Movchan, Yehor

Movchan, Yehor [Movčan, Jehor], b 1 May 1898 in Velyka Pysarivka, Bohodukhiv county, Kharkiv gubernia, d 22 March 1968 in Kyiv. Kobzar. Blind at 10 months and orphaned by the age of five, he studied with the kobzar Stepan Pasiuha, and then set off on his own in 1913. His prerevolutionary repertoire included all major dumas and historical songs, notably ‘Nevil’nyts’kyi plach’ (The Captives' Lament), ‘Duma about the Widow and Her Three Sons,’ and ‘Duma about the Three Brothers of Samara,’ as well as songs to the words of Taras Shevchenko. Under Soviet rule he began composing pseudo-folkloric dumas and songs in honor of contemporary leaders and Soviet holidays. He frequently performed on radio and television.

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