Yuriy Rybchynskyi

Yuriy Yevhenovych Rybchynskyi (Ю́рій Євге́нович Рибчи́нський; born 22 May 1945) is a Ukrainian poet, songwriter and playwright who is a recipient of both the Hero of Ukraine and People's Artist of Ukraine. Interestingly, he was among the pioneers of contemporary Ukrainian pop music. Between 1998 and 2000, he served as the President of Ukraine's Cultural Advisor.

Early life and education
Born on 22 May 1945, in the former Ukrainian neighbourhood of Podil in Kyiv. He attended an art school and enjoyed drawing as a youngster. In addition, he participated in athletics for eleven years, leaping from a pole since 1958. In the 1960s, Rybchynskyi began to take a serious interest in poetry. During the Khrushchev Thaw, all forms of art, including literature, were actively developing and society was experiencing a spiritual uplift. Unexpectedly, after the eighth grade, he began to write poems.

Rybchynskyi stated that he was incredibly lucky to have Les Taniuk as his first poetry teacher, however he is unsure of how his artistic life would have transpired. He was given his first collection of innocent childhood poetry. His writings have appeared in Ukrainian newspapers and in Kyiv from the ninth grade. Even though he was only in the ninth grade, he already knew that he would major in philology. He enrolled at Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv in 1962.

Songwriting
Rybchynskyi's works were published in Yunost, when he was eighteen years old. But eventually, something occurred that, as Maestro acknowledges, fundamentally altered the course of the rest of his life. He was already twenty years old, uninterested in music, and incapable of picking up an instrument. Ihor Poklad, a young composer who was still a student at the conservatorium and had written numerous successful songs, including Kokhana (Sweetheart), was presented to him.

Since then, Rybchynskyi has developed into a songwriter in addition to a poet. Over the years, the poet has collaborated on creative projects with a wider variety of composers. Volodymyr Ivasyuk, Ihor Poklad, Mykola Mozghovyi and Ihor Shamo are just a few of the composers that collaborated with him to produce several hits in Ukrainian and Soviet Union pop music. His songs were sung at various times by Nina Matviienko, Nazariy Yaremchuk, Vasyl Zinkevych, Taisia Povaliy, Sofia Rotaru, Natalia Mohylevska, Ruslana Lyzhychko, Pavlo Zibrov, Tamara Gverdtsiteli, and several more well-known vocalists.

Playwriting
Rybchynskyi started writing plays in the middle of the 1970s, and he and composer Vadym Ilin created musicals including Tovarysh Liubov (Comrade Liubov), Piznya Serenada (Late Serenade), Brekhukha (Liar), and Tvir Na Temu Kokhannia (An Essay On Love). Along with composer Mark Minkov, he co-wrote the musical Bila Hvardiia (1989), which was based on a novel by Mikhail Bulgakov. In 2005, he and composer Ihor Demarin co-wrote the rock opera The Perfumer, which was based on a novel by Patrick Süskind.

Many operetta theaters, especially in Odesa, Sverdlovsk, Moscow, Kyiv, and other theaters in the Post-Soviet states, featured his musicals with great popularity. Rybchynskyi began writing my own plays for dramatic and music theaters in the early 1980s. Thus, plays like Judith, Tsar Irod, Psy, Dogs, ''Edith Piaf. Zhyttia V Kredyt, Edith Piaf. Life On Credit, Edith Piaf. Zhyttia V Kredyt, Edith Piaf. Betkhovenom, Mizh Misiatsem I Betkhovenom, Zustrich Veteraniv Dytiachoho Khrestovogo Pokhodu and Bila Vorona''. The 1985 drama The White Crow served as the inspiration for the first Ukrainian rock opera, which was co-written with composer Hennadii Tatarchenko and performed in 1991 at the Ivan Franko National Academic Drama Theater under the direction of Ukrainian director Serhii Danchenko.

Books
Rybchynskyi has published the following poetry books:


 * Tree Theater (1991)
 * Train (2005)
 * White Raven (2010)
 * Insomnia (2010)
 * CheLOVEk (2010)

Personal life
Rybchynskyi noted in a 2007 interview that Tamara Gverdtsiteli is his favourite singer. His father was a banker and his mother was a military physician. His poetry examinations came as a surprise to his parents because all of the male line of the his family enjoyed sketching.

Awards and recognitions
Rybchynskyi was presented with the title Hero of Ukraine award by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on 22 August 2020. He has received awards and recognitions such as:


 * Hero_of_Ukraine_ribbon_bar.png Hero of Ukraine Order of the State (22 August 2020)
 * Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise 4th and 5th Class of Ukraine.png Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise Fifth Class (21 May 2015)
 * People's Artist of Ukraine (25 May 2000)
 * National Legend of Ukraine (20 August 2021)
 * Honored Art Worker of Ukraine (29 June 1995)
 * Laureate of the All-Union Competitions' Best Song of the Year (1972, 1974, 1976, 1978–80, 1983, 1987–89)
 * Honorary Citizen of Kyiv (May 2009)
 * Honorary Citizen of Orléans