Mikhail Kalnitskiy - historian
Special for Prime excursion burau ltd.
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The building of the National Academic Ivan Franko Drama Theatre is in the same name square near Khreshchatyk. Not long ago it turned 111 years old, which is quite an age for buildings of old Kyiv. But intense historical memory and great significance for development of theatrical art in Ukraine makes the theatre building in Ivan Franko square one of the most interesting Kyiv relics.
As far back as the end of the 19th century the site of the present square was the grounds under a steep hill of Bankova St. with hot and green houses and a big pond which in the winter time became a skating rink, very popular among Kyivans. |
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The building of the Ivan Franko Drama Theatre nowadays
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It was part of the so-called Mering’s estate which belonged to the famous Kyiv doctor, professor Fedir Mering.
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When he died in 1887 his descendents decided to sell a vast estate in the city centre to the especially established in 1895 joint stock building company whose head became professor Mering’s son Michael.
During 1895-1896 the company coordinated with the local authorities a layout of four streets and one square on the estate grounds. The square on the site of the pond was called in honour of the ruling monarch Nicholas the 2nd – Mykolayivska.
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Mering’s estate. Photo of the 1880s.
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| George Schleifer |
Mykola Solovtsov |
Edward Bradtman |
| Unfortunately Solovtsov died early and his widow, the actress Mariya Glebova-Fedorova worked as an impresario until 1905, then – the other theatre figures. Among favourite actors with the Kyiv public was Yevhen Nedelin who was considered the best in Russia as a performer of the part of Napoleon. |
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Solovtsov’s Theatre. Postcard about 1900 |
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| Yevhen Nedelin in the part of Napoleon |
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Actress Olena Polevytska |
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At The Solovtsov theatre were regularly arranged tours of renowned theatres such as the Moscow Artistic Theatre led by Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko. During the Kyiv tour in 1900 there performed the brilliant ballerina Anna Pavlova.
In 1902 the theatre building was bought by the sugar tycoon Lev Brodsky who received rent from impresarios.
In the square in front of the theatre was installed the series cast-iron fountain (1900-1901) around which a small park was laid out. The theatre and the park formed a composition.
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| Solovtsov Theatre and the park in Mykolayivska Square. Postcard of about 1910. |
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The theatre was nationalized by the Soviet power in 1918 being converted to The Second Theatre of the Ukrainian Soviet Republic named after V. Lenin. The core of the troupe were Solovtsov’s actors.
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| Konstantin Mardzhanov (Mardzhanishvili) – the renowned director |
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Vera Yureneva as Laurencia in Lope de Vega’s (Fuente Ovekhuna (The Sheep’s Well). |
Because of the further political instability the troupe gradually broke up.
For some time in the season of 1925-1926 there was the Berezil theatre troupe there led by the outstanding actor and director Les Kurbas. But in 1926 the Berezil theatre moved to the then capital of Ukraine - Kharkiv. Instead to Kyiv came the Ivan Franko Ukrainian Drama Theatre where it has been in the building until now.
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| The I.Franko Theatre. Foto made in the end of the 1920s |
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Natalia Uzhviy in the performance “Snowball-tree Grove |
During WWII the theatre was in evacuation. First in Russia, then in Central Asia, Tashkent.
In the meantime in Septemder 1941 the main street Khreshchatyk suffered from a series of explosions that destroyed nearby central streets as well.
There is a belief that the theatre was supposed to be destroyed but the destruction was prevented by the deed of the old worker of the theatre Tadey Mohyla. He saw that the building had been mined and at night he secretly cut the wire.
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| Amvrosiy Buchma in Makar Dibrova |
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Mykola Yakovchenko |
Extremely popular with the theatre viewers was the brilliant comedian Mykola Yakovchenko.
Even today, long after his death, there circulate jokes and relations about his wittiness and addiction to alcohol…
In the latest period is established The Theatre in the Foyer.
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| Commemorative plaque in honour of Hnat Yury |
Commemorative plaque in honour of D. Milyutenko |
Monument to Mykola Yakovchenko |
On October 11, 1994 the theatre received the status of the National one. The present generation of actors whose brilliant representatives are Bohdan Stupka (an actor and a chief director), Nataliya Sumska, Anatoliy Khostikoyev and others are worthy followers of their predecessors.
The actor and the performer of his own songs Alexander Vertinsky, whose childhood and youth were spent in Kyiv, recalled about significant influence of this theatre onto young people noting how young students were waiting for actors coming out of the theatre and how they seemed to them half-Gods.
And in memoirs of another famous Kyiv boy the writer Konstantin Paustovsky it is mentioned how they, students, were waiting for the charming actress Polevitska to carry her in their arms after a performance finished.
