Oleksandr Oles (born Oleksandr Ivanovych Kandyba, Ukrainian: Олександр Іванович Кандиба; 1878–1944) was a prominent Ukrainian writer and poet. He is the father of another Ukrainian poet and political activist, Oleh Olzhych, who perished in the Nazi labor camps in 1944.
Oleksandr Kandyba | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Native name | Олександр Іванович Кандиба |
| Born | 23 November 1878 Bilopillia, Kharkov Governorate, Russian Empire |
| Died | 22 July 1944 (aged 65) Prague, Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia |
| Pen name | Oleksandr Oles |
| Occupation | writer and poet |
| Nationality | Ukrainian |
| Alma mater | Kharkiv veterinary institute |
| Period | 1906-1944 |
| Children | Oleh Olzhych |
Life
editHe was born on 23 November 1878 in the khutir (small village) of Kandyba (now the village of Kandybyne, Bilopillia raion, Sumy Oblast) in Kharkiv province.[1] He studied at the Kharkiv agriculture school, later at the Kharkiv veterinary institute.[2]
He is one of the representatives of the Ukrainian Cossack family of Kandyba.[3]
In 1907, he married Vira Svadkovska. They had a son - Oleh Olzhych, who also became a famous Ukrainian poet.[4]
Since 1920, he lived in Vienna, where he headed the Union of Ukrainian Journalists and edited the magazine Na Perelomu. Since 1924 he lived in Prague (Czechoslovakia). Oleksandr Oles was one of the founders of the Ukrainian Free University, which moved to Prague from Vienna in 1921.[5]
Oleh was active in the Ukrainian nationalistic resistance in Ukraine during World War II for OUN-M and was for this arrested by the Gestapo and tortured and then executed at Sachsenhausen concentration camp on 10 June 1944.[4]
Collections
editAmong his poetic collections are "Z zhurboyu radist obnymalas" — With Sadness a Joy was Embracing, "Komu povim pechal moyu" — To Whom I'll Tell About My Woes, and others (nine poetry books altogether). Oleksandr Oles also created several dramatic works.
Death
editOles died in emigration in Prague on 22 July 1944.[1] He was buried there until early January 2016 when his and his wife remains were exhumed and replaced by the body of Volodymyr Mykhailyshyn, who was the man that had been paying for the family grave.[6][7] On 29 January 2017 Oles and his wife Vira were reburied, paid for by the Ukrainian government, in (Ukraine's capital) Kyiv, in the Lukyanivske cemetery.[7] President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko and his wife Maryna Poroshenko took part in this ceremony.[7]
Example of his work
edit- The sky has embraced the sea,
- The sea has spilled into the sky…
- The whole world they have forgotten
- And have sunk in the fogs of the sky
- I have dreamed of being with you,
- Our souls are close mates.
- You are like the blue sky
- And your thoughts are like wandering clouds.
References
edit- ^ a b "Oleksandr Oles (1878–1944): SINGER OF THE UKRAINIAN SOUL". Vernadsky National Library of Ukraine (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 11 June 2024.
- ^ "Oleksander Oles". www.goodreads.com. Retrieved 2019-08-19.
- ^ "Видатний український поет Олександр Олесь | Державний Архів Харківської Області". archives.kh.gov.ua. Retrieved 2021-04-08.
- ^ a b ""He made a sacrifice, and we survived." To the 80th anniversary of the death of Oleh Olzhych". Istorychna Pravda (in Ukrainian). 10 June 2024. Retrieved 11 June 2024.
- ^ УІНП. "1921 – заснування Українського Вільного Університету". УІНП (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 2023-05-14.
- ^ Remains Of Ukrainian Poet In Limbo After Being Exhumed, Radio Free Europe (3 January 2017)
- ^ a b c (in Ukrainian) In Kyiv Oleksandr Oles was reburied, Ukrayinska Pravda (29 January 2017)