Ivan Yakovlevich Franko is a Ukrainian poet, prose writer, playwright, literary critic, publicist, translator, scientist, public and political figure.
Place of Birth, Education
He was born on August 27, 1856 in the village of Nahuyevychi, Drohobych district in Eastern Galicia.
In the period from 1862 to 1864 he attended primary school in the village of Yasenytsia Silna. After that, until 1867, he studied at the school at the Basilian monastery in Drohobych.
From 1867 to 1875 he was educated at the Drohobych gymnasium.
In 1875, he became a student of the Faculty of Philosophy of Lviv University.
Creative career
In 1874, Franko first published his poem in the Lviv magazine “Friend” – the sonnet “Folk Song”. The following year, he joined the editorial board of the journal.
In 1876, the first collection of poetry “Ballads and Stories” was published.
In June 1877, the writer was arrested, and he was in custody for 9 months.
In 1878, together with Mykhailo Pavlyk, he founded the democratic magazine “Public Friend”, and also published two literary almanacs – “Bell” and “Molot”.
In March 1880, he was detained for the second time by Austrian gendarmes in the village of Yabluniv.
Since 1881, he has been actively involved in the work on the magazine “World”.
Since 1883, he worked in the daily newspaper “Dilo” and the magazine “Zorya”.
In 1887, his poetry collection “From the Peaks and Lowlands” was published.
In 1892, Franko attended a course of lectures on classical philology at the University of Vienna, where he also defended his doctoral dissertation on “Barlaam and Joasaph”.
In 1896, the collection “Withered Leaves” was published, and the following year, the collection “My Emerald” was published.
In 1900, Franko published the collection “From the Days of Sorrow”.
On November 26, 1915, the Ukrainian community in Vienna proposed to nominate Franko for the Nobel Prize, but in the end this was prevented by the death of the writer.
On May 28, 1916, Franko died. He was buried at the Lychakiv cemetery in Lviv.
Personal life
In 1886 he married Olga Khoruzhynska. In marriage, they raised four children: Andrei, Taras, Petro and Anna.
Works
Franko’s literary work includes numerous collections and works of art. For example, among poetry and prose collections:
- “In the Sweat of the Brow” (1890);
- “Withered Leaves” (1896);
- “My Emerald” (1897);
- “Galician Icons” (1897);
- “The Death of Cain” (1889);
- “Ivan Vyshensky” (1900);
- “From the Days of Sorrow” (1900);
- “Semper tiro” (1906);
- “Old and New” (1911).
Also among the works of the writer are known:
- the poem “Moses” was written in 1905;
- the story “Boa constrictor”, written in 1878;
- the novel “Boryslav Laughs” (1882) and the story “Zakhar Berkut” (1883).
In 1892, Franko wrote the novel “For the Hearth”, and the next year “Stolen Happiness” appeared.
Ivano Franko: interesting facts
Here are some interesting facts from Franko’s life:
- He knew 19 languages. Among them were Russian, Belarusian, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Bulgarian, Serbian, Croatian, Old Church Slavonic, and many others;
- the writer’s views on the role of women in society were ahead of their time;
- He had a special love for animals. There were rabbits and dogs on his farm. Moreover, he even kept sick animals at home, creating a temporary shelter for them.
- the writer believed that physical health is no less important than the development of intelligence, so he started the morning every day with water procedures, did gymnastics, walked a lot, and at a respectable age continued to exercise with dumbbells;
- The poet was a supporter of Ukrainian folk clothing – embroidered shirts. He wore them not only on holidays, but also in everyday life. It was Franco who was the first to combine an embroidered shirt with a European suit, thus starting a new fashion trend;
- Among his hobbies was fishing – he always tried to take the opportunity to go fishing.
