Levko Borovykovsky

File:Левко Боровиковський.jpg

Levko Borovykovsky ([Borovykovs'kyj] (22 February 1806 – 26 December 1889 in Myliushky village, Poltava Governorate, Russian Empire) was a Ukrainian romantic poet, writer, translator, and folklorist.

After graduating in 1830 from Kharkiv University, Borovykovsky taught in a Kursk gymnasium and from 1839 in the Poltava Institute for Daughters of the Nobility. In 1852 he became a gymnasium inspector in Poltava gubernia and retired a few years later. His works were first published in 1828, and he was one of the first poets of the Kharkiv Romantic School.{{cite book |title=Ukraine: A History - 3rd Edition |authorlink=Orest Subtelny |last=Subtelny |first=Orest |page=[https://archive.org/details/ukrainehistory00subt_0/page/231 231] |year=2000 |publisher=University of Toronto Press |isbn=9780802083906 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/ukrainehistory00subt_0/page/231 }}

Of his numerous poems, the most notable is the ballad Marusia (1829),{{cite book |title=Leksykon kultury ukraińskiej |last=Wilczyński |first=Włodzimierz |page=30 |year=2004 |publisher=Universitas |isbn=9788324202027 }} an adaptation of Gottfried August Bürger's ballad Lenore (1796) and reminiscent of Vasilii Zhukovsky's Svetlana (1813). Levko Borovykovsky successfully nationalised the Gothic-Romantic theme of Marusia, enriching its plot with elements of Ukrainian ethnography,Krys, Svitlana (2016) ‘[http://www.ewjus.com/index.php/ewjus/article/view/235 Book Review: Liudmyla Starytska-Cherniakhivska, The Living Grave: A Ukrainian Legend and Klym Polishchuk, Treasure of the Ages: Ukrainian Legends]’, EWJUS: East/West: Journal of Ukrainian Studies, Vol 3, No 2, pp. 213-215. including folklore.

During his lifetime only one collection of his writings was published, Baiky i Prybaiutky [Fables and Sayings] (1852), which brought him recognition as a storyteller. He also translated the poetry of Horace, Aleksandr Pushkin,{{cite book |title=Encyclopedia of Ukraine, Volume 4 |last=Kubiĭovych |first=Volodymyr |author2=Danylo Husar Struk |page=283 |year=1993 |publisher=University of Toronto Press |isbn=9780802030092 }} and Adam Mickiewicz,{{cite book |title=Adam Mickiewicz in world literature |last=Lednicki |first=Wacław |page=412 |year=1976 |publisher=Greenwood Press |isbn=9780837187655 }} compiled a Ukrainian dictionary, and collected Ukrainian folklore.[http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/display.asp?linkpath=pages%5CB%5CO%5CBorovykovskyLevko.htm Levko Borovykovsky] Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine. University of Toronto