Hrihorii Kosinka Mikhailovich

Childhood

Grygory Kosinka was born into a poor peasant family of Natalka and Mykhailo Striltsyv in the village of Shcherbanivka, Kyiv County, Kyiv Governorate (now Obukhivsky District, Kyiv Region). The tribe was ancient, plague-stricken, but impoverished. My father had only 1/8 of a tenth of arable land and every spring he went to the Kherson steppes to earn money as a mower.

Grygoriy grazed cattle from childhood, went to a local school in the neighboring village in the winter. In search of a better life, the family left for the Far East in 1908, settling on the banks of the Amur River, but returned six months later. Little Hrytsko harvested beets in the fall, and in the spring he worked in the manor's economy. His mother made a living as a seamstress, and his father worked part-time at a sugar factory.

He was taught to read by his maternal grandfather, Roman Onishchenko. He also introduced the boy to T. Shevchenko's "Kobzar" and gave him three thin notebooks for recording songs. My father brought books from Kyiv. The first Ukrainian book that Hryhoriy read was "The Witch of Konotop" by Hryhoriy Kvitka-Osnovyanenko.

After finishing primary school in 1913, his father hired him as a clerk in the parish, and later Hryhoriy became a court clerk. In 1914, he went to Kyiv to earn money, where he worked as a shoe shiner and janitor. At the age of sixteen, he got a job as a courier-registrar at the Zemstvo administration, which made it possible to attend evening gymnasium courses and pass exams.

The period of the liberation struggle

There is almost no information about Hryhoriy Kosinka's life during the liberation struggle. It is known that while studying at evening gymnasium courses in Kyiv in 1916–1918, under the influence of revolutionary ideas, he began to write. The first publications of the works appeared in the newspaper Borotba in 1919.

In 1920, Kosinka finds himself in the city of Kamianets-Podilskyi, which was then the capital of the Ukrainian People's Republic, but later returns to Kyiv and becomes a student of the Cinema.

Education and first creative steps

During the years 1920–1922, Kosinka studied at the Kyiv Institute of Public Education, but due to financial difficulties, he left his studies and went to work. He collaborated with newspapers and magazines, worked in various publications, was a radio announcer.

In 1922, the first collection of short stories "On the Golden Gods" appeared, which brought him recognition.

Family

Wife — Tamara Moroz-Strilets (1905–1994) — Ukrainian writer, literary critic, member of the National Union of Writers of Ukraine since 1991.

Active creative activity

The middle of the 20s was a time of active creative work and great popularity among readers. Kosinka worked in various literary associations, corresponded with V. Vynnychenko, Vasyl Stefanyk. In 1924, he married Tamara Moroz.

At this time, new collections of the writer were published: "In Rye" (1926), "Politics" (1927), "Selected Stories" (1928, 1929). However, in the early 1930s, the situation changed — his works were banned, and Kosynka himself was accused of nationalism.

Arrest and death

On November 4, 1934, Hryhoriy Kosynka was arrested by the NKVD authorities. He was accused of belonging to an organization that was preparing terrorist acts against the Soviet government. The writer was shot on December 15, 1934. He was rehabilitated posthumously on October 19, 1957.

Creativity

Main milestones and ideological background

Gryhoriy Kosinka started writing from poems. His first publications appeared in the newspaper Borotba in 1919. His most famous works are short stories, which brought him recognition.

Novelistics

His short stories are characterized by deep psychologism, truthfulness and acuteness of life conflicts. Kosinka was able to convey all the complexity and tragedy of the events of the Ukrainian revolution.

Translation

In the early 1930s, Kosinka worked as a translator. His most famous translation is "Dead Souls" by M. Gogol.

Rehabilitation of Kosinka's creativity

The rehabilitation of Kosinka's works took place gradually. In the 1950s, his short stories that did not contradict Soviet ideology began to be published. Later, in the 70s and 80s, more works of the writer were published.

Creative handwriting and literary influence

Kosinka's prose is characterized by narrative discontinuity, cinematography, retrospectivity and rich visual and auditory images. His style combines elements of impressionism, expressionism and revolutionary romanticism.

Creative property

During Kosinka's lifetime, about twenty collections of short stories and short stories were published. The most famous of them are "On the Golden Gods", "In Rye", "Politics", "Heart".

Tribute

Gryhoriy Kosinka is honored with monuments, literary awards, as well as streets named after him in Kyiv and Uman.