Valerian Pidmohylny

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Valerian Pidmohylny (February 2, 1901 - 1937) was an important Ukrainian novelist, most famous for the realist novel Misto. Like a number of Ukrainian writers, he flourished in 1920's Ukraine, but was finally constrained and eventually arrested by Soviet authorities.

[edit] Biography

Pidmohylny was born in Chapli near the Southern Ukrainian town of Katerynoslav. His father was a manager for a large landowner. He learned French as a child and continued his efforts, eventually becoming a major translator of French literature into Ukrainian.

His early adult life is sketchy, but there is a slight indication that he was a supporter of Symon Petliura, the military commander of the short-lived independent Ukraine created after the Soviet Revolution.

Living in Kiev, but having difficulty publishing some of his stories in 1923, he was able to secure publication in the anti-Soviet émigré journal Nova Ukraina. This created disagreements with other Ukrainian writers including Khvyl'ovyi, one of the leading writers of the period.

Pidmohylny published a wide number of stories in the next several years after having been "exonerated" by the major Ukrainian journal Chervonyi shliakh. He also participated in the literary group Lanka tied to the journal Zhyttia i revoliutsiia.

In 1926, at the mere age of 26, Pidmohylny became a major figure with the release of his novel Misto, which was also translated into Russian.

As harsh Stalinism solidified in the Ukraine, Pidmohylny had increasing difficulty publishing his work, especially magnified because of questions of his commitment to the Soviet system. In 1934, he was arrested. Tortured and forced to sign wild confessions, he was sentenced to the Gulag and died in a few years.

[edit] Misto

The novel Misto is the story of a young man thrust into the violent sights and smells of an urban environment. Unfortunately, it has not been translated into English.

[edit] A Little Touch of Drama

The novel A Little Touch of Drama, originally only published in serialization, describes the character types of a number of men who compete for the love of one woman. One of her primary admirers is a scientist, and a major theme is the tension between the administration of reason-based science and human emotional life.