Ukrainian actor of various backgrounds, director and singer (tenor). In 1884-1898, he worked as an actor in the "Russian Conversation" theater (since 1891, he was also a director).
Husband of actress Vanda Yanovychyva, father of director Les Kurbas.
Biography
Pedigree
Stepan Pylypovich Kurbas was born on October 28, 1862 in the village of Kuropatnyki (now Berezhansk urban community, Ternopil district, Ternopil region).
The Kurbas family came from Lithuania. Stepan's grandfather Jan Kurbas came to Galicia in the 1820s and was the manager of a manor estate in Berezhan region. In 1836, he had an only son, Philip (Stepan's father), who studied to become a priest. At first he was a parish priest in Kuropatnyky. In the autumn of 1877, he received a new parish and until the end of his life served God in Stary Skalat (now a village in the Pidvolochy district of the Ternopil region). Pylyp Kurbas died in 1914.
In addition to Stepan, Pylyp Kurbas had three more sons. The oldest of them, Mykola, became a priest, lived in the town of Horodok, then in the Carpathian villages of Veldizh (now Shevchenkive Dolyna district of Ivano-Frankivsk region) and Ilemnia (now Rozhnyativ district of the same region). Zinovy was two years younger than Stepan (born in 1864), died at the age of 18 in Stary Skalat. The youngest Roman (born in 1883) worked as a lawyer in Stryi, Rozhnyatov.
Stepan Kurbas's mother - Osypa Hryhorivna Aleskevich - instilled in her son a love for painting and music. Young Stepan read a lot, was fond of playing the piano. While studying at the Berezhansk Gymnasium, he took an active part in concerts, evenings, the student drama group, sang in the choir, performed solo numbers (he had a nice tenor).
Russian Conversation Theater
In 1884, he left the last grade of the gymnasium and became an actor in the theater "Ruska Besida". The news that Stepan is a "wandering comedian" (that's how the artists of mobile theaters were ironically called at the time) greatly angered his father, Philip, who shunned his son. But even this did not stop Stepan, who firmly decided to devote himself to the service of his native culture, even though he was aware of how difficult the service would be in Galician Melpomena.
Vanda Yanovicheva
In January 1885, 17-year-old Vanda Teichman from Chernivtsi was accepted into the troupe of the "Russian Conversation" theater, who, against her parents' wishes, decided to devote herself to dramatic art. In 1886, Wanda and Stepan got married without their parents' blessing.
Stepan's stage successes multiplied almost daily, especially in lyrical and heroic roles. Time brought great luck — well-played main roles in plays by Ivan Tobilevich, Ivan Franko, Panas Myrny, Mark Kropyvnytskyi, Mykhailo Starytskyi, etc. He successfully sang in the operas "Vechornytsia", "Natalka Poltavka", "Drowned", "Gypsy Baron".
In the year of Les Kurbas's birth, Stepan Yanovych had 20 roles in his repertoire, including 10 parts in musical performances. He took part in almost every play, in a short time he became an established actor.
In 1890, "Ruska besida" offered Yanovych to become a director, to take up the production of performances. Stepan Pylypovych understood that he lacked professional education or at least practice under the tools of a solid master of the theater business. He obtained a subsidy from the management of "Ruska Besida" and in 1891 he went for a six-month internship in Dnieper Ukraine. There he looked closely at the work of Mark Kropyvnytskyi and other directors. Yanovych returned to Halychyna as a passionate follower of the realistic traditions of Kropyvnytskyi.
Yanovych's first directorial works were not successful, for which he was rightly criticized by theater critics. In 1891, in an open letter to the public, Stepan Pylypovych explained the reasons for his creative failures in staging individual performances. He saw them in difficult financial conditions, in which the Ukrainian theater, deprived of part of the subsidy, was forced to work. In addition, several leading actors and musicians left the troupe.
Later, success came to Yanovych, he showed himself as a talented and cultured director.
In 1893, Stepan Yanovych moved from the regular director to the position of chief director of "Besida". He was very demanding of himself and other masters.
In 1893, in the article "Russian Theater", Ivan Franko wrote about Yanovych's nine-year creative career: "The main force of the Ukrainian scene is Yanovych... Yanovych is a very useful force for the Ukrainian scene in Galicia..."
On November 16, 1893, Stepan Yanovych became the first performer of the role of Mykhailo Gurman in Ivan Franko's play "Stolen Happiness".
The acting family of the Yanovychs lived very poorly, never getting out of debt. Her daily struggle with the difficulties of the period of social and national oppression in Galicia was great heroism and patriotic self-sacrifice for the sake of her native scene.
In addition, the family experienced many tragedies - two sons died in childhood, and then a seventeen-year-old daughter. Nervous overstrain, difficult experiences and physical fatigue quickly made themselves felt.
In 1896, during a tour in Ternopil, Stepan Yanovych fell seriously ill. The disease progressed, exhausted him, and broke him more and more.
The last theatrical years
In 1897, Stepan Yanovych and the actor Polishchuk were appointed directors of the theater"Russian conversation" troupe. A conflict arose between the new directorate and the old bureaucratic management of Ruska Besida. Yanovych and Polishchuk and a group of like-minded people left the troupe. In January 1898, Stepan Yanovych, actor and director Kost Pidvysotsky founded their own troupe, which soon disbanded.
Yanovych's dream of creating a new theater did not come true. Constant poverty and moral oppression led to the fact that in the prime of his creative powers, the actor fell seriously ill. His wife convinces him that he needs rest. The Janovychs leave the scene and go to Stepanov's parents in Stary Skalat.
