Mykhailo Starytsky

Mykhailo Petrovych Starytsky
Born	14 December 1840
Died	27 April 1904(1904-04-27) (aged 63)
Nationality	Ukrainian
Occupation(s)	Writer, poet, playwright
Notable work	Librettos for Ukrainian folk operas, poems, novels

Starytsky on a 2020 stamp of Ukraine

Mykhailo Petrovych Starytsky (Ukrainian: Михайло Петрович Старицький; 14 December 1840 – 27 April 1904), in English Michael Starycky, was a Ukrainian writer, poet, and playwright.

Biography

He was born in a family of retired cavalry officer (Rittmeister) Petro Starytsky and Anastasia Lysenko. He was a cousin of the famous Ukrainian composer Mykola Lysenko and father-in-law of Ivan Steshenko.

He was orphaned early in life and raised by Lysenko's father, so he was able to supply much of the information for the composer's biography. Starytsky wrote librettos, songs, stories, dramas and poems. Later in life, Starytsky worked with Lysenko, collecting Ukrainian folk songs and transforming them into plays and operas for which Starytsky wrote the librettos (including Taras Bulba, an adaptation of the novel by Gogol). He eventually switched from writing scripts for theatre to writing books. Starytsky is currently remembered for his work with Lysenko, as well as his later poetry and novels. He was buried at Baikove Cemetery in Kyiv.

External links

• Works by or about Mykhailo Starytsky at the Internet Archive
• Entry in Encyclopedia of Ukraine