Vasyl Stepanovych Zubkovskyi (monastic name Varlaam; 1773 - 28 April 1853, Kyiv) was a Ukrainian church leader and musician, homiletist.
Biography.
Born into the family of a priest. He completed a full course of study at the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy (1785-1797). In 1797 he was ordained a priest in the Baryshiv Trinity Church and served there until 1821. "He preached sermons of his own composition and was the regent of vocal bishop's music there." In 1804 and 1824, he was sent to the diocese to recruit singers for the "High Court". 1821-1825 - priest of St Michael's Church in the village of Kybyntsi, Myrhorod district, where he was ordained to the archpriestly rank. Varlaam was invited to Kibintsy, a well-known cultural centre of Ukraine, by D. Troshchynskyi, a high-ranking dignitary known in the history of culture for his theatre and music hobbies. In the theatre run by D. Troszczynski, his distant relative Vasyl Hohol, the father of the famous writer, was the conductor, director, and actor.
The cultural life of Kybyntsi and 3ubkovsky's sermons made an indelible impression on the young Mykola Hohol. After leaving Kybyntsi, he served as a priest of the Lubny St Nicholas Church. In 1834, he entered the Kyiv Cave Monastery with a certificate stating that he "knows reading, singing and catechism well". 1836 took monastic vows. He was appointed a confessor (he served for almost 20 years). Due to his advanced age, he no longer sang in the choir, but his talent and musical education had a significant impact on the culture of Lavra singing.
On 22 October 1847, he completed his short work "Remarks... on Important Events in Kyiv. Kyiv". It is based on Zviriaka's story to his son-in-law, priest Ivan Yakubovsky: about a miraculous vision of the Blessed Virgin Mary in one of the churches of the Kyivan Monastery of the Holy Cross before the plague in Kyiv in 1770; about a lightning strike in the bathhouse of the church of the Kyivan Brotherhood Monastery during the funeral service for the deceased rector M. Maksymovych.
He was buried in the Kitaevsky Desert. The founder of the Myhorod resort, I. A. Zubkovsky, was a member of the Zubkovsky family.
