Mykolaichuk, Ivan

Mykolaichuk, Ivan [Миколайчук, Іван; Mykolajčuk], b 15 June 1941 in Chortoryia, Bukovyna, d 3 August 1987 in Kyiv. Film actor, screenwriter, and director. In 1957 he completed drama studies at the Chernivtsi Ukrainian Music and Drama Theater, and in 1965 he graduated from the Kyiv Institute of Theater Arts. From 1965 he worked in the Kyiv Artistic Film Studio. Following the esthetic traditions of Oleksander Dovzhenko, he gave intense, realistic portrayals of archetypal and historical characters in films such as Son (The Dream, based on Taras Shevchenko's poem, directed by Volodymyr Denysenko, 1964), Tini zabutykh predkiv (Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors, directed by Serhii Paradzhanov, 1964), Zakhar Berkut (directed by Leonid Osyka, 1972), Bilyi ptakh z chornoiu oznakoiu (A White Bird with a Black Mark, 1972, written with Yurii Illienko), and Vavilon–XX (Babylon–XX, 1979, based on a novel by Vasyl Zemliak), which he directed. On the basis of Mykolaichuk's script Illienko directed the film Mriiaty i zhyty (To Dream and Live, 1975). Mykolaichuk also directed the film Taka piznia, taka, tepla osin’ (Such a Late, Such a Warm Autumn, 1982, written with Vitalii Korotych). A book of memoirs about Mykolaichuk, interview with him, and his scenarios was published in Kyiv in 1991.

[This article originally appeared in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine, vol. 3 (1993).]