Ukrainian composer, educator, public and political figure. 1922-28 - Ambassador to the Polish Sejm and head of the Ukrainian Parliamentary Club; 1928-30 - Member of the Polish Senate.
Ukrainian members of the Polish Sejm. From left to right: Maksym Chuchmay, Serhiy Kozytskyi, and Pavlo Vasynchuk. 1924.
Biography.
He studied at the Teachers' Seminary in Kholm, the Teachers' Institute in Moscow, and the Ukrainian State University in Kamianets-Podilskyi.
From 1921 he worked as a public school teacher, from 1922 to 1927 he was a teacher in the village of Mykhalkivtsi, Zdolbuniv district, Volyn Voivodeship, a church choir director, headed the Enlightenment Society, and created an ensemble of folk instruments and a secular semi-professional choir.
He was one of the organizers of the Agricultural Union, later a member of the Agricultural Workers' Union. In 1922-1927, he was also a parliamentary ambassador, and in 1928-1930 he was a senator. In the parliament, he was the head of the Sel-Robu faction in the Ukrainian Parliamentary Representation.
In November 1930, he was sentenced to 18 months in prison for anti-state activities.
From 1938 he was a deacon in the Lutsk district.
He wrote music for his own poetic works. He made arrangements of folk songs, which allowed the Mikhalkivsky Educational Choir to take first place in many song and music competitions. It is known that in the late 20s and early 30s, the choir won first place at the Taras Shevchenko Enlightenment Olympiads in Zdolbuniv, Ostroh, Derman, and Zdovbytsia. While collecting song folklore, he arranged folk songs from the south of Volyn and certain districts of Polissia. In the village of Ostrovi, Radyvyliv district, he recorded and transcribed more than 100 songs of the winter cycle. In addition, many of Taras Shevchenko's works set to music by him became popular.
