Ivan Levitsky

Ivan Levitsky (born Nov. 25 [Nov. 13, old style], 1838, Steblev, Kiev province, Ukraine, Russian Empire—died April 15 [April 2, O.S.], 1918, Kiev) was a Ukrainian Realist novelist of the postserfdom reform period. He drew upon his background as a seminary student and, later, a provincial teacher, to depict the educated and lower classes in some of the earliest social novels in Ukrainian literature. His works include Prichepa (1869; “The Intruder”), Khmari (1874; “Clouds”), Kaydasheva semya (1879; “The Kaydashev Family”), and Burlachka (1881; “A Factory Girl”). Use of objective narrative and details of folklore strengthen the realistic effect of his works.