Osyp Shpytko

Osyp Stepanovych Shpytkó (April 7, 1869 – 1942) was a Ukrainian and Brazilian writer and publicist. He was born in the village of Horodnytsia, now in Chortkiv Raion, Ternopil Oblast, Ukraine and died in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Biography

He was born on April 7, 1869, in the village of Horodnytsia (now in Husyatynsky district; according to other information, in the town of Hovylovi, Kopychynetsky district, now a village in Terebovlyansky district, both settlements are now within Ternopil, Ukraine).

He graduated from a normal school in Hovylov Veliky, Husiatyn district. He studied at the teachers' seminary in Ternopil. He changed professions many times, sometimes earning a living by playing billiards or cards. For three years he worked as an actor in provincial theaters in Galicia, first in small towns, and later in Lviv. He began to write poems in Polish for "Monitor" magazine. He also wrote music for his own Polish and Ukrainian texts & conducted choirs. In 1899, he became an employee of the newspaper "Dilo" and edited "Bukovyna" in Chernivtsi.

Under the pseudonym Hryts Shchypavka, he published several satirical and humorous books, including Infernal letters (Antichrist to Lucifer), New-fashioned psalmist, and Chruniad. In 1901, he published the autobiographical novel "The Specter" in the Literary and Scientific Bulletin, which was republished in 2000.

Shpytko belonged to the "Young Muse" literary group in 1906 & 1907. Among his other works are lyrical poems, the novella "Through Her", and the short story "Ivan Pidkova".

In 1912 or 1913, Shpytko immigrated to Brazil, where he also wrote in Portuguese: "Otherworldly Poems", "The Story of a Freak", "The Macabre Dance of Death" and his most famous book of this period - the collection of short stories "No túmulo da vida" ("On the grave of life", 1930).

He died in 1942 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.