Gregory Skovoroda

Gregory Skovoroda, also Hryhorii Skovoroda, or

Grigory Skovoroda (Latin: Gregorius Scovoroda,
Ukrainian: , Hryhorii
Savych Skovoroda; Russian: , Grigory Savvich Skovoroda; 3 December 1722
9 November 1794) was a Ukrainian[2] and Russian[3]
philosopher, poet, teacher and composer. Skovoroda was
of a Cossack background in current day Ukraine, who
lived in the Russian Empire and made important contributions to Russian philosophy and culture.[4][5][6] He
lived and worked in Sloboda Ukraine, which is today
partly in modern Ukraine and partly in Russia. Skovoroda
was so important for Russian culture and development of
Russian philosophical thought, that he has been referred
to as the Russian Socrates.[7]

latter, several have passed into the realm of Ukrainian

folk music. Many of his philosophical songs known as
Skovorodskie psalmy were often encountered in the
repertoire of blind travelling folk musicians known as
kobzars. He was described as a procient player on the
ute, torban and kobza.
In the nal quarter of his life he traveled by foot through
Sloboda Ukraine staying with various friends, both rich
and poor, preferring not to remain in one place for too
long.
This last period was the time of his great philosophic
works. In this period as well, but particularly earlier,
he wrote poetry and letters in Church Slavonic language,
Greek and Latin and did a number of translations from
Latin into Russian.

Skovoroda received his education at the Kiev Mogila

Academy in Kiev. Haunted by worldly and spiritual powers, the philosopher led a life of an itinerant thinkerbeggar. In his tracts and dialogs, biblical problems overlap with those examined earlier by Plato and the Stoics.
Skovorodas rst book was issued after his death in 1798
in Saint Petersburg. Skovorodas complete works were
published for the rst time in Saint Petersburg in 1861.
Before this edition many of his works existed only in
manuscript form.

2 Language
There is much debate regarding the language Skovoroda
used in his writings. Skovoroda used a form of written
Ukrainian which diered somewhat from the vernacular
Ukrainian. As a scholar studying in a religious institution that relied heavily on various forms of the ChurchSlavonic language although the foundation of his written
language was Ukrainian.[9]

Life

Apart from written Ukrainian, Skovoroda was known

to have spoken and written in Greek, Latin, German
and Hebrew. His poetry has been analysed for foreign non-Ukrainian elements. After an in depth study
of Skovorodas written works the Slavic linguist George
Shevelov was able to deduce that apart from Ukrainian
it contained 7.8% Russian, 7.7% non-Slavic, and 27.6%
Church Slavonic vocabulary, and that the variant of
Church Slavonic he used was the variety used in the
Synodinal Bible of 1751.[9] Skovorodas prose however
a higher content of non-Ukrainian vocabulary: 36.7%
Church Slavonic, 4.7% other non-Slavonic European languages, and 9.7% Russian.[9]

Skovoroda was born into a small-holder Ukrainian

Cossack family in the village of Chernukhi in Kiev Governorate,[8] Russian Empire (modern-day Poltava Oblast,
Ukraine), in 1722. He was a student at the Kiev Mogila
Academy (17341741, 17441745, 17511753) but did
not graduate. In 1741, at the age of 19 due to his uncle
Ignatiy Poltavtsev he was taken from Kiev to sing in the
imperial choir in Moscow and St. Petersburg returning to
Kiev in 1744. He spent the period from 1745 to 1750 in
the kingdom of Hungary and is thought to have traveled
elsewhere in Europe during this period as well. In 1750
he returned to Kiev. From 17501751 he taught poetics in Pereyaslav. For most of the period from 1753 to
1759 Skovoroda was a tutor in the family of a landowner
in Kovrai. From 1759 to 1769, with interruptions, he
taught such subjects as poetry, syntax, Greek, and ethics
at the Kharkv Collegium. After an attack on his course
on ethics in 1769 he decided to abandon teaching.

After an in depth analysis of Skovorodas language, G.

