fact is that she was the daughter of an emigrated Pole. For a long time, the mother of the future writer worked as a governess in the family of a we althy priest.

Both Kobylyanska's father and mother were honest and sympathetic people, everyone treated them with respect, their advice was desired and listened to. The father was sometimes strict, but invariably fair, the mother was a soft and sensitive woman who managed to raise seven worthy people and open the way for them in life.

First awareness of myself

Despite the active study of the language of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Kobylyanska began to study the Ukrainian language, which was even harder than German. She took lessons from a local teacher named Protsyukevich, who taught at the same school where Olga studied.

Being very freedom-loving and emotional in her soul, the girl could not help but be imbued with literature, she was always looking for an opportunity to throw out her thoughts and feelings. Yes, and in her family, from the cradle, parents instilled in children respect and love for the word and creativity of the people. As a result, during the years of study at Kimpolunga, OlgaI reread many books: the list included Goethe, Schiller, and even Byron.

The biography of Olga Yulianovna Kobylyanskaya gives the reader a vivid idea of what followed the craving for artistic literary art that had strengthened in the girl. Already at the age of fourteen, she tries her poetic powers and rhymes the first lines.

Early creativity

Young Olga Kobylyanskaya wrote her first poems under an interesting title that reflects the essence of childhood inexperience: "Hortense, or an essay from the life of a girl." The work was written in German and was not approved by any of Kobylyanska's friends or acquaintances. From the bitterness of the first failure, Olga will never again remember her first attempts at writing.

But she was not going to stop there - several more poems appeared: “A Sketch from Folk Life in Bukovina”, “A Man from the People”, etc. Nevertheless, all these works were fragmentary, highlighting individual aspects and not wanting to gather into a complete picture of the thoughts and emotional state of their author.

The formation of Olga Kobylyanskaya as a writer

An important moment in the fate of Olga Kobylyanska was the acquaintance with Natalia Kobrynska, a well-known Ukrainian writer at that time. Kobylyanskaya herself was barely eighteen, but this did not prevent her from getting up and confidently walking along the path that her parents directed her to, and now the mentor in the person of the great writer. Starting from that moment, Olga's whole life is radicallyis changing. A completely different world opens before her - a world where she can finally express her thoughts without fear of being ridiculed.

Kobrinska introduces Ukrainian creativity to Kobylyanska – Ukrainian books, traditions and legends are used. Eagerly swallowing every word, Kobylyanskaya understands that she has found her place in life. Many acquaintances and friends are happy to help Olga in the study of Ukrainian culture. Very soon Kobylyanskaya Olga begins to make rapid progress in the literary field. After writing the story in German "She got married", which later became the basis of the story "The Man", the very famous Ukrainian writer Kobylyanska Olga was born.

Life in Chernivtsi

In 1891, for family reasons, the entire Kobylyansky family moved to Chernivtsi. This time finds Olga in the full bloom of her writing powers - she loves everything around, she wants to create and bring a part of herself into this world. In this city, she can now fully embrace Ukrainian culture, which she uses, improving some of her works along the way.

In 1894, the first Ukrainian story by Kobylyanskaya, The Man, was published in the Zarya magazine. Illuminated by the bright rays of success, the writer works even harder, makes various translations, takes an active part in all literary events.

In 1895, the story called "The Princess" was completed. It was after this work that Kobylyanskaya Olga Yulianovna won respect from the famous author IvanFranco.

In 1898 the writer comes to Lvov. Here, the biography of Olga Yulianovna Kobylyanskaya is replenished with a new significant event - the girl personally meets Ivan Franko, a strong friendship is established between them. After this event, Ivan Franko, as a fairly authoritative and revered writer at that time, publicly announced the talent of Olga Kobylyanska.

Meet Lesya Ukrainka (Larysa Kosach)

Few people do not know the identity of another, but more famous writer under the pseudonym Lesya Ukrainka. There were too many rumors and secrets around the name of these two women, two ardent defenders of women's rights, two girls who were unusually similar in spirit. In 1899, through a mutual friend M. Pavlik, two future inseparable friends met. In that 1899, Lesya decides to be the first to write a letter to Olga, it is from this first letter that the correspondence of two women begins, which they will conduct until the end of their days. An amazing mutual understanding is established between them: it is a great happiness for both to correspond about books, music, literature, to discuss and tell their thoughts, their problems. Lesya Ukrainka always admired the bold ideas in the works of Kobylyanska, and the other, in response, idolized her friend's poems. Throughout their friendship, they were frank and sympathetic with each other, often visited each other and simply could not imagine a moment without thinking about their girlfriend. Olga visited Lesya at Zelenaya Grove, and the latter stayed for a whole month at the house of Kobylyanska's parents inCarpathian mountains.

It was thanks to Lesya Ukrainka that Kobylyanskaya was greatly impressed by the works of Russian classics of that era - Tolstoy, S altykov-Shchedrin, Dostoevsky, Turgenev, etc.

Women's Emancipation Supporter

Feeling incomprehensible pressure and impending prohibitions in various fields, Olga Kobylyanskaya decided to fight with all her might against the infringement of women's rights in public and cultural life. The militant fire of feminism flared up in the writer so strongly that after some time she became one of the initiators of the Society of Russian Women in Bukovina.

In many of her works, for example, in "The Princess" or in her first story "The Man", Olga Kobylyanskaya clearly reflects the motive of the search for the heroines - the search for love, the meaning of life and, of course, female happiness. Each female character of the writer has a strong-willed and strong character, thanks to which each of these strong "bookish" women eventually achieves her goal. So was their creator.

Last years of life

After 1912, life turns into a black stripe for Olga Kobylyanska. One by one, her close friends die: Ivan Franko, Kotsyubinsky and even Lesya Ukrainka. A war begins in the country, and on this basis and on the basis of heavy grief, Olga begins to write anti-war stories in order to at least try to return a ray of light to the dark world. This is how "Dream", "Judas", etc. appear.

During the Second World War already paralyzed andin old age, Olga Kobylyanskaya is planned to be evacuated from Chernivtsi, where she lived out her life, but nothing comes of it, and the unfortunate writer is taken prisoner by the Germans. She was destined to fall under the tribunal and be shamefully killed, but again, with her strong-willed character, she proved that she was able to change and would do it, if she wanted, the whole scenario of events. She dies on March 21, 1942. In memory of the writer, a museum was built in her hometown, which is still full of people to this day, so that they all remember that amazing woman who was Olga Kobylyanskaya. The biography of the writer ends in this city - she is buried in Chernivtsi - the place where she was destined to start her amazing journey as a writer and complete it with dignity.