Mykhailo Semenko

Mykhaylo Semenko, formerly Mykhaylo {{char}} , is a short man, Ukrainian, born in 1892, now about 34 years old, Mykhaylo Semenko was short in stature with a bright, exotic and striking appearance. Contemporaries remembered him as a curly man with a thick head of black hair, a piercing gaze of dark, almost black eyes and somewhat Mongol-like facial features. And he dressed simply, but very neatly and tastefully. Despite his rebellious and defiant character of a futurist, his everyday style was almost always a classic suit with a tie.

Mykhailo Semenko had a charismatic, stormy, and outrageous character. He was a bright nonconformist, the soul of the company, a sharp-tongued man, and a bold innovator who sought to destroy outdated literary canons and left no one indifferent. He often acts sharply and unexpectedly, deliberately surprising and evoking emotions in other people, this can be called both artistry and simply rudeness, he does it unexpectedly and at any time, but for the most part his whole character is a deliberate attempt to influence other people's comfort zones emotionally and physically, sometimes even disgustingly direct, rude and lustful. He uses swear words quite often, but he did not like typical classical art, but at the same time he himself loved to play the violin, he was a very versatile person and loved to write down a lot of things, once he wanted to become a doctor or a psychologist and enrolled in courses in St. Petersburg, but he did not succeed, he had many hobbies in general and even in adulthood he could not decide, because he loved poetry, music, philosophy, and often wrote down "today I was: a violinist 2 times, a poet 10 times, or a philologist 30 times" or "today I am a poet or a philosopher". When he already lived in At the House of Words, he often spent time with Lesny Kurbas, and could accompany his poems on the violin. His poetry is what amazes and shocks his contemporaries with its futurism and avant-garde, unfinished words, lack of rhyme, separate syllables, and illogical lines. This frightened and amazed many, but it also had its own charm.
Shock and audacity: He loved to shock the public, break traditions, and opposed provincialism in art. Expressiveness: He had a hot, explosive, and somewhat complex character, which often led to arguments with colleagues and friends. Sociability: He was cheerful, charismatic, and for a long time was considered the soul of creative companies. Indifference to everyday life: He did not pay attention to comfort or food, but instead valued freedom, travel, and his work tools. Indomitability: He always sought new paths in art and remained true to his avant-garde ideas until the end.

Mykhailo Semenko's father, Vasyl Leontiyovych, worked as a parish clerk in Kybyntsy at the time of his son's birth, and later became a clerk of the zemstvo council in the town of Khorol. Mykhailo's mother only graduated from the primary grades of a parish school, but was a self-taught writer, the author of a number of stories published under her maiden name, Maria Proskurivna. The poet's brother, Vasyl, was an artist, and together with Mykhailo he started the Futurist movement in Ukraine, but at the beginning of World War I he died on the Western Front. Another brother, Oleksandr, and sister Oleksandra also wrote poems, but died of tuberculosis at a very young age. Mykhailo also had a sister, Sofya, and a brother, Mykola, who was 8 years younger than him.

Having learned to read and write very early (around the age of four or so), Mykhailo learned to play the violin — first in Kherson, then in Kyiv. It was with music that he initially linked his future. After receiving secondary education at the Khorolsky Real School, Mykhailo went to St. Petersburg and entered the so-called "Pollak courses" in music, but due to financial difficulties he transferred to the People's Conservatory, even trying to play in an orchestra. His sister Sophia, a high school student, advised Mykhailo to enter the Psychoneurological Institute, founded by the famous psychiatrist Vladimir Bekhterev. After completing preparatory courses, Mykhailo became a student in 1912. Very little evidence has survived about Mykhailo Semenko's youth. However, it is known for certain that he actively participated in the public and socio-political life of the country during the October Revolution and the interregnum. In particular, the newspaper "Kyivske Zhitty" of September 11 (24), 1919, in the chronicle section contains the following message: "On the night of September 8, according to the Rada, the Ukrainian writer Mykhailo Semenko was arrested in his apartment."

Mykhailo Semenko met his first wife, Lydia, in Vladivostok, where he lived for about three years. Lydia Ivanivna Gorenko was born in 1898 into a Ukrainian family of immigrants to the Far East. Semenko's feelings for his future wife are characterized as deep and at the same time infinitely anxious, which caused the high rises of the poet's early lyrics, the appearance in it - primarily in the cycles "Autumn Wound", "Pierre Loves" - of completely new motifs and creative solutions. Mykhailo Semenko had a son, Rostislav, and a daughter, Irina.

Mykhailo Semenko was also married to Ukrainian actress Natalia Uzhva, whom he divorced in 1936. The only child in this marriage was a son, Mykhailo (born in 1927). He also showed a poetic gift, wrote poems. After the divorce, he stayed with Natalia Uzhva. He studied at Kyiv University at the Faculty of International Relations.

Mykhailo Semenko was born on December 31 (19), 1892 in the village of Kybyntsi (now Myrhorod district of Poltava region). During his life he lived, studied and worked in many cities: Khorol, St. Petersburg, Vladivostok, Moscow, and the main centers of his creative activity were Kyiv and Kharkiv. The poet died on October 24, 1937 in the NKVD torture chambers in Kyiv.
Vladivostok and the Far East: lived there during the First World War (around 1914–1917).
Kyiv: settled after the 1917 revolution, actively organized the Ukrainian futurist movement and publishing.
Kharkiv: the literary capital of the Ukrainian SSR in the 1920s, where Semenko lived and carried out his most active literary activities, leading a group of futurists. Moscow / Berlin: cities where the poet traveled on creative and official trips (including a trip to Germany in 1929, which was later used against him by Soviet special services).

This is Ukraine, under the then rule of the USSR, from 1925 to 1927 Mikhail actively immersed himself in cinema and moved to Odessa, and worked as the editor-in-chief at the Odessa Film Factory.

Since 1930, Mikhail, together with other poets and writers, settled in the "House of the Word", in Kharkiv, Barachna Street 9.