Hryts-Duda, Ivan

Hryts-Duda, Ivan [Гриць-Дуда, Іван; Hryc'-Duda], b 5 June 1911 in Rudlova, Prešov region, d 6 December 1999 in Sabinov, Prešov region, Slovakia. Actor, writer, collector of folklore, pedagogue. A graduate of the teachers' seminary in Uzhhorod (1935), he taught in rural schools in Transcarpathia. He was an actor with the Nova Stsena theater in Khust (1936–9) and then helped to organize the Prešov Ukrainian National Theater (1946–61), where he also acted and served as director. His plays, poetry, and prose were published in the periodicals Duklia, Nove zhyttia, and Druzhno vpered, which he also edited. He wrote a collection of short stories, Nezhody (Discords, 1967), an epic poem in two parts, and several dramas.

[This article originally appeared in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine, vol. 2 (1988).]