Outstanding People of Ukraine

There are many famous people in Ukraine who have following not only in their own country but also in other parts of the world. Their achievements may encompass a variety of fields: religion, politics, war, art, theatre, literature, business, aeronautics, sports, etc. Here is a short list of people who left their traces in the history of our country.

Yaroslav the Wise (about 978-1054) – statesman, grand prince of Kyiv Rus.

Anna Yaroslavna (between 1024 and 1032-1075) – daughter of Prince Yaroslav the Wise. In 1060 she became a regent. Together with her son Fillip I she signed many documents that influenced the development of Kyiv Rus. Volodymyr Sviatoslavovych (?-1015) – grand prince of Kyiv (reigned in 980-1015). He completed the process of unification of the Eastern Slavic principalities into Kyiv Rus and introduced Christianity as a state religion.

Mykhailo Hrushevskyi (1866-1934) – outstanding statesman of Ukraine, Head of the Central Council in 1917-1918. He was a scientist of the International standard. More than two thousand of works on history, sociology, literature, ethnography and folklore issued from his pen.

Mykola Hohol (1809-1852) – writer, dramatist. He is one of the most complicated writers of the world. The books written by him are so mysterious that gain a great interest among millions of readers. Taras Shevchenko (1814-1861) – poet, artist. Talent works of Shevchenko is a unique phenomenon in the history of Ukrainian literature, spiritual culture in general and in the literary language as well. His poetry stated important social ideas of equality and fraternity of sovereign nations, formation of humane society, developing the best human beings’ qualities, attracting attention of people of Ukraine to the present and past of their homeland. Lesia Ukrainka (1871-1913) – poetess, translator. She is a highly respected person in Ukraine. She is a genius author who has created a great amount of masterpieces of poetry filled with love to Ukraine. The life of the poetess is a legendary deed of a wise and courageous woman.

Mykola Lysenko (1644-1709) – composer, pianist, pedagogue, chorus conductor, prominent public figure, creator of the Ukrainian classical music. Ivan Karpenko-Karyi (real surname Tobilevych; 1845-1907) – playwright, actor, prominent theatrical figure, one of the initiators of the Ukrainian theatre.

Illia Mechnykov (1845-1916) – biologist, one of the creators of embryology, comparative pathology, immunology and microbiology. He formulated theory of phagocytosis, investigated problems of immunity, inflammation, infectious diseases. For discovering phagocytosis (1882) he was awarded Nobel Prize in 1908. Ivan Puliui (1845-1918) was a famous Ukrainian physicist and electric engineer. He was championed as an early developer of X-ray machine prototype (14 years before Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen’s invention). He was the first one in the world practice who could manage to do an X-ray of a broken arm of dead-born child’s skeleton. Sergii Koroliov (1907-1966), born in Zhytomyr, was the most outstanding public figure of the 20^th century in space rocket production and shipbuilding. Olexander Shalimov (1918-2006) was a prominent surgeon, one of the founders of the Ukrainian surgery school. He invented new operation methods for digestive apparatus (for the first time in history he managed to transplant pancreas to diabetic), heart and oncological diseases. He headed the first in Ukraine heart transplantation operation. In 1998 the International Chamber of the American Biographical Institute recognized Shalimov as a Man of the Planet.

1. What statesman of Kyiv Rus introduced Cristianity as a state religion?

2. What was Mykhailo Hrushevskyi?

3. What writer is considered to be one of the most complicated and mysterious one?

4. What was Taras Shevchenko’s contribution to the Ukrainian literature?

5. Lessia Ukrainka is a prominent and highly respected poetess who has created a great amount of masterpieces, isn’t she?

6. Who was a creator of the Ukrainian classical music?

7. Was Ivan Karpenko-Karyi a playwright or a scientist?

8. What is Illia Mechnykov famous for?

9. What prominent Ukrainian physicist and electric engineer developed an X-ray machine prototype?

10. What Ukrainian surgeon was recognized as a Man of the Planet by the International Chamber of the American Biographical Institute?

Vocabulary and Speech Exercises

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