Ivan Franko is a famous Ukrainian poet and writer. He distinguished himself not only in literary, but also in social and scientific activities. One of the greatest inhabitants of Ukraine is Ivan Franko. His biography, however, will be interesting not only to Ukrainians.
Origin of Franco
Years of life of our hero - 1856-1916. Ivan Yakovlevich Franko was born in the village of Naguevichi. Now it is located in the Lviv region (Drohobych district). His father was a rural blacksmith. Ivan grew up an orphan. His father, Jacob Franco, died in 1865. At this time, the boy was only 9 years old. Later, in 1872, his mother, Maria Kulchitskaya, also died. Despite the difficult financial situation, Ivan studied.
Period of study
From 1862 to 1864, he went to a school in a neighboring village; in 1864-67 - to an elementary school located in Drogobych; and from 1867 to 1875, Ivan attended a gymnasium in Drogobych. Subsequently, being already a famous writer, he indignantly described the rules prevailing in the gymnasium. In such stories as “Pencil”, “Lesson of calligraphy”, “Grits at school”, “Father-humorist” Ivan Franko portrayed with cruel truthfulness cruel teachers who drove stupid gymnasium wisdom into the heads of children.
We briefly describe one of these stories. The work “Father-Humorist” refers to a man who is considered a jovial humorist. However, in fact, this thin man with a horse's face teases children if they make mistakes, scoffs at them, punishes them with rods, and puts them on a donkey's bench. Other teachers depicted by the writer were no better.
The photo above refers to 1870. This is a gymnasium photo, which shows Ivan's classmates (he himself is in the second row, the first on the left).
Franco would not have become an outstanding person if he had not at one time replenished his school knowledge with reading books. Reading was his favorite pastime. Ivan procured books where he could: in libraries, from comrades, and sometimes, having saved some money, he bought cheap publications. It should be said that Ivan excelled in his studies. In 1875, he was granted a scholarship from the Glovinsky Foundation. In the same year, in the fall, he entered the Lviv University, at the philological department. The scholarship to Ivan Franko was granted for the entire period of study at the university. It seemed that Ivan had a calm and secure future. He could become a university professor or a gymnasium teacher. His friends and relatives counted on this.
First arrest
However, in the first years of study at the university, Ivan Franko proved himself as a public figure, moreover, a socialist, progressive direction. He made friends with Mikhail Pavlik and Ostap Terletsky. Through the first, he struck up correspondence with M. Drahomanov, who was at that time in Geneva. Drahomanov was a revolutionary socialist, dangerous in the eyes of the Ukrainian police. Due to correspondence with him, our hero was arrested in June 1877.
Together with his comrades, Ivan Franko was accused of creating a secret socialist society. In January of the following year, the court found Ivan guilty. He was sentenced to six weeks in prison. Since at that time the term of the investigation was not counted as punishment, Ivan was released only six weeks later, on March 5, 1878.
Consequences of the arrest
The sentence was short, but its consequences were terrible. The fact is that a person who has a criminal record could not legally become a teacher. Because of this, the purpose of further training of Ivan Franko became unclear. Moreover, a scholarship was taken away from our hero. In addition, Franco seriously caught a cold during his imprisonment. This disease later became chronic. She pursued Ivan all her life. But this is not all the consequences of the conclusion. The father of Franco's bride, Olga Roshkevich, was a priest and refused to match him. He even forbade Olga to see the "criminal" and correspond with him. Their marriage, unfortunately, did not take place.
New harassment
The police persecution of our hero did not end there. He was again arrested in Kolomyia in March 1880. Franco was again accused of socialist agitation. He spent three months in custody while the investigation lasted. According to its results, it was recognized that Franco’s arrest was groundless. On June 13 of the same year, our hero was sent on a stage from Kolomyia to Naguevichi. Memoirs connected with this conclusion, the impressions received by Ivan were reflected in his work. They formed the basis of the story of Franco "At the bottom."
The police did not leave Ivan Franko alone. The third time, she remembered him in connection with the arrival in Lviv of a group of Ukrainians who came from Kiev. Ivan was arrested in Lviv in August 1889. This time he was accused not only of socialism, but also of espionage in favor of Russia. However, even this time the accusations turned out to be unfounded. The prison impressions of this time were reflected in Prison Sonnets, a poetic cycle created by Franco.
