Dniprova Chayka

Dniprova Chayka was the pen name of Liudmyla Vasylevska (October 20, 1861 – March 13, 1927), a Ukrainian educator and writer.^[1]

The daughter of a Russian village priest and a Ukrainian mother, she was born Liudmyla Berezyna in Karlivka^[1] in the southern Ukraine and was educated at a private gymnasium in Odessa. She worked as a private tutor and then taught in a village school and later high school. She compiled Ukrainian folk songs and oral tradition. In 1885, she married Teofan Vasylevsky, a Ukrainian historian and patriot. Because Ukrainian nationalist was suppressed within the Russian empire, the couple often found themselves under police surveillance and, in 1905, Vasylevska's writings were confiscated.^[2]

Her first poems and short stories were published in journals in the Ukraine. She also wrote poems and fairy tales for children and the librettos for a number of children's operettas; the scores were written by Mykola Lysenko. Berezyna also wrote poetry in Russian and translated Swedish and Russian literature into Ukrainian.^[2]

She and her husband separated after their children were grown up.^[2]

Vasylevska died in Hermanivka at the age of 65.^[1]

A collection of her works was published in 1929 and another in 1931.^[1] Her work was translated to English for the collection In the Dark of the Night (1998).^[2]

A commemorative coin bearing her image was released into circulation in the Ukraine in 2011, the 150th anniversary of her birth. It was part of a series called "Outstanding Personalities of Ukraine".^[3]

References

1. "Dniprova Chaika". Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine.
2. "Dniprova Chayka (1861-1927)". Women's Voices in Ukrainian Literature. Language Lanterns Publications.
3. "Dniprova Chaika". National Bank of Ukraine.