Mykhailo Mykhailovych Kotsiubynskyi is a Ukrainian writer, public figure.
Place of Birth, Education
He was born on September 17, 1864 in the city of Vinnytsia in the family of an official.
In 1875 – 1876 he was educated at the primary school of the city of Bar, and from 1876 to 1880 he studied at the theological school in Shargorod.
After completing his studies at the seminary in 1880, Kotsiubynskyi went to Kamianets-Podilskyi with plans to enter the university, but due to financial difficulties he did not succeed.
Career
In 1885, Kotsiubynskyi joined the organization “Young Community”, for which he was later brought to justice. In the following years, he was engaged in private teaching and continued to receive education on his own.
In 1890, his first work was published – the poem “Our House” appeared on the pages of the Lviv children’s magazine “Dzvinok”.
In 1891, having passed an external exam at the Vinnytsia Real School, he received the right to teach as a public teacher and began to work as a tutor.
During 1892 – 1896 he was a member of the Odessa phylloxera commission, which was engaged in the fight against grape pests, and later worked in the Crimea.
In 1892, he became a member of the organization “Brotherhood of Tarasivtsi”.
From November 1897 to March 1898 he held various positions in the editorial office of the newspaper “Volyn”, which was published in Zhytomyr.
In 1898, Kotsyubynskyi settled in Chernihiv, where he took the position of clerk in the zemstvo council. It was there that he met Vera Ustymivna Deisha, who became his future wife. In Chernihiv, he organized literary evenings and helped young authors.
Financial difficulties, conflicts with authorities and emotional distress affected his health. In 1907, his wife found out about his relationship with Aplaksina through an anonymous letter and insisted that he promise not to leave the family.
In mid-1909, due to problems with asthma and tuberculosis, Kotsiubynskyi went to Caprus for treatment.
In 1911, Kotsiubynskyi was awarded a lifetime scholarship in the amount of 2000 rubles per year from the “Society of Supporters of Ukrainian Science and Things” so that he could leave the civil service. Despite this, his health was constantly deteriorating – asthma and tuberculosis were increasingly debilitating.
Kotsiubynskyi died on April 25, 1913 in Chernihiv, where he was buried.
Mykhailo Kotsyubynskyi: interesting facts
Here are some interesting facts from the life of Kotsiubynskyi:
- He had exceptional intelligence and knew how to maintain any conversation. He always behaved delicately and tried not to hurt anyone’s feelings;
- He read a lot and spoke nine languages. Among the Slavic languages, he knew Ukrainian, Russian and Polish, and among the Romance languages, French, Italian and Romanian. He also spoke three oriental languages – Tatar, Turkish and Gypsy;
- The beginning of writing was not successful. In 1884 he wrote the story “Andriy Solovko, or the Learned World, and the Ignorant Darkness”, but it was assessed skeptically;
- among the highest achievements are the works “Fata morgana”, “What is written in the book of life” and “Shadows of forgotten ancestors”.