Shevelov came to the conclusion that the high incidence
of Church-Slavonic and the occurrence of Russian words
reect the circle of people with which Skovoroda primarily associated himself with, and on who he was materially
dependent and not the villagers and the village language
that he knew and spoke.[9]

Skovoroda is known as a composer of liturgical music, George Shevelov concludes: In Summary, the language
as well as a number of songs to his own texts. Of the of Skovoroda, minus its many biblical and ecclesiastical,
1

6 WORKS

political and personal features is, in its foundation, the

Slobozhanshchina variety of standart Russian as used by
the educated.[9]

Death

Three days before he died, he went to the house of one

of his closest friends and told him he had come to stay
permanently. Every day he left the house early with a
shovel, and it turned out that he spent three days digging
his own grave. On the third day, he ate dinner, stood
up and said, my time has come. He went into the next
room, lay down, and died. He requested the following
epitaph to be placed on his tombstone:

Quotes

Water cannot exist without sh, just as air without birds,

just as time without people.
Your feet can't help but lose their way, when your heart
has lost it.
Can a person, who is blind at home, see clearly at the Soviet stamp with portrait of H. Skovoroda (1972).
marketplace?"
Wisdom was not created from books, but books were
created from wisdom.

Tributes

On 15 September 2006, Skovorodas portrait was placed

on the largest banknote in circulation in Ukraine, the 500hryvnia note.
Skovoroda on Ukraines largest banknote

The Hryhoriy Skovoroda Institute of Philosophy,

founded in 1946, operates under the auspicies of the
National Academy of Science of Ukraine (until 1991
The ocial Muscovite stance divided humanity into
Academy of Sciences of the UkrSSR).[10]
more or less blessed by God and blessed, and those that
are cursed, such as the serfs. Skovoroda taught that all
work is blessed by God, but distribution of wealth out6 Works
side the circle of God called unforgivable sin. The Muscowite Orthodox clergy was intolerant to Skovorodas
Skovorodas works during his life were not printed, be- teachings as considered them heretical. Skovoroda taught
cause censors found that his sacred writings were oen- that the only task of philosophy was to seek the truth
sive to monasticism. Brought up in a spirit of philo- and to pursue it. But in terms of human life, this goal
sophical and religious studies, he became an opponent is unattainable, and human happiness lies in the fact that
of church scholasticism and the spiritual dominance of everything has to nd the truth. This goal can go in dierthe Moscow-based Orthodox Church. Our kingdom ent directions, and intolerance of those who think dieris within us he wrote and to know God, you must ently, has no justication. Similarly, religious intolerance
know yourself...People should know God, like them- does not nd justication for eternal truth revealed to the
selves, enough to see him in the world...Belief in God world in dierent forms. In relation to himself he was
does not mean belief in his existence and therefore to give utterly uncompromising however in complete harmony
in to him and live according to His law...Sanctity of life with their teaching and their lives. He was very gentle
lies in doing good to people.
and observant in relation to others.

3
Skovoroda defended the right of the individual in each
person, but translated this into concrete political language of the time. This meant a strong democratic trend
that was associated with sympathy for enslaved peasant
masses, with sharp hostility to the Muscovite oppressors.
It was only in 1798 that his Narsisis or Know thyself
was published in the Russian Empire and even then without the inclusion of his name. In 1806 the magazine
Zion Vyestnyk printed some more of his works. Then
in Moscow in 18371839 a few of his works were published under his name, and only in 1861 the rst almost
complete collection of his works was published. The best
and most complete, was published in 1896 in Kharkiv under the editorship of Professor. D. Bahaliy. Here 16 of
his works, with 9 of them appearing for the rst time!
Also published here Pans biography and some of his poems. Another edition of the works in December. A full
academic publication of Skovorodas works still does not
exist, because manuscripts are held in various archives
and libraries where access to them is dicult.

6.1

List of works

Skovoroda, Gregory S. Fables and Aphorisms.

Translation, biography, and analysis by Dan B.
Chopyk (New York: Peter Lang, 1990) Review: Wolodymyr T. Zyla, Ukrainian Quarterly, 50
(1994): 303304.
Skovoroda, Hryhorii. Piznay v sobi ludynu. Translated by M. Kashuba with an introduction by Vasyl' Voitovych (L'viv: S$vit, 1995) Selected works
(original: Ukrainian language).
Skovoroda, Hryhorii. Tvory: V dvokh tomakh, foreword by O. Myshanych, chief editor Omelian Pritsak (Kiev: Oberehy, 1994) (original: Ukrainian language, translated from other languages).
Skovoroda, Hryhorii (Gregory), A Conversation
Among Five Travelers Concerning Lifes True Happiness (Translated into English by George L.
Kline).
Skovoroda, Hryhorii (Gregory), Conversation
about the ancient world.

