Franko, Taras

Franko, Taras [Франко, Тарас], b 9 March 1889 in Lviv, d 13 November 1971 in Kyiv. Classical philologist, writer, translator, and critic; son of Ivan Franko, brother of Petro Franko. Franko studied classical languages at Lviv University and Vienna University; from 1919 to 1922 he was employed at publishing houses and higher educational institutions in Kharkiv. After his return to Galicia in 1923 Franko worked as a gymnasium teacher until 1945, when he became a lecturer in classical philology at Lviv University. In 1953 he defended his candidate’s dissertation ‘Ivan Franko i Boryslav’ (Ivan Franko and Boryslav). From 1950 to 1963 he was a research associate of the Institute of Literature of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR. As a specialist in Franko scholarship he helped to prepare for publication the 20-volume collection of I. Franko’s works. He is the author of original poems and literary translations, chiefly of classical Latin works, a collection of humorous short stories Vzdovzh i vpoperek (Lengthwise and Across, 1965), and a book about his father, Pro bat'ka: Statti, spohady, opovidannia (About My Father: Articles, Reminiscences, Stories, 1956).

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