Mykola Markevych

Who was Mykola Markevych?

Mykola Markevych was a Ukrainian musician, composer, historian, ethnographer, and poet.

Mykola Markevych was born in Dunaiets, Ukraine on 7 February 1804. He studied at the Saint Petersburg Pedagogical Institute from 1817 to 1820 and studied piano and composition in Moscow. He served as an officer in the Russian army from 1820–24.

Markevych collected many historical materials on Ukraine's history and Ukrainian folk songs at his estate and around Ukraine. He wrote many works on Ukrainian folk customs and beliefs, as well as foods. His greatest work was the "History of Little Russia", which was published in Moscow in 1842–3. In it, Markevych portrays Ukraine as "ours", but not "us". He also wrote extensively on Ukrainian cossacks, most notably on Ivan Mazepa and Yakiv Barabash. His works influenced his friend and contemporary Taras Shevchenko.

He died in Turivka, Ukraine on 21 June 1860. Many of his works have not been published. His personal archive and diary are kept at the Institute of Russian Literature in Saint Petersburg.