External links
Online concordance

Further reading
Dytyniak Maria Ukrainian Composers A Biobibliographic Guide Research report No. 14,

1896, Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies, University of Alberta, Canada.

Ern, Vladimir F. .
(oscow: , 1912)
Marshall, Richard H. Jr., and Bird, Thomas E. (eds.)
Hryhorij Skovoroda: an anthology of critical articles
(Edmonton: Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies, 1994)
Pylypiuk, Natalia. The Primary Door: at the threshold of Skovorodas theology and poetics, Harvard
Ukrainian Studies, 14(34), 1990, pp551583
Zakydalsky, Taras, The Theory of Man in the Philosophy of Skovoroda (1965)
Naydan, Michael M. (ed.) 'Special issue on Hryhorii
Skovoroda', Journal of Ukrainian Studies, 22(12),
1997
Shreyer-Tkachenko O. Hryhoriy Skovoroda
muzykant., Kiev, 1971
The world tried to catch him but failed Hryhoriy
Skovoroda, the 18th-century Ukrainian philosopher, Welcome to Ukraine, 2003, 1

9 References
[1] It was a peculiar Russian that grew up on the Ukrainian
substrat. Shevelyov G. Skovorodas Language and Style
// Hryhorij Savy Skovoroda. An Anthology of Critical
Articles. Edmonton Toronto 1994. P. 129.; In Summary, the language of Skovoroda, minus its many biblical
and ecclesiastical, political and personal features is, in its
foundation, the Slobozhanshchina variety of standart Russian as used by the educated. Shevelyov G. Skovorodas
Language and Style // Hryhorij Savy Skovoroda. An Anthology of Critical Articles. Edmonton Toronto 1994.
P. 131.
[2] (Russian) G.S. Skovoroda in History of Russian Culture
by Aleksei Losev.
(Russian) Skorovoda`s biography on diclib.com
Hryhorij Savy Skovoroda: An Anthology of Critical
Articles. CIUS Press. Retrieved 2011-05-02.
Skovoroda Institute of Philosophy.
Hantula.net.
Retrieved 2011-05-02.
Skovoroda Grigory Savvitch.
Valery Belous.
Kharkov.vbelous.net. Retrieved 2011-05-02.
http://skovoroda.eu/[]
Hryhorii Skovoroda; V. I. Shynkaruk (September 1974).
Povne Zibrannia Tvoriv u Dvokh Tomakh. Slavic Review (Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian
Studies) 33 (3): 559560. doi:10.2307/2494760. JSTOR
2494760. (registration required (help)).
Hryhorij Savyc Skovoroda: An Anthology of Critical
Articles [CIUS Book of the Month]". Brama.com.
Retrieved 2011-05-02.
Skovoroda, Hryhorii.
Encyclopediaofukraine.com.

Retrieved 2011-05-02.
Victoria Gaidenko, Khmelnitskiy Humanities and
Pedagogic Institute, Ukraine. Aatseel.org. Retrieved
2011-05-02.
Welcome to Ukraine. Wumag.kiev.ua. Retrieved
2011-05-02.
:: (in
Ukrainian). Ualogos.kiev.ua. Retrieved 2011-05-02.
[3] Scherer S.P. The Life and Thought of Russias First Lay
Theologian, Grigorij Savvi Skovoroda (17221794):
PhD dissertation. Ohio State University, 1969. VII,
184 .
Fuhrmann J.T. The First Russian Philosophers Search
for the Kingdom of God // Essays on Russian Intellectual
History / Ed. by L.B. Blair. Austin: University of Texas
Press, 1971. P. 3372.}
Schultze B. Grigorij Savvi Skovoroda // Schultze B.
Russische Denker: ihre Stellung zu Christus, Kirche und
Papstum. Wien: Thomas-Moraus-Presse im Verlag
Herder, 1950. S. 1527.}
Busch W. Grigorij Skovoroda // Busch W. Horaz in
Russland. Studien und Materialien. Mnchen: Eidos
Verlag, 1964. S. 6670.}
Ueberweg, Friedrich. Die Philosophie des Auslandes.
Berlin, 1928. S. 336 .}
Arseniew N. (von) Bilder aus dem russischen Geistesleben. I. Die mystische Philosophie Skovorodas //
Kyrios. Vierteljahresschrift fr Kirchen- und Geistesgeschichte Osteuropas / Hrsg. von H. Koch.
Knigsberg; Berlin: Ost-Europa-Verlag, 1936. Bd. I.
Hft. 1. S. 328.}
Jakovenko B. Filoso russi: saggio di storia della losoa
russa. Firenze: La Voce, 1925. XI, 242 .}
(Russian)

