Mykola Voronyi

Legacy One of the first Ukrainian modernists, Voronyi presented the movement's manifesto in his 1903 article in the . He opposed the realist lyricism of the Narodnik era and enriched Ukrainian poetry with urban and individualistic motives, working to increase its strophical and metrical variety. Voronyi's works were panned by critics for being superficial, promoting a "cult of beauty" and lacking original topics and images.

Voronyi is recognized as one of the founders of theatrical theory and criticism in Ukraine. He made a great contribution to the establishment of Ukrainian-language opera. Among his contributions in this sphere are libretto translations of The Love for Three Oranges by Sergei Prokofiev, Trilby by Aleksandr Yurasovsky and Carmen by Georges Bizet. He also translated into Ukrainian numerous songs, including The Internationale, Marseillaise and Warszawianka.

Among composers to whom Voronyi dedicated his critical works was Ostap Nyzhankivsky. His theoretical and critical oeuvre contributed to the development of Ukrainian theatre, among others exerting great influence on Les Kurbas and his Young Theatre. A collection of Voronyi's works was published in Kyiv in 1989.

Works

Poetry collections Lyrical poems (Ліричні поезії, 1912) In Glow of Dreams (В сяйві мрій, 1913) For Ukraine (За Україну, 1921) Poems (Поезії, Kharkiv, 1929) Critical works Theatre and Drama (Театр і драма, Kyiv, 1913) With Brush and Quill (Пензлем і пером, Prague, 1923) Dramatical Primadonna (Драматична примадонна, Lviv, 1924) - dedicated to L.Linnytska Director (Режисер, Lviv, 1925)

Family Voronyi's son Marko (born in 1904 in Chernihiv) followed his steps as a poet. During the late 1920s his works were published in Lviv (under the pen name Marko Antiokh), and later also in Soviet Ukrainian magazines such as Chervonyi Shliakh. In 1935 Marko was arrested in Kyiv, and eventually sentenced to 8 years of concentration camps. He was executed on 3 November 1937 at Solovki.