Personal life
In 1886, Ivan married. His wife was a girl from Kiev, Olga Khoruzhinskaya. There were four children in the Franco family, but family well-being began to collapse in 1902. Ivan's wife began a mental disorder, aggravated over time. This brought our hero a lot of grief.
Ivan Franko in 1902 moved to his own house (he used to rent a house). The current address of the house where Franco lived is ul. I. Franko, 152. There is a memorial museum of the writer. For the construction of housing, Ivan took a large loan. Payments on it were completed after the death of Ivan by his son.
Ivan Franco's Disease
In April 1908, Franco went for treatment and rest to Lipik, which is located in modern Croatia, near Zagreb. Here his illness became much aggravated - both his hands were paralyzed. In addition, signs of a mental disorder became noticeable. In later years, these manifestations of the disease somewhat softened. However, Franco was never completely healthy. Contemporaries believed that his illness is a consequence of syphilis, once suffered. This caused great trouble to Ivan Franko. Currently, however, doctors are inclined to believe that since 1877, since the time of imprisonment, our hero has been ill with one of the forms of rheumatism. This is Reuters syndrome. Concepts about him were formulated long years after the death of Ivan.
Franco's death
Exhausted by illnesses, social and family problems, lack of money, our hero died in Lviv, in his house, on May 28, 1916. The grave of Ivan Franko is located at the Lychakiv Cemetery.
Ivan Franco as a poet
We now offer a closer look at the literary work of Ivan. For the first time, Ivan Franko appeared in 1874 as a poet. His biography is marked by the creation of poems until the last days of his life, until 1916. Among his works are many wonderful poems about social affairs and personal experiences. They were collected in several books.
However, the poetic talent of our hero with maximum strength manifested itself precisely in large poems, and not in lyrics. Ivan created realistic pictures of Galician life, contemporary to him. Here it is worth noting such works as "Botox" (1884), "Humanly" (the poem of 1889), as well as the poem "By Love" created in 1890. Ivan Franko also captured images of the historical past of the Ukrainian people. Among the works on this subject should be noted "Barsky jokes" (1887), the poem "Ivan Vyshensky", created in 1895, as well as another work - "On the Holy Mountain" (1900). Ivan Franko devoted several of his creations to discussions about God and religion. It should be noted the 1885 poem Ex nihilo, as well as "The Death of Cain", created in 1889.
An important place among the poems written by Ivan belongs to the processing of various subjects from world literature. These are works of the 1890s, such as The Fox of Mikita, The Adventures of Don Quixote, The King and Ascetic, Abu Kasimov Shoes, and the poem The Blacksmith of Bassim, created in 1900.
What kind of work is the pinnacle of poetic creativity of the author that interests us? Researchers believe that this is the poem "Moses" created in 1905. In this work, the basis of which is a biblical plot, the rise of the Ukrainian people, which began the struggle for their independence, is presented.
Franco is a prose writer
Ivan Franko was not only a poet, but also a prose writer. In these works, he acted as a realist who focused on the problems of Galician life, contemporary to him. It was Franco who was the first Ukrainian writer to depict the life of Borislav workers working in the oil fields, as well as Jewish entrepreneurs who were their class antagonists. In 1877, the work "Converted Sinner" appeared, in 1884 - Boa constrictor, in 1887 - "Yats Zelepuga", in 1899 - "Oilman". Created in 1882, the novel Borislav Laughs is considered the best work of this cycle.
Creations dedicated to the life of the intelligentsia also occupy a significant place in Franco's prose. In 1880, Ivan wrote "At the Bottom", in 1897 - "For the hearth", in 1900 - "Cross paths." An important place among the works of this series belongs to those devoted to Ukrainian-Polish relations. Among them, it should be noted Lel and Polel (1887), as well as Pillars of Society (1894). Both works, unfortunately, remained unfinished.
Very remarkable is the tale of Ivan Franko "Farting foxes" ("farting" means "painted"). Based on her motives, in 1953 a Soviet cartoon was created, the director-animator of which is Alexander Ivanov. "Painted Fox" is one of the most popular works of A. Ivanov.
Many Ukrainians know a film called "Zakhar Berkut". It tells the story of the struggle of a freedom-loving people with social oppression and invaders. This film is about one Carpathian village. The plot was based on the work "Zakhar Berkut" by Ivan Franko.
