About
Lesya Ukrainka, born Larysa Petrivna Kosach in 1871 in Novohrad-Volynskyi, is a major Ukrainian poet and playwright. Afflicted with bone tuberculosis from childhood, she was homeschooled and mastered several languages. She published her first poems at age 13. Her collections, such as 'On the Wings of Songs' (1893), mark Ukrainian modernism. She pioneered the dramatic poem with works like 'The Forest Song' (1912). Politically engaged, she was arrested in 1907. She died in 1913 in Georgia.
* 1871-02-13 — † 1913-07-19
Major works
- Na krylakh pisen (1893)poetry collection
- Oderzhyma (1901)dramatic poem
- Kassandra (1907)dramatic poem
- Lisova pisnya (1912)dramatic poem
- Boyarynya (1914)dramatic poem
Key milestones
- 1884First publication of poems in the journal Zoria in Lviv.
- 1907Arrested for political activism against tsarist autocracy.
- 2021International celebration of the 150th anniversary of her birth, associated with UNESCO.
Themes
Women's emancipationUkrainian national identityNature and mythologyStruggle and resistanceSolitude and illness
Sources: britannica.com · unesco.org · encyclopediaofukraine.com