Dokiya Humenna
Dokiya Humenna Докія Гуменна | |
|---|---|
| Born | Гуменна Докія Кузьмівна March 10, 1906 Zhashkiv, Cherkasy Oblast, Ukraine |
| Died | April 4, 1996 (aged 92) New York, United States |
| Occupation | Writer |
| Nationality | Ukrainian |
Download books of Dokiya Humenna or buy them on amazon
Dokiya Humenna (Ukrainian: До́кія Кузьмі́вна Гуменна́, March 10, 1904 – April 4, 1996) was a Ukrainian and Ukrainian American writer, one of the most prolific authors of the literary Ukrainian diaspora.
Biography
Dokiya Humenna (Докія Гуменна) was born on 10(23) March 1904 in the village of Zhashkiv Kiev Oblast (now Cherkasy region). She was born to a peasant family (line of her father Kuzma Humenny). Mother, Dariya Kravchenko, came from an impoverished noble family. Humenna graduated from two grades school, studied in Zvenygorodska gymnasium. In 1920 she entered a pedagogical school in Stavyshche. Then she studied literature at the University of Kiev, graduating in 1926.
Her first literary essay "U Stepu" (In the Steppe, 1924) secured her a place in the major Soviet Ukrainian literary magazines, and she joined the union of rural writers «Pluh» ("The Plough"). Humenna's cyclus of essays and novels Lysty z Stepovoyi Ukrainy (Letters from the Ukraine Steppe, 1928-1929), Strelka kolebletsja (The Arrow is Oscillating, 1930), Kampanija (“The Campaign”) and «Eh, Kuban Ty Kuban Khliborodnaya» (Eh, Cuban, corny Cuban!», 1929) were published in the magazines Pluh and Chervonyi shlyah, and described the decline of Ukrainian life and culture. These works provoked harsh censure from the Soviet regime. Humenna wasn’t admitted to the newly created Union of the writers of Ukraine and she was silenced, although she escaped more dire punishment.
Writer had to work as a secretary, a stenographist in Kiev institutions, she set out archeological expeditions. In 1937 she participated in archeological expedition during excavations of Tripoli culture settlements in Kiev. In 1940 she published a short story, "Virus," which led to another round of harsh criticism.
In the years of Great Terror, Dokiya Humenna had to keep silence until of the World War II. In 1943 she was forced to emigrate, she went on foot to Lviv, where she contributed to the local journals. After the World War II she emigrated to Austria and Germany. During her internment in displaced persons’ camps in 1946-1949, she joined the artistic-literary organization Mystetsky Ukrainsky Rukh (MUR). Humenna also published the collection "Kurkulska Viliya" (1946) and embarked on her famous four-volume work, Dity Chumatskoho Shliakhu ("Children of the Milky Way", 1948-1951), which she completed after moving to the United States for permanent residence in 1950. She became a U.S. citizen in 1959. Humenna was active in Ukrainian American organizations. In the United States she started to arrange her literary works which she had not been able to print in Ukraine. Having moved to the United States, Dokiya Humenna continued active literary work. She is the author of more than 20 books that put her among the most fruitful writers of the Ukrainian diaspora.
The writer was interested in the history and archeology of Ukraine and ancient art. She was also interested in discovering the origin of spiritual life of her ancestors. Humenna's abiding interest in feminism, prehistoric life, mythology and archaeology are evident in works such as "Mana" ("Delusion", 1952), "Velyke Tsabe" ("The Great Tsabe", 1952, an accessible exposition of Trypillian culture), "Zolotyi Pluh" ("The Golden Plough", 1968) and others. Her travels are reflected in the collection of essays "Bahato Neba" ("A Lot of Sky", 1954) and "Vichni Vohni Alberty" ("The Eternal Flames of Alberta", 1959), and in the short stories in "Sered Khmarosiahiv" ("Among the Skyscrapers", 1962). Humenna was directly involved in the creation of the Association of Ukrainian writers "Slovo".
Dokiya Humenna died on April 4th in 1996 in apartment - studio for 1 Avenue in Manhattan, New York. She was buried at the St. Andrew Ukrainian Orthodox Cemetery in South Bound Brook, New Jersey, United States.
References
This article "Dokiya Humenna" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Dokiya Humenna. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.
|
This page exists already on Wikipedia. |
