Ivan Kotliarevsky facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Ivan Kotliarevsky
|
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born | 29 August 1769 O.S. (9 September 1769 N.S.) Poltava, Russian Empire (now Ukraine)
|
| Died | 29 October 1838 (aged 69) O.S. (10 November 1838 N.S.) Poltava, Russian Empire (now Ukraine)
|
Ivan Petrovych Kotliarevsky (Ukrainian: Іван Петрович Котляревський) was a famous Ukrainian writer, poet, and playwright. He is known as the founder of modern Ukrainian literature. Kotliarevsky was also a soldier who fought in the Russo-Turkish War (1806–1812). He was born on September 9, 1769, and passed away on November 10, 1838, both in Poltava, which was then part of the Russian Empire and is now in Ukraine.
Contents
About Ivan Kotliarevsky's Life
Ivan Kotliarevsky was born in Poltava, Ukraine. His father, Petro Kotliarevsky, worked as a clerk. Ivan went to the Poltava Theological Seminary from 1780 to 1789. After his studies, he worked as a private teacher for wealthy families in the countryside. This helped him learn a lot about Ukrainian village life and how ordinary people spoke.
Military Service and Public Work
Kotliarevsky joined the Imperial Russian Army in 1796 and served until 1808. He fought in the Russo-Turkish War (1806–1812) as a staff-captain, which is like a junior captain. During this war, Russian troops surrounded the city of Izmail. After leaving the army in 1808, he became a trustee (someone who manages money or property for others) for a school that educated children of poor noble families.
In 1812, when France invaded the Russian Empire, Kotliarevsky helped create the 5th Ukrainian Cossack Regiment. He was given the rank of major for this effort. He also helped with plays at the Poltava governor-general's home. From 1812 to 1821, he was the artistic director of the Poltava Free Theater.
Helping Others
In 1818, Kotliarevsky joined a Freemasonry Lodge in Poltava called The Love for Truth. He also helped buy the freedom of a famous actor named Mikhail Shchepkin, who was a serf (a person who was tied to the land and had to work for the landowner). From 1827 to 1835, Kotliarevsky managed several charitable organizations that helped people in need.
The First Modern Ukrainian Writer
Ivan Kotliarevsky's poem Eneida (Ukrainian: Енеїда), written in 1798, is seen as the very first book published entirely in the modern Ukrainian language. It is a funny, mock-heroic poem, meaning it uses serious epic style to tell a silly story.
Eneida and Ukrainian Culture
Eneida is based on Virgil's ancient Roman poem Aeneid. But Kotliarevsky changed the Trojan heroes into Zaporozhian Cossacks, who were famous Ukrainian warriors. The poem makes fun of the original story and is believed to have been written after the Zaporizhian Host (the Cossack state) was destroyed by order of Catherine the Great. Even though Ukrainian was spoken by millions, the Russian Empire often discouraged its use in literature. Eneida helped show that Ukrainian could be a language for important books.
Plays for the Stage
Kotliarevsky also wrote two famous plays: Natalka Poltavka (Natalka from Poltava) and Moskal-Charivnyk (The Muscovite-Sorcerer). These plays were very important for Ukrainian theater. Natalka Poltavka even inspired an opera and helped Ukrainian national theater grow.
Kotliarevsky's Legacy
Ivan Kotliarevsky left a lasting mark on Ukraine.
- The Kharkiv I. P. Kotlyarevsky National University of Arts in Kharkiv, Ukraine, is named after him.
- A monument to Kotliarevsky was built in Poltava.
- Many streets and boulevards in Ukrainian cities are named after him, including in Kyiv, Poltava, and Chernihiv.
English Translations
Parts of Kotliarevsky's Eneida were first translated into English in 1933. A full English translation of his main work, Eneida, was published in 2006 in Canada by Bohdan Melnyk.
See also
In Spanish: Iván Kotliarevski para niños