Ivan Yakovlevich proved himself in drama. His play, Stolen Happiness, was groundbreaking for its time. And today it looks quite modern. The play "Stolen Happiness" depicts the life of a family that looks happy in appearance. However, this family is collapsing right in front of the audience. The scene was chosen provincial Ukrainian town. The classic love triangle lies at the center of the plot of this work. The lives of three people were intertwined - Anna, her husband Mykola and lover Mikhailo. Jealousy, betrayal, love, true and imaginary deaths, repentance and murder, a wonderful “resurrection” - this play is not inferior to Shakespeare’s dramas in the heat of passion.
Translation Activities
All his life, Franco worked on translations of various works of world literature. His merits in this field are very great. From translations belonging to him, you can make a whole library.
An extremely wide range of works that attracted Franco. His translations include creations of ancient Greek, ancient Arabic, ancient Indian literature; ancient Babylonian poetry. As for the new literature, Goethe's Faust can be noted . Ivan Franco translated it in 1882. He was interested in other German, as well as French, Polish, English and Italian works.
Among Franco's translations are entire books by K. Havlichka-Borovsky and A. S. Pushkin. Separately, it should be noted the cycle of translations of works created by historians of ancient Rome. Ivan Franko worked on them from August 1915 to March 1916, that is, in the last year of his life.
It should be noted that he translated Ukrainian folk songs into German, and also helped M. S. Grushevsky to create a German version of the "History of Ukraine-Russia." Not only artistic works were adapted by Ivan Franko. His biography is marked by interest in popular science works of various subjects, to which he turned in the 1870-80s. Ivan considered them useful in enlightening the Ukrainian people.
Activities as a folklorist
From the very beginning of his creative activity, Franco showed interest in folklore. In 1876, the first folk tale was published in his recording. “Galician-Russian folk proverbs”, as well as “Studios over Ukrainian folk songs” became Franco's most important achievements in this field. Ivan has published many ethnographic and folklore records and studies. In addition, he recorded a number of folk songs.
Franco as a historian of literature
In several directions, Ivan Franko's work on the history of literature proceeded. The first of these is the story of the plot. The most significant achievement in this direction is Franco's doctoral dissertation, defended in 1895. The second direction is the collection, study and publication of various works of Ukrainian literature. It should be noted Franco's collection "Apocrypha and Legends from Ukrainian Manuscripts." Ivan found and published the works of Ivan Vyshensky, about which he wrote a number of studies. He also published the works of T. Shevchenko, Y. Fedkovich, A. Svidnitsky and other Ukrainian writers. Another area in which Franco worked is writing synthetic works on the history of Ukrainian literature.
Social work
In 1890, young Galician intellectuals created the Russian-Ukrainian Radical Party, which until 1898 was led by Ivan Franko. This party adhered to a socialist trend. She strove to become a representative of wide circles of workers.
Ivan Franco in 1895 became a candidate for the Vienna Parliament (from the Radical Party) in the electoral district of Mostiska - Dobromil - Przemysl. In 1898, he was a candidate in another district - Skalat - Zbarazh - Ternopol. However, both times, Ivan Franko was still not elected.
In 1899, Franco left the Radical Party, created by him, and joined the Ukrainian National Democratic Party. As a result of this, the radicals lost an influential leader, and the National Democrats never gained significant power. Franco in the new party did not distinguish himself with special activity. After some time, he stopped the political struggle and completely focused on scientific and literary activities.
To summarize
Ivan Franko, whose biography is considered in the article, was a writer and poet in his vocation. However, he could not calmly observe the political situation in his country. Therefore, he did not allow himself to remain only a writer. Ivan Franko resolutely and willingly took up any business that, in his opinion, was useful to the Ukrainian people. Therefore, many literary plans could not be realized by Franco, whose poems and prose nevertheless enjoy well-deserved recognition. In some lyric works, our hero bitterly complained that he was not able to realize all his ideas in literature.
However, it is thanks to the universalism of Franco’s activity that we can say that he is one of the builders of the modern Ukrainian nation. This is confirmed by the fact that Ivan Yakovlevich is depicted on a banknote of 20 hryvnia. Of course, this fact indicates that his figure is very important for the Ukrainian people. Since 1992, the image of Ivan Franko is on a banknote of 20 hryvnia. Her design changed several times, but Franco's figure always remained in place.