Kobzars and
bandurists were a unique class of musicians in Ukraine, who travelled between towns and sang
dumas, a meditative poem-song. Kobzars were usually blind, and required the completion of a three-year apprenticeship in specialized Kobzar
guilds, in order to be officially recognized as such. In 1932, on the order of Stalin, the Soviet authorities called on all Ukrainian Kobzars to attend a congress in Kharkiv. Those that arrived were taken outside the city and were all put to death.[1][2][3]
Persecution of bandurists and kobzari by the Soviet authorities can be divided up into various periods. These periods differed in the type and length of persecution and punishments were dealt out and also the reason for the punishment. Following is a list of persecuted Bandurists sourced from Music from the shadows Roman Malko[4] and The Voices of the Dead by Kuromiya Hiroaki.[5]
Bezchasnyj, Konon – (1884–1967) – Kuban bandurist; repressed and arrested in 1937.
Bezpalyj, Ihnat – sentenced to be shot in 1937.
Mykola Bohuslavsky – funded Bandurist groups in the
Kuban'. Arrested, believed to have been shot.
Ivan Boretz – member of the Kyiv, Kharkiv and later
Poltava Bandurist Capellas. Director of the Horiv Bandura Ensemble – arrested on September 21, 1937, and shot on November 11, 1937. Rehabilitated on December 9, 1957.
Hlushak, Nykyfor Ivanovych – (b. 1890) Arrested in 1931. Arrested again in 1937 and sentenced to 10 years of hard labour.
Fedir Hlushko – director of the Kharkiv Bandurist Capella – Arrested 1937.
Hlushko, Konstiantyn – sentenced to be shot in 1938.
Hnylokvas, Semen – arrested in 1938. Arrested again during the German occupation. Arrested again by the Soviets in 1948 and spent time in the very same cell as before. Spent 10 years in camps in
Mordovia, later released. Performed in Kiev in 1981.
Kononenko, Pylyp Petrovych- Member of Poltava Kapela, Kharkiv Capella, and Konotop Capella. (Possibly mixed up with Andriy?)
Konoplich, Kindrat – (b. 1900) member of Kyiv Bandurist Capella
Kopan, Heorhiy – Arrested in 1930. Protested the censorship of Ukrainian songs. Arrested in 1936. Arrested again on March 19, 1938, and shot on March 28, 1938.
Kobzars and
bandurists were a unique class of musicians in Ukraine, who travelled between towns and sang
dumas, a meditative poem-song. Kobzars were usually blind, and required the completion of a three-year apprenticeship in specialized Kobzar
guilds, in order to be officially recognized as such. In 1932, on the order of Stalin, the Soviet authorities called on all Ukrainian Kobzars to attend a congress in Kharkiv. Those that arrived were taken outside the city and were all put to death.[1][2][3]
Persecution of bandurists and kobzari by the Soviet authorities can be divided up into various periods. These periods differed in the type and length of persecution and punishments were dealt out and also the reason for the punishment. Following is a list of persecuted Bandurists sourced from Music from the shadows Roman Malko[4] and The Voices of the Dead by Kuromiya Hiroaki.[5]
Bezchasnyj, Konon – (1884–1967) – Kuban bandurist; repressed and arrested in 1937.
Bezpalyj, Ihnat – sentenced to be shot in 1937.
Mykola Bohuslavsky – funded Bandurist groups in the
Kuban'. Arrested, believed to have been shot.
Ivan Boretz – member of the Kyiv, Kharkiv and later
Poltava Bandurist Capellas. Director of the Horiv Bandura Ensemble – arrested on September 21, 1937, and shot on November 11, 1937. Rehabilitated on December 9, 1957.
Hlushak, Nykyfor Ivanovych – (b. 1890) Arrested in 1931. Arrested again in 1937 and sentenced to 10 years of hard labour.
Fedir Hlushko – director of the Kharkiv Bandurist Capella – Arrested 1937.
Hlushko, Konstiantyn – sentenced to be shot in 1938.
Hnylokvas, Semen – arrested in 1938. Arrested again during the German occupation. Arrested again by the Soviets in 1948 and spent time in the very same cell as before. Spent 10 years in camps in
Mordovia, later released. Performed in Kiev in 1981.
Kononenko, Pylyp Petrovych- Member of Poltava Kapela, Kharkiv Capella, and Konotop Capella. (Possibly mixed up with Andriy?)
Konoplich, Kindrat – (b. 1900) member of Kyiv Bandurist Capella
Kopan, Heorhiy – Arrested in 1930. Protested the censorship of Ukrainian songs. Arrested in 1936. Arrested again on March 19, 1938, and shot on March 28, 1938.