Kulyk, Vasyl

Kulyk, Vasyl [Кулик, Василь], b 1830 in Kovalivka, Poltava gubernia, d 1870 in Kovalivka. Poet. Inspired by populist ideas, he spent several years wandering through Southern Ukraine studying the life and the folklore of the common people. After settling in Poltava, he began writing poems about contemporary peasant life, Romantic ballads, fables, and sketches, selections of which were subsequently published in Osnova (Saint Petersburg). A collection of his poetry, Pysannia Vasylia Kulyka (The Writings of Vasyl Kulyk, 1894), appeared posthumously in Lviv.

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