Ivan Nechui-Levytskyi

Ivan Nechuy-Levytsky (, , born Ivan Semenovych Levytsky, Іван Семенович Левицький; – 2 April 1918) was a well-known Ukrainian author, playwright, translator, teacher, and master of theology.

Biography Ivan Nechuy-Levytsky was born on to the family of a peasant priest in Stebliv (Cherkasy Oblast in central Ukraine). His father, Semen Stepanovych, was an educated man with progressive views, who, contrary to the instructions of the Holy Synod, preached sermons in Church in Ukrainian. Semen Stepanovych independently funded the Stebliv lyceum, in which his son, Ivan, learned to read and write. From a young age, Ivan Levytsky was familiarised with Ukrainian history and literature from the books in his father's home library, where he read the works of Taras Shevchenko, Yevhen Hrebinka, Mykola Markevych, and several others. At the age of seven, his father took him to the neighbouring town of Bohuslav, where his uncle, Evtrop Lukyanovich, a teacher at the Bohuslav Religious Seminary, was tutoring the boy for entery to the school.

In 1847 he entered the Bohuslav religious school, where, among other subjects, he studied Russian, Latin, and Greek.

He started writing in 1865. His works appeared in Kievan and Galician publishing houses and periodicals such as Rada, Pravda, Dilo, and Zoria magazines. His includes social and popular history novels, dramas, comedies, and fairy tales. Among his most famous works are the novel Kaidash's Family (1878) and the comedy At Kozhumyaky (1875), which was later remade into the play Chasing Two Hares by Mykhailo Starytsky. In 1961 the play was adapted as a popular comedy movie of the same name.

Nechuy-Levytsky assisted Panteleimon Kulish in creating the first full translation of the Bible into Ukrainian (Kulish's Bible), which was published in 1903 in Vienna. In 1917 together with bishop Alexis Dorodnitsyn he started translating into Ukrainian the Orthodox prayer book, aided by Maria Hrinchenko. However, the mention of his contribution was excluded from the printed version. During his last years, the author was financially supported by journalist and academic Serhiy Yefremov.

Ivan Nechuy-Levytsky died of starvation and illness on 2 April, 1918 in one of almshouses of Kyiv during the First World War. He was buried at the central alley of Baikove Cemetery. The funeral was paid for by the government of the Ukrainian People's Republic, with the memorial service in Saint Sophia Cathedral being presided by archbishop Nicodemus (Krotkov). Nechuy-Levytsky's funeral train was accompanied by officers and Cossacks of the Ukrainian People's Army, including Sich Riflemen.

Novels by Ivan Levytsky. Volume 1. Kaidash's Family. – Kiev, 1887