Mykhailo Teliha

Who was Mykhailo Teliha?

Mykhailo Pavlovych Teliha was an active Ukrainian community leader and distinguished musician. He was born in the Akhtyrka Stanitsa in the Kuban. It is here that he first became interested in playing the bandura in 1913. He trained initially as a forester and engineer and later he completed medical studies to become a doctor.

In 1918, he moved to Kiev to aid in the establishment of the newly independent Ukraine. There he became a member of the Kobzar Choir under the direction of Vasyl Yemetz.

He was an active participant in the struggle for Ukrainian liberation where he served as a field surgeon. He was also part of the personal staff of Symon Petlura.

In 1921, he was interned in a camp in Kalisz, Poland where he organized and ethnographic ensemble and taught bandura. When it became known that negotiations had been initiated for the repatriation of those that were interned to Soviet Ukraine, he moved to Prague.

In Czechoslovakia he lived in Prague and Podebrady from 1923 to 1929. There he completed his studies in Medicine at the Podebrady Academy. Here he met and married the future Ukrainian poet Olena Teliha and continued his involvement with the bandura being active in the formation of a bandura school and a second Bandurist Capella in Prague.