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Lesia Ukrainka: a path of love, fight, and hope
Lesia Ukrainka pseudonym of Larysa Petrivna KosachKvitka a writer translator folklorist public and cultural activist and a pioneer of the Ukrainian feminist movement is one of the most internationally acknowledged figures of the national culture The cofounder of the widely known literary society Pleiada she wrote poetry epics novels essays developed the genre of poetic drama in the national literature and belongs to the short list of the most famous women in the Ukrainian history
Along with her literary achievements Lesia Ukrainka explored ethnography and collected data on folk traditions specifically Ukrainian folk melodies She recorded 220 of the latter published a work on childrens games songs fairy tales a study Kupala in Volyn summer solstice celebration and formed a collection Folk Songs for Dance 54 texts which makes her one of the pioneers of the ethnic studies scholarly field in Ukraine amongst other accomplishments
She was the second child out of six born in the family of the head of the District assembly of conciliators P Kosach Her mother O Kosach née Dragomanova was a well known writer literary pseudonym Olena Pchilka ethnographer and publisher Thus being homeschooled due to her serious illness the tuberculosis of the bone which she called the Thirty Years War Lesia Ukrainka still managed to become one of the most welleducated women of her time predominantly due to her immediate surrounding relatives and family friends the representatives of the Ukrainian aristocracy and intellectual elite M Dragomanov M Lysenko V Antonovych M Starytskyi and others While still in her teens she wrote a textbook for her younger siblings The Ancient History of the Eastern Peoples over 250 pages long which demonstrates the scope of her early education
Despite her continuous pain and heavy treatment Lesia Ukrainka led an extremely active cultural and social life joined the Ukrainian national and feminist movements published three poetry collections in Lviv from 1893 to 1902 wrote over a hundred poems throughout 19031913 during her trips abroad Fin de siècle somewhat shifted her focus to drama leading to the creation of more than a dozen dramatic works and the emergence of a new genre in Ukrainian literature dramatic poems aka verse drama
Her most famous works include dramatic poems The Possessed Cassandra Rufen and Pryscylla Babylonian Captivity The Stone Lord The Forest Song as well as numerous translations of the best samples of the literary discourse written by GG Byron Dante Alighieri Homer H Heine V Hugo W Shakespeare George Sand Amantine Aurore Lucile Dupin Maurice Maeterlinck and many others Being fluent in 9 foreign languages Lesia Ukrainka highly enjoyed engaging with the themes of world literature and was closely connected with numerous acknowledged authors of the time with whom she debated over the crucial issues such as human loneliness tragic lack of understanding gender equality and cultural isolation of immigrants tolerance love and death and her visions of the problems still remain appreciated and modern
February 25 2021 marks the 150th anniversary of birth of Lesia Ukrainka Ukraine will celebrate it throughout the year nationally and globally in association with UNESCO whose values of peace tolerance gender and ethnic equality as well as the powers of inclusion the famous author professed throughout her life leaving behind a vast literary heritage which deeply affects the Ukrainian and international cultural discourse until today
Art project Lesia Ukrainka 150 Names https150imenlesiorg
