Ostap Vyshnya
Ukrainian writer, satirist, humorist Pavlo Hubenko (his pennames are Ostap Vyshnya, Pavlo Hrunsky) was born in Mykhailo Hubenko’s peasant family on November 13, 1889 on the croft of Chechva, Zinkiv County, Poltava Governorate (now, village of Hrun, Sumy region).
He got primary education at Zinkiv two-grade school where his classmate was a future famous poet, translator Mykola Zerov. In 1907 he In 1907 Hubenko graduated from a military feldsher school whereupon he worked as a feldsher for ten years. In 1917 he studied at Kyiv University.
He first worked as a medical attendant at the 168th Mirgorod Infantry Regiment quartered in Kyiv, then in the railway hospital, and finally, in late 1917, he switched over to the sanitary administration of the Ministry of Ways of the UPR (Ukrainian People's Republic). He was evacuated in Kamianets-Podilskyi together with the Ministry staff. Hubenko left medicine there and began to contribute to “People’s Will” Socialist-Revolutionary Party newspaper and then to “Labor Community” newspaper.
In early 1920 Pavlo returned to Kyiv. He worked as a language editor in “Knyhospilka” publishing house. In October 1920 Hubenko was arrested and deprived of liberty for three years, but upon the request of V. Blakytny he was soon liberated from a concentration camp. Afterwards Pavlo worked for newspapers “VUTsVK News” (All-Ukrainian Central Executive Committee Gazette) and “Selyanska Pravda” (Rural Truth), Red Pepper satiric magazine, published his works in almost every periodicals of the Ukrainian S.S.R.
Hubenko has never belonged to any political party. He was a member of the literary groups such as “Prolitfront” and “Literary Fair”, was included in the Presidium of the Organizing Committee of Writer’s Union of Ukraine in 1932.
Since 1917 Pavlo Hubenko engaged in literary activities, wrote numerous feuilletons and humoresques. In 1928 the first edition of his “Smiles” (Feuilletons) in 4 vol. went out into the world. Over 150 books of pamphlets, short stories, satirical miniatures came out in separate editions. Among them, “Heavenly Deeds” (1923), “Fun things to one person, sad things to another”, “Small burs” (1924), “Vyshnya's Feuilletons Rural”, “Vyshnya's Feuilletons Crimean” (1925), "For both bread crops to grow and for cattle to breed”, “Facing the village” (1926), “Vyshnya's Feuilletons Cooperative” (1927), “What people are, indeed!”, “Vyshnya's Feuilletons Foreign” (1930), “Feuilletons” (vol. 1-4, 1948) and others. In the postwar time his books “Self-dependant Hole” (1945), “Anti-aircraft gun” (1947), “The spring laughs” (1949), “Vyshnya's Feuilletons” (1950), “The Collective Farm Wisdom” (1952), “Bless you!”(1955 ), Works in 2 vol. (1956), “Hello, hello” (1957), “Hunters’ Feuilletons” (1958), Works in 7 vol. (1963-1964), Works in 5 vol.
On December 26, 1933 Vyshnya was arrested on a charge of terrorism as though he intended to assassinate Postyshev, the Secretary of the Central Committee of Communist Party (Bolsheviks). Inquiry Group Assistant Commissioner Goldman of Secret Political Department of GPU of the UkrSSR had examined the materials that accused P. Hubenko of “belonging to the Ukrainian counter-revolutionary organization striving to overthrow the Soviet power by staging a military coup” and considered that his stay at large was dangerous. Therefore the commission headed by him decided on December 25, 1933: “to select his detention in the GPU special building as a preventive measurement against his avoiding the trial.” The arrest warrant for him was given by the chief Balytsky of GPU of the UkrSSR in person. GPU employee Shcherebov undertook a domiciliary visit on Ostap Vyshnya’s flat located in Slovo block of flats of Writer’s Union of Ukraine and took the writer into custody on December 25, 1933.
During the first interrogation conducted by the operative authorized officer Bordon on January 3, 1934 Ostap Vyshnya “confessed” that he had carried out counter-revolutionary activities in the literary field. Later on, he gave evidence that he had supposedly participated in the discussion of the matters related to the arrangement of terrorist acts and “agreed” to assassinate Second Secretary Postyshev of the Central Committee of the Communist Party (Bolshevik) of Ukraine.
As a result, the prosecution suggested a three-judge court “troika” to take the highest social security step, shooting, towards him under Articles 54-8 and 54-11 of the Criminal Code of the UkrSSR. The court “troika” imposed that sentence on February 23, 1934. However, the OGPU Collegium during the court hearing on March 3, 1934 replaced the execution with ten years’ imprisonment in a corrective labor camp, considering December 7, 1933 as commencement of the term of imprisonment. Ostap Vyshnya served the term in town of Ukhta, Komi Autonomous S.S.R. His faithful wife Varvara Maslyuchenko followed her husband to Ukhta. After some time, she was taken back into Ukraine, and the writer was carried to another camp.
Special council at the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs of the USSR considered the case of Ostap Vyshnya on September 25, 1943 and adopted the resolution as follows: “By changing the resolution of the OGPU Collegium of March 3, 1933 it is to reduce the term of sentence of Pavlo Hubenko down to the actually served one and to release him from custody.” The writer has read and understood the ruling on October 7, 1943, and he was released from the camp on the following day.
On return the writer continued his literary activity. Vyshnya has been a member of the editorial board of “Pepper” satirical magazine and a member of the Writers’ Union of Ukraine for a long time. In the 1956 “Literary newspaper” wrote: “Since I. Kotliarevsky’s time Ukraine presumably hasn’t laughed with so cheerful sparkling sunny laughter like it laughs again due to Ostap Vyshnya’s wonderful art.”
On protest of the prosecutor, the Military Tribunal of the Kyiv Military District has denounced the resolution of the OGPU Collegium of March 3, 1933 on October 25, 1955 and dismissed the charge.
Ostap Vyshnya often came to Poltava to have a rest, refresh, go fishing, and many of his humorous stories were conceived there. He became very popular for collection of “Hunters’ Feuilletons” there.
Ostap Vyshnya died on September 28, 1956 in Kyiv. He was buried at the Baikove Cemetery.
