Ivan Franko

Who is Ivan Franko?

Ivan Yakovych Franko was born on 27 August 1856 in the village of Nahuievychi in Galicia, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, into a blacksmith's family. He became one of the most prolific and versatile figures in Ukrainian culture — a poet, novelist, playwright, translator, journalist, economist, and literary scholar who wrote in Ukrainian as well as Polish and German. He earned a doctorate from the University of Vienna in 1893. His major works include the philosophical poem 'Moses' (Мойсей, 1905), the historical tale 'Zakhar Berkut', and the novel 'Boa Constrictor'. Politically active, he co-founded the Ukrainian Radical Party and advocated for Ukrainian national and social rights. In 1916 he was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature, though he died on 28 May of that year in Lviv before the decision. The city of Ivano-Frankivsk and Lviv University are named in his honor.

Sources: Ivan Franko, 'Мойсей' (Moses), 1905 · Ivan Franko, 'Zakhar Berkut', 1883 · Encyclopedia of Ukraine (CIUS), entry 'Franko, Ivan'