Kravchenko, Uliana

Kravchenko, Uliana [Кравченко, Уляна; Kravčenko, Uljana] (pen name of Yuliia Schneider), b 18 April 1860 in Mykolaiv, Zhydachiv county, Galicia [see Mykolaiv (Lviv region)], d 31 March 1947 in Peremyshl. Writer and village school teacher. Her first work—the story ‘Kalytka’ (The Purse)—was published in 1881 in the journal Zoria (Lviv). As a writer she was strongly influenced by Ivan Franko. She was active in the Ukrainian women's movement in Galicia, and much of her poetry deals with the theme of women's liberation. Her separate poetry collections are Prima vera (1885, 1925), Na novyi shliakh (Onto a New Road, 1891, 1928), V zhytti ie shchos’ (There Is Something in Life, 1929), Dlia neï—vse! (For Her—Everything! 1931), and Vybrani poeziï (Selected Poems, 1941). Her poetry for children was published as the collections Prolisky (Anemones, 1921), V dorohu (On Our Way, 1921), Lebedyna pisnia (The Swan Song, 1924), and Shelesty nam barvinochku (Rustle for Us, Little Periwinkle, 1932). She also published the story Holos sertsia (Voice of the Heart, 1923), the collection of lyrical sketches Moï tsvity (My Flowers, 1933), and two volumes of memoiristic stories: Zamist’ avtobiohrafiï (Instead of An Autobiography, 1934) and Spohady uchytel’ky (Memoirs of a Teacher, 1935). Her autobiographic novella Khryzantemy (Chrysanthemums, 1961) was published posthumously in Chicago, as were two selected Soviet editions of her works (1956, 1958). A complete edition of her works appeared in Toronto in 1975.

Danylo Husar Struk

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