Mykhailo Pavlovych Teliha (; 14 (21) November 1900 – 21 February 1942) was an active Ukrainian community leader and distinguished musician.

Biography

He was born in the Akhtyrka Stanitsa in the

Kuban Kuban ( Russian and Ukrainian: Кубань; ) is a historical and geographical region in the North Caucasus region of southern Russia surrounding the Kuban River, on the Black Sea between the Don Steppe, the Volga Delta and separated fr ...

. It is here that he first became interested in playing the

bandura A bandura ( ) is a Ukrainians, Ukrainian plucked string instrument, plucked-string folk-instrument. It combines elements of the zither and lute and, up until the 1940s, was also often called a kobza. Early instruments () had 5 to 12 strings and ...

in 1913. He trained initially as a forester and engineer and later he completed medical studies to become a doctor. In 1918, he moved to

Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

to aid in the establishment of the newly independent Ukraine. There he became a member of the Kobzar Choir under the direction of Vasyl Yemetz. He was an active participant in the struggle for Ukrainian liberation where he served as a field surgeon. He was also part of the personal staff of Symon Petlura. In 1921, he was interned in a camp in

Kalisz Kalisz () is a city in central Poland, and the second-largest city in the Greater Poland Voivodeship, with 97,905 residents (December 2021). It is the capital city of the Kalisz Region. Situated on the Prosna river in the southeastern part of Gr ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

where he organized an ethnographic ensemble and taught

. When it became known that negotiations had been initiated for the repatriation of those that were interned to

Soviet Ukraine The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, abbreviated as the Ukrainian SSR, UkrSSR, and also known as Soviet Ukraine or just Ukraine, was one of the constituent republics of the Soviet Union from 1922 until 1991. Under the Soviet one-party m ...

, he moved to

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

. In

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

he lived in

and Poděbrady from 1923 to 1929. There he completed his studies in Medicine at the Podebrady Academy. Here he met and married the future Ukrainian poet Olena Teliha and continued his involvement with the bandura being active in the formation of a bandura school and a second Bandurist Capella in Prague. In 1926, he was the editor of a collection of pieces for the bandura published in Prague under the auspices of the "Kobzar" society. The book contained 12 pieces of his pieces printed on 24 pages. It was the first collection of bandura music ever published. In 1929, he and his wife moved to Poland, where he lived in

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

until 1939. He performed as a professional musician throughout western

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

during this time and recorded 6 works on 3 records for a Polish record company – "Syrena Electro". In 1939 he moved to

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

. His repertoire on the records included: # Zaporozhian march # Hej vydno selo # Oj lita orel # Oj ne khody Hrytsiu # Vyklyk # Vstaye khmara # Oj na hori vohon' horyt' In 1941, during the German occupation of Ukraine he returned with his wife to Kyiv to participate in the rebuilding of Ukrainian culture and a Ukrainian presence in the capital. Teliha was arrested together with his wife on 9 February 1942 by the

Gestapo The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, abbreviated Gestapo (), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of F ...

. He was not involved in the publication of anti-German materials in the newspaper ''Ukrayinske Slovo'' and was offered his release. He chose not to leave his wife's side and was shot a few days later on 21 (23) February 1942 in Babyn Yar, Kyiv.

Sources

*Entsyklopedia Ukrainoznavstvo- volume 8 *Ukr. Slovo - Mykhailo Teliha - Bandura #51-52,1995 *nn - Mykhilo Teliha - Kubans'kyj Kozak banduryst - Bandura #57-58, 1996 {{DEFAULTSORT:Teliha, Mykhailo 1900 births 1942 deaths Bandurists Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists People murdered in Reichskommissariat Ukraine Ukrainian people executed by Nazi Germany Russian people executed by Nazi Germany Executed people from Krasnodar Krai People executed by Nazi Germany by firearm Kobzars 20th-century Ukrainian musicians