THE KYIV MOHYLA ACADEMY AND REVIVAL OF TRANSLATION ACTIVITIES IN UKRAINE

A considerable intensification was witnessed in Ukrainian trans­lation during the seventeenth century, which was influ­enced by the initial activities in the Kyiv Mohyla Academy. Thus, in the first half of the seventeenth century there appeared translations from the Greek (G.Nazianzinus' works, trans­lated by Skulskyi and D.Nalyvaiko) and from Latin (L.A.Seneca's works) translated by K.Sakovych. These translations were of higher quality though they were mostly free adaptations.

The seventeenth century in Ukraine was also marked by regular versifications of prominent Italian and Polish poets

During the second half of the seventeenth century after the domi­nation over Ukraine was divided between Russia and Poland translation practically survived only in the Kyiv Mohyla Academy.

Active for some time was Symeon Polotskyi (1629-1680), who left a small number of free versifications of Polish Psalms written by P Kokhanowski, and D.Tuptalo (1651-1709), who translated some poems of anonymous Polish poets

No less active at the beginning of his literary career was also the Mohyla Academy lecturer Feophan Prokopovych

The official Russian language eventually took the upper hand. As a result, even the great philosopher H.Skovoroda had to perform his essentially free translations more in Russian than in bookish Ukrainian

TRANSLATION AND TRANSLATORS DURING THE LATE 19th - EARLY 20th CENTURIES

During the period of Czarist suppressions of Ukrainian literature many outstanding Ukrainian translations could not be published. This hap­pened to versifications of Homer's Iliad and the Odyssey by O.Navrots'kyi, Nishchyns'kyi, O.Potebnya, I. Franko, Lesya Ukrainka and some other translators. There was soon felt a general upsurge in the domain of literary translation during the second half of the nineteenth century in the Austro-Hungarian (Western) part of Ukraine. There translations or rather free adaptations began to appear at first in magazines and journals Dzvin, Zorya, Bukovyna, Dilo and others. Somewhat later, during the 1870's, larger works of West European and American authors in Ukrainian translation came off the press.

The outstanding poet, author, literary critic, editor and lexicographer Borys Hrinchenko accomplished translations, which were mostly shortened versions of the originals, from works of German and Austrian classical authors

A place of high honour belongs to the greatest Ukrainian polyglot (over 60 European and also Arabic, Persian and other languages), who was a prominent linguist and poet Ahatangel Krymskyi. He was the first to acquaint the Ukrainian readers with the greatest Persian and Tadjik poets Hafiz, Rudaki, Saadi, Firdousi and others. Apart from Eastern belles-lettres A.Krymskyi translated also the poetic works of English (Byron), German (Heine), Russian (Kol'tsov, Nekrasov) and other European poets.

TRANSLATION DURING THE YEARS

OF UKRAINE'S INDEPENDENCE (1917-1921)

AND EARLY SOVIET RULE

The most outstanding translator of poetic works was Mykola Zerov - he improved and successfully applied new, effective methods of faithful versification. Among Zerov's accomplish­ments were several brilliant translations of works by ancient Greek, Roman and West European poets (Catullus, Virgil, Horace, Propertius, Ovid, and Martial) and was published in the Anthology of Roman Poets (Kyiv, 1920

A noticeable event in the history of Ukrainian translation during that period was the appearance of Italian belles-lettres - G.Boccaccio's Decameron, translated by LPakharevskyi and P.Mokhor (1928). This translation was followed by another outstanding work- R.Giovagnoli's Spartacus (1930) in P.Mokhor's translation.

TRANSLATION AND TRANSLATORS IN POST-WAR

UKRAINE. THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE

PRINCIPLES OF FAITHFUL TRANSLATION

The third periodin Soviet Ukrainian translation was also marked by the common understanding of the need for higher standard of artistic requirements, which were finally put before all translators by noted literary critics in the late 1950's. It was then that many regular samples of faithfully translated works of great foreign literary masters were published. This inspired the succeeding generation of post-war translators to follow the fine example of Ryl'skyi, Lukash, Mysyk, Tereshchenko, Borys Ten, and others. The older generation of translators, were represented by Maksym Ryl'skyi who has created highly skilled poetic versifications from Polish (A.Mickiewicz's, Yu.Slowacki's and Yu.Tuwim's major works) and Russian (works of Pushkin, Lermontov, Fet, Blok, Voloshyn). But undoubtfully the greatest number of smaller and larger poetic works were translated from French: J.PMolliere's Tartuffe, The Marriage of Figaroby , The Misanthrope and the Virgin of Orleans by F- M.Voltaire. Ryl'skyi has also translated some English poets (Shakespeare). Among the first-rate masters of the pen is also Valerian Pidmohyl'nyi (1901-1938), a prominent Ukrainian prose writer and translator. He succeeded in recreating several masterpieces of French belles-lettres, among them being The Prison by P. Amp, Candidby D.Diderot, Letters from the Windmillby A.Daudet, Colomba by PMerimee, works by J.Verne and J.Romanis.