Czajkowski, Michał

Czajkowski, Michał (also known as Sadyk-Pasha), b 19 September 1804 in Halchyn, Volhynia, d 18 January 1886 in Parkhymiv, Kozelets county, Chernihiv gubernia. Polish writer, political émigré. Czajkowski was a representative of the Ukrainian school in Polish literature. He participated in the Polish Insurrection of 1830–1 and after its defeat emigrated to France and then in 1841 to Constantinople. In 1850 he began to work for the Turkish government, converted to Islam, and during the Crimean War organized Cossack troops on the Turkish side. In 1873 he received an amnesty from the Russian government, returned to Ukraine, and converted to Orthodoxy. Fascinated with the history and lore of the Ukrainian Cossacks, Czajkowski wrote romantic novels on Cossack themes, including Powieści Kozackie (Cossack Tales, 1837), Wernyhora (Vernyhora, 1838), Kirdzali (1839), Owruczanin (The Man from Ovruch, 1841), and Ukrainki (Ukrainian Women, 1841). These novels were quite popular and were translated into many European languages.

[This article originally appeared in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine, vol. 1 (1984).]