Marko Vovchok

Mariya Vilinska Марія Олександрівна Вілінська
Born	December 22, 1833 Yekaterininskoye selo, Yeletsk uyezd, Oryol Governorate, Russian Empire
Died	August 10, 1907(1907-08-10) (aged 73) Nalchik, Tersk Oblast, Russian Empire
Pen name	Marko Vovchok Марко Вовчок
Occupation	Writer, translator

Marko Vovchok (Ukrainian: Марко Вовчок, real name is Mariya Vilinska Ukrainian: Марія Олександрівна Вілінська), 22 December 1833 – 10 August 1907) was a famous Ukrainian and Russian writer of Ukrainian descent.^[1][2] Her pen name, Marko Vovchok, was invented by Panteleimon Kulish.^[3]

Biography

Mariya Vilinska was born in 1833 in the Oryol Governorate of the Russian Empire into a family of an army officer and a noblewoman. After she lost her father at the age of 7, she was raised at her aunt's estate and then sent off to study first to Kharkiv and then to Oryol. In 1851 she moved to Ukraine, having married Aphanasyy Markovych, a folklorist and ethnographer who was a member of the Brotherhood of Saints Cyril and Methodius.^[4] From 1851 till 1858 she lived in Chernihiv, Kiev and Nemyriv, assisting her husband with his ethnographic work and learning the Ukrainian culture and language. In 1857 Marko Vovchok wrote Narodni opovidannya (Folk Stories). It met with immediate acclaim in Ukrainian literary circles, in particular from Taras Shevchenko and Panteleimon Kulish, and in Russia after it had been translated into Russian and edited by Ivan Turgenev as Ukrainskie narodnye rasskazy (Ukrainian Folk Tales, 1859).^[5] After a short stay in Saint Petersburg in 1859, Marko Vovchok moved to Europe, where she resided in Germany, France, Italy and Switzerland. From 1867 to 1878, she again lived in Saint Petersburg, where due to the prohibition against the Ukrainian language she wrote and translated for Russian magazines. Also Marko Vovchok wrote in Russian language Zhivaya dusha (The Living Soul, 1868), Zapiski prichetnika (The Notes of a Participant, 1870), V glushi (In the Backwoods, 1875) and several other novels. From 1878, she lived in the Northern Caucasus, and in 1885–1893 in Kiev Governorate, where she proceeded with her work on Ukrainian folklore and a dictionary. At the beginning of the 1900s Mariya Vilinska restored her contact with Ukrainian publishers.

Besides writing novels and stories, Marko Vovchok made translations from French into Russian and Ukrainian, including Jules Verne's works.

She died on August 10, 1907 in Nalchik, Russia.

Ukrainian post stamp dedicated to Marko Vovchok.

References

1. ^ (Russian) "В Нальчике реставрируют дом-музей писательницы Марко Вовчок". Interfax. 2009-11-25. http://www.interfax-russia.ru/South/citynews.asp?id=57396. Retrieved 2009-12-13. 
2. ^ (Russian) "22 декабря 1833 года родилась Марко Вовчок, известная украинская писательница". Ukrinform. 2008-12-12. http://photo.ukrinform.ua/rus/current/photo.php?id=243117. Retrieved 2009-12-14. 
3. ^ http://storinka-m.kiev.ua/article.php?id=942
4. ^ Martha Bohachevsky-Chomiak. Feminists despite themselves: women in Ukrainian community life, 1884-1939. Edmonton: Canadian institute of Ukrainian Studies, 1988. p9
5. ^ (Russian) "Маркович Марья Александровна (Марко-Вовчок)". Russian Biographical Dictionary. 1896–1918. http://www.rulex.ru/01130244.htm. Retrieved 2009-12-13. 

Sources

• Encyclopedia of Ukraine
• Marko Vovchok (1833—1907) (Ukrainian)
• Vovchok's works in audio format (Ukrainian)

Persondata
Name
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	December 22, 1833
Place of birth	Yekaterininskoye selo, Yeletsk uyezd, Oryol Governorate, Russian Empire
Date of death	1907-08-10
Place of death	Nalchik, Tersk Oblast, Russian Empire