//
}
(Russian)

//
. .: ,
2000.
. . //
.
. ., 1995. . 469474.}
Zenkovsky V.V. G.S. Skovoroda // Zenkovsky V.V. A
History of Russian Philosophy / Transl. by George L.
Kline. New York: Columbia University Press, 1953;
London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1953. Vol. 1. P.
5369.}
Goerdt, Wilhelm. Russische Philosophie: Zugnge und
Durchblicke. Freiburg: Verlag Karl Arber, 1984).
.: Studies in Soviet Thought 30 (1985) 73.}
Genyk-Berezovsk Z. Skovorodv odkaz (Hryhorij
Skovoroda a rusk literatura) // Bulletin ruskho jazyka a
literatury. 1993. S. 111123.}
Piovesana G.K. G.S. Skovoroda (17221794) primo
losofo ucraino-russo // Orientalia Christiana Periodica.
Roma, 1989. Vol. LV. Fasc. 1. P. 169196.
..
XVIII . :
, 1986. 120 .}
. .
/ . ., . . . . .
.:, 1994. 368 . (-
). ISBN 5-250-02379-7 (. 155)}
(Russian) . . . .

REFERENCES

// .
- , -, 2003, . 38.}
. ., . .
Paris: YMCA Press, 1937. VI, 574 .}
Lo Gatto E. L'idea losoco-religiosa russa da Skovorod
a Solovjv // Bilychnis: Rivista di studi religiosi. 1927.
Vol. XXX. . 7790.}
. . .
: , 1922. . 1. C. 6883.}
. . .
. : , 1912. 343 .}
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1. . 5969.}
Schmid, Ulrich. Russische Religionsphilosophie des 20.
Jh. Freiburg, Basel, Wien: Herder, 2003. S. 910, 220,
234.}
Onasch, Konrad. (Czech) Grundzge der russischen
Kirchengeschichte at Google Books (Czech) // Gttingen:
Hubert & Co, 1967). vol. 3. S. 110.
[4] . . .
(in Russian). Gumer.info. Retrieved 2011-05-02.
[5] (Russian) Article in the online encyclopedia Krugosvet
[6] , / (17221794),
, , . (in Russian). Diclib.com. Retrieved 2011-05-02.
[7] (Russian) . . , . . .
.

,
[8] (Russian) , . . .
[9] George Y. Shevelov. Skovorodas Language and Style. In
book: Richard H. Marshall; Thomas E. Bird, eds. (1994).
Hryhorij Savy Skovoroda: An Anthology of Critical Articles. Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies. Toronto:
CIUS Press. p. 131. ISBN 978-1-895571-03-5. Retrieved 13 January 2014.
[10] (Ukrainian) About the Institute. Hryhoriy Skovoroda Institute of Philosophy at NASU. URL accessed 19 October
2006

10
10.1

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

Text

Gregory Skovoroda Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregory%20Skovoroda?oldid=643132224 Contributors: Deb, Dysprosia, Tpbradbury, Robbot, Andris, Urhixidur, Irpen, AlexPU, Ghirlandajo, Woohookitty, ScottDavis, BD2412, Bgwhite, Roboto de Ajvol, RussBot, Crazytales, Marcus Cyron, Tony1, Bandurist, Carabinieri, Curpsbot-unicodify, Victor falk, SmackBot, JonHarder, Ukrained, Lute88,
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