Orest Somov

Orest Mikhailovich Somov (Ukrainian: Орест Сомов, Russian: О́рест Миха́йлович Со́мов) (21 December [O.S. 10 December] 1793 – 8 June [O.S. 27 May] 1833) was a Ukrainian romantic writer who wrote in the Russian language. He was a writer, journalist, literary critic, and translator. Somov was born in Vovchansk, Kharkiv Oblast. He studied in the Kharkiv University, then moved to Saint Petersburg, where he died.

Much of his writing deals with Ukrainian history and folklore. He was very popular during his life, but after his death his works stopped being widely read.

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

• Гайдамак (1825)
• Юродивый (Юродивий) (1827)
• Оборотень (1829)
• Русалка (1831)
• Сватовство (1831)
• Киевские ведьмы (1833)

English Translations

• Mommy and Sonny, (Story), from Russian Romantic Prose: An Anthology, Translation Press, 1979.

References

• John Mersereau, "Orest Somov: An Introduction," The Slavonic and East European Review, 43 (1965): 354-370.
• Charles Moser, The Cambridge History of Russian Literature. Cambridge University Press: 1992.
• N. Petrunyna, Орест Сомов и его проза (Orest Somov and His Prose) [1]