Oleksandr Oles

Oleksandr Kandyba
Native name	Олекса́ндр Іва́нович Канди́ба
Born	Bilopillia, Kharkov Governorate, Russian Empire
Died	Prague, Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia
Pen name	Oleksandr Oles
Occupation	writer and poet
Nationality	Ukrainian
Alma mater	Kharkiv veterinary institute
Period	1906-1944
Children	Oleh Olzhych

Oleksandr Ivanovych Oles (real name Oleksandr Kandyba) (Template:Lang-uk) (1878–1944) was a prominent Ukrainian writer and poet. He is the father of another Ukrainian poet and political activist, Oleh Olzhych, who perished in the Nazi labor camps in 1944.

Life

He was born in 1878 in khutir (small village) Kandyba (now the village of Kandybyne, Bilopillia raion, Sumy Oblast) in Kharkiv province. He studied at Kharkiv agriculture school, later at Kharkiv veterinary institute.

He is one of representatives of the Ukrainian Cossack family of Kandyba.

In 1907 he married Vira Svadkovska. They had a son - Oleh Olzhych, who became a famous Ukrainian poet.

Collections

Among his poetic collections are "Z zhurboyu radist obnymalas" — With Sadness a Joy was Embracing, "Komu povim pechal moyu" — To Whom I'll Tell About My Woes, and others (nine poetry books altogether). Oleksandr Oles also created several dramatic works.

Death

Oles died in emigration in Prague in 1944. He was buried there until early January 2016 when his and his wife remains were exhumed and replaced by the body of Volodymyr Mykhailyshyn, who was the man that had been paying for the family grave. On 29 January 2017 Oles and his wife Vira were reburied, paid for by the Ukrainian government, in (Ukraine's capital) Kyiv Lukyanivske cemetery. President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko and his wife Maryna Poroshenko took part in this ceremony.

Example of his work

The sky has embraced the sea,

The sea has spilled into the sky…

The whole world they have forgotten

And have sunk in the fogs of the sky

I have dreamed of being with you,

Our souls are close mates.

You are like the blue sky

And your thoughts are like wandering clouds.

External links

• Poetry of Oleksandr Oles, in Ukrainian