The figure of a father plays a special role in the life of every person. For the classics of our literature - Ivan Kotliarevskyi, Volodymyr Korolenko and Panas Myrnyi - father's presence was not only an important factor in their personal development, but also a source of inspiration, moral guidance and deep artistic images. On Father's Day, we remember the fathers who became the first mentors for the classics of Ukrainian literature.
Ivan Kotliarevskyi: an example of nobility and chivalry
Ivan Kotliarevskyi's father, Petro Kotliarevskyi, was a nobleman by social status and served as a senior clerk of the Poltava City Magistrate. He had a brother, Yakiv, and two sisters, Agafia and Marfta. It is known that he married his elder sister at his own expense, while the younger one was supported and brought up by him.
In a marriage with a Reshetylivka Cossack Paraskoviia Zhukovska, Petro became the father of an only child, a son Ivan. The family had a noble background, although they lived modestly, but they had a respectful attitude to education, a love of the Ukrainian word and folk songs, and their cheerfulness helped them cope with difficulties.
Although Petro Kotliarevskyi did not have a high position, he was a hardworking and decent man. His life values - love for his native land, respect for traditions, respect for the people - had a significant impact on the formation of the worldview of the future famous writer and became the basis for the patriotic tone of his work.
Petro Kotliarevskyi passed away early, before reaching the age of forty, when Ivan was only 21. His mother lived to a ripe old age, supporting her son during important periods of his development.
Ivan Kotliarevskyi himself did not experience the joys of married life and did not leave behind any descendants, but he was destined to become the spiritual father of new Ukrainian literature, giving the nation the immortal " Aeneid", which began a new word in Ukraine.
Volodymyr Korolenko: father is the voice of conscience
Volodymyr Korolenko's father, Halaktion Korolenko (1810-1868), came from a Cossack family and was a strict, reserved, and reserved man. By 1858, he held the position of Zhytomyr district judge and had the rank of collegiate assessor. His integrity, exactingness, and public service significantly influenced the formation of the future writer's character and worldview. At the same time, despite the severity of his professional life, Halaktion showed kindness and care at home, and was an attentive and loving father.
The writer's mother, Evelina Skurewych, was 23 years younger than her husband and came from a Polish family, so little Volodymyr was brought up in the traditions of Polish culture, and he retained Polish as his mother tongue for the rest of his life. But the family happiness was short-lived: A few months before his retirement, Halaktion passed away prematurely, leaving his wife and five children alone in the face of needy life.
Despite the difficulties and losses, it was this restrained family atmosphere, imbued with high moral values, a deep sense of justice and a thirst for knowledge, that became Volodymyr Korolenko's first school of life. His father's severity and his mother's quiet resilience tempered his character, and his childhood memories of a destitute childhood, inequality and human misery would later come to life in his works, which were sincere, compassionate and full of faith in humanity.In turn, Volodymyr Korolenko, hardened by life and full of deep humanism, became an attentive and caring father to his two daughters, Sofia and Natalia. His fatherly love was full of wisdom and unconditional support, the same that he himself had lost so early in his childhood.
Panas Myrnyi: family roots and spiritual support
Panas Rudchenko was born in the city of Myrhorod in the Poltava region. His father, Yakiv, had Cossack roots: his ancestor served in the War of 1812 against Napoleon, where he rose to the rank of ensign, and after returning home he settled in the village of Bilyky, where he later acquired a small estate. His mother, Tetiana Hordynska, was the daughter of a collegiate registrar from the same area.
Yakiv Rudchenko started his career as a clerk, and later held the position of an accountant in the county treasury. He sincerely loved his job, had a deep understanding of it and performed his duties conscientiously. In raising his children (there were five in the family: four sons and a daughter), he was strict and reserved - his authority was so strong that the phrase ‘I'll tell my father’ had the weight of a real warning. In adulthood, all of his sons retained a deep respect for their father - for his hard work, integrity and equal treatment of each of them.
Yakiv Rudchenko sincerely believed that there was no more reliable path for his sons than public service: "A bureaucratic job is a sure piece of bread!" he said. And Panas fulfilled his father's will with dignity: almost half a century of honest work in the service of the state was crowned with the rank of full state councilor, a dignity equivalent to that of a general.
But Panas Myrnyi's soul yearned for something else. His true vocation was literature - deep, truthful, and sickened by the pain of the people.He served Ukraine with his pen no less devotedly than he did in his office, and he left behind not only a significant creative legacy, but also his father's love, which raised his three sons Viktor, Mykhailo, and Leonid.
The parents of Ukrainian classical writers were not only family figures but also spiritual guides. Their example, moral fortitude, and life principles became the basis for the formation of writers as individuals and artists. These figures left a mark not only in the souls of their children, but also in the heritage that became the property of the entire nation.
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