Dniprovsky, Ivan

Dniprovsky, Ivan [Дніпровський, Іван; Dniprovs'kyj] (pen name of Ivan Shevchenko), b 9 March 1895 in Kalanchak, Tavriia gubernia, d 1 December 1934 in Yalta. Writer, member of the literary organizations Pluh, Hart, Vaplite, and Prolitfront. He was a close adherent of Mykola Khvylovy. Dniprovsky made his literary debut as a poet, publishing the epic poem Donbas (1922), the collection Pluh (Plow, 1924), and other volumes. He later gained recognition with his stories and the dramas Liubov i dym (Love and Smoke, 1925) and Iablunevyi polon (Apple-Blossom Captivity, 1928), which drew harsh criticism when it was staged at the Berezil theater. His stories about the First World War and the revolution, written in a strongly expressionist style, were published in the collections Zarady neï (For Her Sake, 1928, 1929) and Atsel'dama (1932). They were proscribed immediately after Dniprovsky's death, along with the rest of his work, as hostile to the official Soviet line in literature. Dniprovsky was partially ‘rehabilitated’ posthumously in 1956. Editions of his selected works published in Kyiv in 1964 and 1985.

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