{"id":5399,"date":"2016-08-02T14:22:59","date_gmt":"2016-08-02T14:22:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/martinblack.com\/?p=5399"},"modified":"2016-11-13T17:19:58","modified_gmt":"2016-11-13T17:19:58","slug":"ukrainian-notes-ostap-vishnyas-crimean-cherry-smiles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/2016\/08\/ukrainian-notes-ostap-vishnyas-crimean-cherry-smiles\/","title":{"rendered":"Ostap Vyshnya&#8217;s Crimean Cherry Smiles"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>I found these wonderful book covers while browsing a\u00a0Ukrainian literary site <a href=\"http:\/\/litakcent.com\/\">\u041b\u0456\u0442 \u0430\u043a\u0446\u0435\u043d\u0442<\/a>\u00a0(&#8216;Lit accent&#8217;).<\/p>\n<div class=\"wc-gallery\"><div id='gallery-1' data-gutter-width='5' data-columns='2' class='gallery wc-gallery-captions-onhover gallery-link-none gallery-masonry galleryid-5399 gallery-columns-2 gallery-size-full wc-gallery-bottomspace-default wc-gallery-clear'><div class='gallery-item gallery-item-position-1 gallery-item-attachment-5545'>\n\t\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t\t<img width=\"404\" height=\"547\" src=\"https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/cherry-smile-1925.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/cherry-smile-1925.jpg 404w, https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/cherry-smile-1925-222x300.jpg 222w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 404px) 100vw, 404px\" \/>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div><\/div><div class='gallery-item gallery-item-position-2 gallery-item-attachment-5544'>\n\t\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t\t<img width=\"368\" height=\"477\" src=\"https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/cherry-smile-1926.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"Crimean cherry smile 1926\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/cherry-smile-1926.jpg 368w, https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/cherry-smile-1926-231x300.jpg 231w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 368px) 100vw, 368px\" \/>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The images accompanied an article, &#8216;<a href=\"http:\/\/litakcent.com\/2016\/07\/02\/lito-speka-more-krymnash\/\">\u041b\u0456\u0442\u043e, \u0441\u043f\u0435\u043a\u0430, \u043c\u043e\u0440\u0435<\/a>&#8216; (&#8216;summer, heat, sea&#8217;) about Ukrainian writers in the 1920s enjoying the delights of holidaying on the Crimean coast.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_5549\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-5549\" style=\"width: 180px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-5549\" src=\"http:\/\/martinblack.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Ostap_vishnya-Edited.jpg\" alt=\"Ostap Vishnya\" width=\"180\" height=\"266\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-5549\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ostap Vishnya<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The covers are from\u00a0the book &#8216;<strong>Crimean Cherry Smiles<\/strong>&#8216; by\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Ostap_Vyshnya\">Ostap Vyshnya<\/a>\u00a0, (1889 \u2013 1958) a Ukrainian &#8216;writer, humourist, satirist\u00a0and medical official&#8217;.<\/p>\n<p>Vyshnya was a member of what was later termed &#8216;<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Executed_Renaissance\">the Executed Renaissance<\/a>&#8216;, the generation of over 200 Ukrainian writers and artists of 1920s and early 1930s who were brutally executed, exiled and repressed by Stalin&#8217;s gang.<\/p>\n<p>Vyshnya&#8217;s\u00a0books sold in their millions and he was a much loved writer across Ukraine and the rest of the USSR. Apparently he was very popular with the peasantry, even those unable to read.<\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately, his fame, and &#8216;jests&#8217; at the expense of the political\u00a0classes, brought him to the attention of the\u00a0authorities.<\/p>\n<p>In 1933 Vyshnya was charged with &#8216;nationalism and plotting terrorist actions against the Party leadership&#8217; and condemned\u00a0to the gulag for ten years.<\/p>\n<p>He resumed his literary career in 1943 and was rehabilitated in 1955 . He died three years later in Kyiv.<\/p>\n<h2>Bits and pieces<\/h2>\n<p>Here&#8217;s a quote from Vyshnya&#8217;s\u00a0diaries that gives a good idea of the man:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Give me, Providence, strength, skill and talent and whatever else is needed to make my people, who work so hard, who live in hardship and sorrow, who suffer from uncertainty and doubt, smile!<\/p>\n<p>Even if my people, reading my stories, do not laugh heartily, bless me with a gift to give people creases of a smile instead of furrows of worry on their brow, give me an ability to kindle a little light of joy in their eyes which are filled with grief and gloom.<\/p>\n<p>And if I see such a smile on their faces and such a light in their eyes, it\u2019ll be the best pay for my efforts, and I\u2019ll feel happy in spite of all the hardships I\u2019ve lived through.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>On the &#8216;Welcome to Ukraine&#8217; website you can read an English translation of his short story &#8216;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.wumag.kiev.ua\/index2.php?param=pgs20081\/138\" target=\"_blank\">Hunting Season<\/a>&#8216;.<\/p>\n<p>Below is an amusing cartoon of\u00a0Vyshnya in Crimea.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_5543\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-5543\" style=\"width: 447px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-5543 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/martinblack.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Ostap-Cherry-on-holiday-in-Simeiz.jpg\" alt=\"Ostap Cherry on holiday in Simeiz\" width=\"447\" height=\"448\" srcset=\"https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Ostap-Cherry-on-holiday-in-Simeiz.jpg 447w, https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Ostap-Cherry-on-holiday-in-Simeiz-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Ostap-Cherry-on-holiday-in-Simeiz-300x300.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 447px) 100vw, 447px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-5543\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ostap on holiday in Simeiz, Crimea.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>I love this wonderful modernist illustration\u00a0of the start of holiday season.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_5542\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-5542\" style=\"width: 380px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-5542\" src=\"http:\/\/martinblack.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/The-holiday-season-begins-Caricature-Michael-Shcheglov.jpg\" alt=\"The holiday season begins - Caricature Michael Shcheglov\" width=\"380\" height=\"535\" srcset=\"https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/The-holiday-season-begins-Caricature-Michael-Shcheglov.jpg 380w, https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/The-holiday-season-begins-Caricature-Michael-Shcheglov-213x300.jpg 213w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 380px) 100vw, 380px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-5542\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The holiday season begins<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2>A further note on Crimea<\/h2>\n<p>When the great Russian people finally chase the tyrant Putin out of Moscow,\u00a0and hand Crimea back to Ukraine, I&#8217;ll visit Yalta, Simferopol\u00a0and\u00a0Simeiz. \u00a0Until then, I&#8217;ll make do with\u00a0enjoying Ostap Vyshnya.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Crimean Cherry Smiles<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5666,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[150],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5399"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5399"}],"version-history":[{"count":45,"href":"https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5399\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5919,"href":"https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5399\/revisions\/5919"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5666"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5399"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5399"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5399"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}