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20 WWW. UNWLA.ORG “НАШЕ ЖИТТЯ”, КВІТЕНЬ 2014 sympathy for her people suffering from national and social oppression under the tsarist regime. As the daughter of intellectuals, she was exposed to both Ukrainian and European literature so that her own writing was influenced not only by Ukrainian writers such as Taras Shevchenko and Pavlo Chubynsky but also by authors such as William Shakespeare, Jules Verne, and Lord Byron. Add i- tionally, her character and her views were formed under the influence of Ukrainian folk traditions and the cultural greats who frequented her family home. Her closest friends were individuals such as Mykola Lysenko, a Ukrainian composer, Mykhailo Starytsky, one of the founders of Ukrainian the a- ter, and her uncle, the historian Mykhailo Draho- manov. Her first poem, written at the age of 9, e n- titled Hope, was her reaction to her aunt’s arrest and exile to Siberia for her involvement in the Ukrainian national liberation movement, a polit i- cal movement against tsarist Russia. At the age of 13, her poem Lilly of the Valley was published in a journal in L’viv. By the age of 17, the diagnosis of tuberculoses forever changed the course of her life. Traveling extensively to visit diverse med i- cal facilities and regions with warmer and dryer climates that included the Crimea, Austria, Italy, and even Egypt, Lesya focused more directly on her writing. She read extensively and wrote and shared her literary experiences with her brother Mykhailo. Her travels afforded her a richness of exposure to other cultures which she embraced while retaining her Ukrainian soul. Her writing clearly reflects an incorporation of her observ a- tions and astute impressions. She wrote prolifically and joined a literary circle, the Pleiades, a group devoted to the development of Ukrainian literature and the translation of world literary classics into the Ukrainian language. Women like Lesya Ukrainka were and r e- main groundbreakers. They did not allow anyone to tell them that they could not accomplish their dreams or that being a woman hindered them in any way. Her travels for health reasons provided her with the opportunity to study the history, la n- guage, culture and way of life of every place she visited. She was fluent in many foreign languages and even read classical literature in its original languages. She strove to thoroughly acquaint her people with world culture by arranging a world library series, the Ukrainian Reader . Perhaps her greatest legacy to Ukrainian literature is her dramatic poetry written in the form of philosophical dialogues. In these dialogues, she engages the reader by probing at a high level of sophistication the themes of national freedom, and particularly freedom for Ukraine, human dignity, and personal integrity. Her poetry focusing on the prisoners in Babylon served to symbolize the i m- prisonment of Ukrainians within the Russian E m- pire. Her dramatic works are a critical call to h u- manity to throw off the tyranny of oppression. She resolutely engaged in opposition to tsarism leading to her arrest, detainment, and continued survei l- lance by tsarist authorities after her release. Lesya Ukrainka’s drama, Lisova Pisnya or the Forest Song , evokes images that are vivid and offers what some scholars believe is an intimate reflection of her very soul. Her life was an example of intense courage, and the elements of sorrow and misfortune permeate her poetry. Despite the cha l- lenges and difficulties she experienced, she never gave up on her motto, the title of one of her poems and one of my favorites, Contra Spem Spero , or Hope against All Odds, which instills hope in the reader and reflects the depth of the strength she possessed. As a historian, I believe the study of history is a dialogue between the past and the present. We must continue to document and outline the lives of women like Lesya to ensure, as the “Father of Hi s- tory,” the Greek Herodotus stated, “that the deeds of men do not fall into decay”─and now, likewise, the deeds of women. I challenge all of you to continue to read and promote Lesya Ukrainka’s work s to ensure that her vision, her life, and her writing were not in vain. The challenge I present to you is that we con- tinue to revere her poetry and writings and teach this admiration to each generation of Ukrainian youth, but that it would not stop there. Her poetry, based on folk traditions and imbued with advanced social and aesthetic ideas, makes her a poetess of international caliber. For her legacy to come full circle, we must extend knowledge of Lesya Ukrain- ka beyond our Ukrainian community─so that pr o- fessors when establishing their content for world literature and poetry classes include the writings of Lesya in their lesson plans, so that the broader community becomes familiar with her talent. Only then will Lesya have a permanent place in history. Lesya raised her voice through her writing in defense of human dignity and human rights. Her literary legacy mirrors the richness of the e x- posure to culture which she received in her home and of her heritage. She completed an enormous body of work by the time of her death at the age of 42 in 1913. And for those of us who have the ears to hear, her beautiful poetic voice, mirrored in her literary legacy, has the richness of nuance and depth of feeling that resonates beyond all artificial borders. We applaud you, Lesya Ukrainka.
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