But shortly afterwards another impresario took over – M. Solovtsov who in 1891 in Kyiv founded the first stationary Russian drama theatre.
With some complications related to underground waters and complex drainage the theatre was built and consacrated in October 1898 in presence of governor general Dragomirov.
It must be admitted that building the theatre they sought to economize funds: they, for instance, refused a magnificent front staircase. The facades were executed in the neo-Greek style; and even though exteriors were not too grandiose, as contemporaries noted, interiors were admirable.
According to the concept of the impresario of the burnt theatre Palmira Setova-Setgofer the stalls could be converted to the circus arena. Such concept was most likely connected with Mrs. Setova’s past as a circus rider.
It was there that the Company decided to build for their own money a new theatre building since there was a lack of such buildings due to the 1896 fire of the City Municipal Theatre and in the same year the construction started after the design of the renowned Kyiv architects George Schleifer and Edward Bradtman.
12.08.2011 A million dollars for “the fifth element”: charming native of Kiev Milla Yovovich
Inessa BLYUM, journalist
Specially for “Prime Excursion Bureau”
Her full name is written in different ways in various sources. Or rather names, to be more exact. Militsa Bogdanovna (or Borgievna) in Russian and Ukrainian tradition, Militsa Natasha in Montenegrin tradition of her father, nice girl Milla and the Hollywood rescuer of the humanity — all these definitions are true for the native of Kiev Milla Yovovich.
19.07.2011 Sister-cities of Kyiv
Evgeniy SKIBIN, pathfinder
Specially for “Prime Excursion Bureau”
April 28 is the World Day of Sister-cities. There exist two versions about the appearance of the phenomenon. The first one points out the initiative of veterans of the French Resistance in 1957 when in Paris the first international non-governmental organization – the World Federation of Sister-cities was established.
13.07.2011 The Monument to the Founders of Kyiv
Inessa BLYUM, journalist
Specially for “Prime Excursion Bureau”
Kiev has many symbols, starting from St. Sophia`s Cathedral and St. Andre`s Church to the bell tower of Kiev Pechersk Lavra and the Motherland Mother monument. “Ladya” — the monument to the founders of Kiev: brothers Kiy, Schek, Khoriv and their sister Lybid — has been on this list for three decades. This monuments doesn`t just embody the old legend. It holds its special place in the capital...
14.04.2011 Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of Denmark in Ukraine Uffe BALSLEV: “WE HAVE BROUGHT “FAIRY-TALES” OF THE STATE OF DENMARK TO UKRAINE”
For many Ukrainians Denmark is associated with the image of a fairy-tale country. Not only because this oldest kingdom in the world gave humanity the great author of fairy-tales Hans Christian Andersen and the magic Mermaid, who meets guests on the seaboard of Danish capital Copenhagen and has become the unofficial symbol of the country. What surprises most is the miraculous combination of monarchy, democracy, market economy and real socialism — the subject of national pride of Danes.
25.03.2011 Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of France in Ukraine Jacques FAURE: “I MEET COSSACK IVAN SIRKO ALMOST EVERY DAY…”
The French Embassy in Ukraine is located quite near St. Sophia`s Cathedral. Let`s turn over other common pages in the history of our two countries together with the Head of the Diplomatic Mission — the Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of French Republic in Ukraine Jacques FAURE.
07.02.2011 Hard destiny of the residence: the main palace of the capital and peripetias of its “life”
Inessa BLYUM, journalist.
Specially for “Prime Excursion Bureau”.
When Empress Elizaveta Petrovna, who must have been the only Russian ruler, who treated Ukraine with respect, decided to build her palace in the city, it froze in expectation. The former capital of the Rus land finally got a chance to become governmental residence again. But these intentions were not realized…
18.01.2011 Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of Bulgaria in Ukraine Dimitar VLADIMIROV: “INTERTWINED FATES OF OUR NATIONS CAN BE RETRACED FROM DISTANT PAST”
Every year on the 1st of March with great constancy Bulgarians pin so-called “martenica” – a little interlacement of white and red threads in bright tracery with a heart or a flower - to their clothes. Such tradition has been well-known only in Bulgaria for a long time. Although it is respected by all Bulgarians throughout the country, but most attention is paid to it by peasants – probably, it is them, who go through biggest difficulties in the epoch of changes at all times. That is why from times immemorial local peasants decorate even animals in their farmsteads with red and white threads of “martenica”: this serves evidence and hope that new spring, new changes in nature will bring joy and prosperity into the house.
