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Orest Mikhailovich Somov (Russian and Ukrainian: Орест Михайлович Сомов) (21 December [O.S. 10 December] 1793 – 8 June [O.S. 27 May] 1833) was a Russian romantic writer of Ukrainian origin.[1]

He studied at Kharkiv University, where he became an admirer of Romantic literature and Gothic fiction.[2]

In 1817 he moved to Saint Petersburg where he continued his literary career. In addition to being a writer and translator, he established himself as a critic, editor and publisher, thus becoming one of the first professional men of letters in the Russian Empire. Somov was drawn to the folklore of his native Ukraine and much of his writing refers to Ukrainian history and folklore.[3]

Somov was a popular writer during his lifetime. His works on Ukrainian themes made a big impact on the literary canon of the 1820s.[4] His literary works were widely read and his critical opinion was highly regarded. However, after Somov's death, his name and works were consigned to oblivion. Only in 1989 Yuriy Vynnychuk put Somov back on the Ukrainian literary radar[5] collection of Somov’s folktales.

He is distantly related to the American actor René Auberjonois; Auberjonois' maternal grandfather's mother was a Russian noblewoman, Eudoxia Michailovna Somova (1850–1924), a collateral cousin of Somov's.

Famous works

• 1825-1830 – Haidamaka
• 1827 — God’s Fool (Yurodivyi)
• 1827 — Order from the other World (Prikaz s toho sveta)
• 1829 — Kikimora
• 1829 — Rusalka
• 1829 — The Werewolf (Oboroten)
• 1830 — Tales of Buried Treasures (Skazki o kladakh)
• 1830 — Strange Duel (Strannyi poedinok)
• 1830 — Self-murderer (Samoubiytsa)
• 1831 — Kupalo Eve (Kupalov vecher)
• 1832 — Wandering Light (Brodiashchiy ohon)
• 1833 — The Witches of Kyiv (Kievskie vedmy)
• 1833 — The Evil Eye (Nedobryi glaz)
• 1833 — Mommy and Sonny (Matushka i synok)

English translations

• Mommy and Sonny (story), from Proffer, Carl R. (1979). Russian Romantic Prose: An Anthology : Containing Tales by Alexander Pushkin, Nikolai Gogol, Orest Somov, Vladimir Odoevsky, Alexander Veltman, Mikhail Lermontov, Count Vladimir Sollogub, Alexander Bestuzhev-Marlinsky. Translation Press. ISBN 978-0-931556-00-5.
• Tales of Buried Treasures, The Werewolf and The Witches of Kyiv were included in Russian 19th Century Gothic Tales: Anthology, Raduga Publishers, 1984.
• The Witches of Kyiv, Rusalka, The Evil Eye, Wandering Light, Kupalo Eve and God’s Fool comprise Somov, Orest (2016-08-30). The Witches of Kyiv and Other Gothic Tales: Selected Works of Orest Somov. Sova Books Pty, Limited. ISBN 978-0-9945334-0-1.

References

Further reading

• Mersereau, John (1965). "Orest Somov: An Introduction". The Slavonic and East European Review. 43 (101): 354–370. ISSN 0037-6795. JSTOR 4205658.
• Charles Moser, The Cambridge History of Russian Literature. Cambridge University Press: 1992.
• N. Petrunyna, Орест Сомов и его проза (Orest Somov and His Prose)

На других языках

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- [en] Orest Somov

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[ru] Сомов, Орест Михайлович

Оре́ст Миха́йлович Со́мов (10 [21] декабря 1793, Волчанск, Харьковское наместничество, Российская империя[2] — 27 мая [8 июня] 1833, Санкт-Петербург, Российская империя) — русский писатель, литературный критик и журналист[3].

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