Les and Nestor Kurbasy
Stepan Pylypovych does not find peace in his father's house. In the spring of 1898, after leaving his children in Stary Skalat, Stepan Yanovych went to Kamianets-Podilskyi with his wife and actors Kost Pidvysotskyi and S. Pidvysotskyi. There he works in the Summer Theater, which was located in the Old City on the Old Boulevard.
In August 1898, Stepan Pylypovych from Kamianets-Podilskyi wrote a letter to Ruska Besida with a request to take him back into the troupe:
"...The holidays are coming to an end, and I have to decide how to be with the children, what to do. I'm not talking about the fact that I can't do without my native scene, without my native language, I want to return home. That's why I ask the Brightest Department: "Does the Brightest Department need our services with my wife?..." I, for my part, sacrifice my success by playing with great Ukrainian artists. I have scenery worth 600 zlotys, some from new plays, I believe that my services will not harm our public, because my conscience is clear... Let those who deprived me of everything dearest for nothing, point their finger at me: honor, good name and, finally, the last money that no longer belongs to me, but to my children. I hope that the Most Bright Department for my fifteen years of work (almost useless!) will respond positively to my request..."
However, the management of "Ruska Besida" did not even want to hear Yanovych's name.
In June 1899, exhausted and sick, Yanovych made his way from Kamianets-Podilskyi to the town of Tovste near Zalishchyki, where the Lviv people were touring at the time. Here he met with a member of the theater board, Mykola Zayachkivskyi. He listened to Yanovych's confession, promised to intercede for him before the management of "Ruska Besida". Zayachkivskyi also advised Stepan Pylypovich to get treatment first, and gave him money for it.
Yanovych goes to Lviv for treatment, goes to the hospital there. At the end of 1899, he moved to Przemyśl, where he was interrupted by odd jobs. When his health improved, he wrote a letter to Mykola Zayachkivsky, in which he again told about his tragic life and longing for the theater. In the letter, he asked to be accepted into the troupe conditionally and to test his skills and physical condition for the role of Mykhailo Gurman in "Stolen Happiness".
The time was running out. The correspondence continued. At the end of 1900, when the director of the theater was the doctor Ivan Hrynevetskyi, the Yanovichs returned to the troupe. But the participation of the Yanovychs in the work of the theater turned out to be episodic. The disease progressed, physically exhausted Stepan Yanovych, so he had to say goodbye forever to the idea of returning to the stage.
Actress Hanna Yurchakova recalled how in the fall of 1900 there was talk in the theater that the talented actor Stepan Yanovych and his wife were returning to the stage. His last performance on the theater stage in Lviv is preserved in her memory. Stepan Yanovych's swan song was the role of Ivan in Mykhailo Starytskyi's "Chornomoretsy". Hanna Yurchakova wrote: "I, a very young actress at the time, watched how this actor, who was so well talked about in the theater, played the part. I remember that Yanovych was shorter than his son Les. He was very natural on stage, possessed an amazing gift of reincarnation."
Illness and death
The graves of Pylyp and Stepan Kurbas in Stary Skalat
After 1900, Stepan Yanovych lived in the village of Stariy Skalat in the house of his father, Pylyp Ivanovich Kurbas, the abbot of the local church.
Khoma Vodiany, a friend of Les Kurbas, recalled:
"When Yanovych moved to Stariy Skalat, he was already ill. Drinking has become an organic need for him. When he did not drink anything at all, an attack would come, he would shake, lose consciousness, fall where he stood, and suffer terribly. Lesya's mother often sent him vodka herself so as not to see his torment. And when they didn't give him money, he took whatever he could from the house or sold what he could. When I first saw him, he made a terrible impression on me: he was unshaven, uncombed, and his clothes were perhaps the most ragged, and his shirt, though clean, but patched, the same shoes. After seeing this, I understood why Les never talked about his father, never mentioned him a single word. After all, when he was in a "normal" state, meaning he didn't drink too much or nothing at all, then he was quite sick, but it didn't show on his face. He spoke and joked like a normal and highly educated person, which he really was."
On September 10, 1908, Stepan Yanovych died in Stary Skalat. He was buried in the cemetery near the church.
Memory
Museum-manor of the Kurbas family in Stary Skalat
The house in which Stepan Yanovych lived in the last years has been well preserved to this day. It is installed on ito two memorial plaques: in honor of Stepan Pylypovich and his son Les Kurbas. Here, on February 19, 1987, on the eve of the 100th anniversary of the birth of Les Kurbas, his manor museum was opened by UNESCO.
Roles
Main roles:
Mykhailo Gurman, Kachurkevich, Khorostil ("Stolen Happiness", "Ryabina", "Teacher" by Ivan Franko),
Vasyl ("Limarivna" by Panas Myrny),
Hnat ("Talentless" by Ivan Karpenko-Kary),
Oleg, Yaropolk (tragedies of the same name by Kornyl Ustyanovich),
Carl Moore ("Robbers" by J.-F. Schiller) and others.
He performed tenor parts in the opera repertoire:
Vakula, Petro ("Christmas Night", "Natalka Poltavka" by Mykola Lysenko),
Barinkaya ("The Gypsy Baron" by Y. Strauss),
Andriy ("Zaporozhets by the Danube" by Semen Gulak-Artemovskyi) and others.
Directing performances:
"Martyn Borulya", "One Hundred Thousand" by Ivan Karpenko-Kary, etc.