06.01.2011 Defense Attaché of the Embassy of Switzerland in Ukraine Christoph BROON: “EACH CITY AND REGION IN UKRAINE OFFERS MUCH INTERESTING TO THOSE, WHO ARE ORIENTED TO LEARN MORE IN THE FIELD OF GEOGRAPHY, CULTURE AND HISTORY”
Switzerland is real paradise in the center of Europe. The country, associated with such notions as bank system, watches, chocolate, knives and ski resorts, attracts as the place of respectable pastime, a cozy area with high level of life, where, from the point of view of an ordinary Ukrainian, people live, wallowing in luxury. What do Swiss think about our country? How do they imagine Ukraine? What do they feel when they come here?
27.12.2010 Apostolic Nuncio in Ukraine Ivan YURKOVICH: “PEOPLE SHOULD BE GIVEN GUARANTEES OF THE DIGNITY, WHICH THEY WERE ENDOWED WITH BY THE CREATOR”
Present-day Vatican, turning the eyes of its laymen towards tomorrow, often repeats Apostle Pavel`s words: “We are saved in hope”. And explains them: we obtain certain sense in hope. According to the Pope Benedict the Sixth, realization of dreams of Christianity is only possible outside “the prison of “I”, only within the unity called “we”. And if it is true, than our attention should be paid to the fact that in process of development of civilization there appears greater risk because of inadequacy of adoption of moral heritage of humanity by new generations. That is why it is so important to warn the world that “moral growth of humanity is necessary for progress to be real progress”.
20.12.2010 Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of Finland Christer MICKELSON: “SUCCESS OF FINNISH PROSPERITY WAS DETERMINED BY LIBRARIES AND SYSTEM OF EDUCATION”.
Almost a hundred years ago we lived in one state. Today Ukraine and Finland are separated not only by years, but by substantial distance in level of life of the two nations. Nowadays, Finland is one of the most developed countries of the world with the high level of income per head. And although its part in world production is not big, but it takes one of the first places in the world in size of gross national product (over 20 thousand $ per year).
18.12.2010 Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of Republic of Cuba in Ukraine Felix Leon CARBALLO: “WE ACTUALLY CAME FROM DIFFERENT SHIPS AND BUILT A SHIP OF OUR OWN – NATIONAL”
It seems not long ago that no New Year passed for us without mentioning distant Cuba. Each time it felt like we entered a new year with cheerful smile of Cubans. On the Island of Liberty much was told about the 1st of January – Liberation Day in holiday editions of local newspapers, radio and TV. Unfortunately, the tradition of common New Year has perished. But many Ukrainians keep good and grateful memories about the island of Cuba − a “ship” in endless ocean.
18.09.2010 “The city of a hundred thousand roses”
Vladimir CHERNOV, journalist.
Specially for “Prime Excursion Bureau”.
Cities are much like people: there are not two similar ones in the world and some have pseudonyms along with their names. So, Sumy is called “City over Psel” and “city of a hundred thousand roses”. About 200 years ago, in this comparably small regional center tens of thousands of these tender flowers really delighted everybody with their odor. Then there came times, when local authorities neglected flowerbeds and loans and roses disappeared. But the pseudonym “the city of a hundred thousand roses” survived.
25.05.2010 Mystical places of Kiev
Mikhail KALNITSKIY, historian.
Specially for “Prime Excursion Bureau”.
The most famous site in Kiev for performing different weird witches’ Sabbaths in Slavonic folklore is likely Lysaya Hora (Bald Hill). At the same time it is acknowledged that its “classical” location is under Kiev. Even in the respectable prerevolutionary paper Kiyevlyanin one could read: “According to a popular belief on Bald Hill in Kiev witches from all over the world gather to celebrate, together with vampires, a Sabbath and ride in the air..; here new witches get acquainted with old ones and learn various magic from them”.
10.12.2009 Khersones Taurical
Lidiya ZOTOVA, journalist.
Specially for “Prime Excursion Bureau”.
Khersones is a unique coastal natural monument at the Crimean foothill. Khersones was founded in 422-421 B.C. by Heracliots who had come from the south Black Sea coast city. It was called Khersones Taurical (from the Greek 'Chersoneses' − a peninsular). The Greeks named the whole region (modern Crimea) after its inhabitants, the Tauri.
04.12.2009 Gogol in Kiev
Mikhail Kalnitskiy, historian,
Special for Prime Excursion Bureau ltd.
In the autumn of 1831 the first part of “Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka” was published. At first sight the book resembled fashionable at that time “gothic novels” with devil, ghosts and other mystical things. But all this was enveloped in such vivid setting and with such wittiness that compositors were said to giggle while working. T
The building of the National Academic Ivan Franko Drama Theatre
