Borovykovsky, Levko

Borovykovsky, Levko [Borovykovs'kyj], b 22 February 1806 in the village of Myliushky in Poltava gubernia, d 6 December 1889 in Myliushky. Romantic poet, writer, translator, and folklorist. After graduating in 1830 from Kharkiv University, Borovykovsky taught in a Kursk gymnasium and from 1839 in the Poltava Institute for Daughters of the Nobility. In 1852 he became a gymnasium inspector in Poltava gubernia and retired a few years later. His works were first published in 1828, and he was one of the first poets of the Kharkiv Romantic School. Of his numerous poems, the most notable is the ballad ‘Marusia’ (1829), a free reworking of Vasilii Zhukovsky's ‘Svetlana.’ During his lifetime only one collection of his writings was published, Baiky i prybaiutky (Fables and Sayings, 1852), which brought him recognition as a storyteller. He also translated the poetry of Horace, Aleksandr Pushkin, and Adam Mickiewicz, compiled a Ukrainian dictionary, and collected Ukrainian folklore. Borovykovsky's collected works—Tvory (Works, 1957) and Povne zibrannia tvoriv (Complete Collected Works, 1967)—were published in Kyiv.

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