Matviy Nomys (, real name: Matviy Terentiyovych Symonov (Матві́й Тере́нтійович Си́монов, ), 17 November 1823, in Zarih,

Orzhytsia Raion Orzhytsia Raion () was a raion (district) in Poltava Oblast of central Ukraine. The raion's administrative center was the urban-type settlement Urban-type settlement, abbreviated: ; , abbreviated: ; ; ; ; . is an official designation for lesse ...

Poltava Oblast Poltava Oblast (), also referred to as Poltavshchyna (), is an administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast (province) of central Ukraine. The capital city, administrative center of the oblast is the city of Poltava. Most of its territory was par ...

– 26 December 1900, in

Lubny Lubny (, ) is a city in Poltava Oblast, central Ukraine. It serves as the administrative center of Lubny Raion. It also hosts the administration of , one of the hromadas of Ukraine. Population: History Lubny is reputed to be one of the oldes ...

) was a Ukrainian ethnographer, folklorist, writer and teacher. He is best known as an editor and publisher of one of the most comprehensive and authoritative collections of some of

Ukrainian folklore Ukrainian folklore is the folk tradition which has developed in Ukraine and among ethnic Ukrainians. The earliest examples of folklore found in Ukraine is the layer of pan-Slavic folklore that dates back to the ancient Slavic mythology of the Eas ...

genres, such as proverbs, sayings, riddles and so on.

Biography

Symonov (Nomys) was born to a family of a wealthy official. In 1848, he graduated from

Kyiv University The Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv (; also known as Kyiv University, Shevchenko University, or KNU) is a public university in Kyiv, Ukraine. The university is the third-oldest university in Ukraine after the University of Lviv and ...

. He started his career as a teacher of high schools in

Nizhyn Nizhyn (, ; ) is a city located in Chernihiv Oblast of northern Ukraine along the Oster River. The city is located north-east of the national capital Kyiv. Nizhyn serves as the capital city, administrative center of Nizhyn Raion. It hosts the ...

and

Nemyriv Nemyriv ( ; ) is a historic city in Vinnytsia Oblast (province) in Ukraine, located in the historical region of Podolia. It was the administrative center of former Nemyriv Raion (district). Population: Nemyriv is one of the oldest cities in Vin ...

. Then he worked as a clerk in

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...

Pskov Pskov ( rus, Псков, a=Ru-Псков.oga, p=psˈkof; see also Names of Pskov in different languages, names in other languages) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city in northwestern Russia and the administrative center of Pskov O ...

, Katerynoslav and

Zhytomyr Zhytomyr ( ; see #Names, below for other names) is a city in the north of the western half of Ukraine. It is the Capital city, administrative center of Zhytomyr Oblast (Oblast, province), as well as the administrative center of the surrounding ...

. In 1873, he was appointed as a director of

gymnasium and in 1877 – a head of Lubny local council and magistrate.

Creative activities

Throughout his life, Nomys researched and recorded Ukrainian folklore, including customs and rituals. He began to publish in 1858. He has published several articles on Ukrainian folk customs and rituals. The following journals published his materials: '' Russkaya Beseda'' he Russian Colloquy ''

Osnova The Ukrainian journal ''Osnova'' (meaning ''Basis'' in English) was published between 1861 and 1862 in Saint Petersburg. It contained articles devoted to life and customs of the Ukrainian people, including regular features about their wedding c ...

'' he Basis '' Kyivska Mynuvshyna'' ievan Pastand others. Most of his readers better know Matviy Symonov under his pseudonym Nomys, which is his surname Symonov (minus two letters ‘-ov’) read backwards. M. Nomys’ most prominent work is ''Ukrainian proverbs, sayings and so on. Collections of Opanas Markovych and others. Edited by M. Nomys'' (St. Petersburg, 1864). The book contains more than 14.5 thousands proverbs, 505 riddles and other folklore pieces. It also includes records of Stepan Rudanskyi, Vasyl Bilozerskyi,

Panteleimon Kulish Panteleimon Oleksandrovych Kulish (; 7 August 1819 – 14 February 1897) was a Ukrainian writer, critic, poet, folklorist, and translator. Life Panteleimon Kulish was born 7 August 1819 in Voronizh (now Sumy Oblast) into an impoverished ...

Marko Vovchok Marko Vovchok (, birth name: Mariia Vilinskа, surname by the first marriage: Markovych, surname by the second marriage: Lobach-Zhuchenko, ; 22 December 1833 – 10 August 1907) was a Ukrainian female writer of Russian descent. Her pen name, Ma ...

and others. Nomys also wrote prose and is defined by scholars as a romantic writer.Shumeyko Z. Ye
‘The Aesthetic Principles of Romanticism in Matviy Monys’
Artistic Texts’ in ''Visnyk Dnipropetrovskoho Universytetu imeni Alfreda Nobelia'' nipro University in the name of Alfred Nobel, Newsletter2016. No 1 (11) His book, entitled ''Short stories of M. T. Symonov (Nomys)'', was published in 1900.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nomys, Matviy 1823 births 1900 deaths Ukrainian ethnographers Ukrainian male writers Ukrainian folklorists Scholars from the Russian Empire