Ivan Mykolaychuk

Ivan Mykolaychuk (Ukrainian: Іван Миколайчук) (15 June 1941, Chortoryia, Ukrainian SSR – 3 August 1987) was a Ukrainian actor, producer, and screen writer.

He is best known for playing the Hutsul Ivan in Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors (Тіні забутих предків) (1964), based on Mykhailo Kotsyubynsky's book of the same name. He received the Komsomol prize of Ukraine in 1967, and the title of Honoured Artist of the Ukrainian SSR in 1968. He posthumously received the Taras Shevchenko prize.

His films were often controversial and suppressed by the Soviet authorities; sometimes his films were banned from being screened by the KGB.

Mykolaychuk died in August 1987 at the age of 46. His house in Chortoryia, Kitsman Raion, Chernivtsi Oblast, has since been turned into a museum. He left a lasting legacy on Ukrainian film. Many consider him to be the greatest actor in the history of Ukrainian Cinematography. He also inspired other Ukrainian artists, actors, singers and writers who were searching for their Ukrainian identity in the Soviet era.

Films

References