Kharkiv of the 1920s–1930s in Ukrainian Autobiographies of the Twentieth Century

Abstract

In the 1920s–30s Kharkiv was the capital of Ukraine, a powerful intellectual, cultural, scientific, industrial and financial center of Ukraine. State authorities, numerous scientific and educational institutions, theaters were located in the city. Thanks to constructivism, the architectural style of Kharkiv was changing. There were many literary and artistic associations in the city (Pluh, Hart, VAPLITE, VUSPP, Prolitfront and others). The literary portrait of Kharkiv of that period appears from numerous autobiographies of Ukrainian scientists, writers, cultural figures who lived and worked in this city in the 1920s–30s. From the Ukrainian autobiographies of the twentieth century, Kharkiv of this period appears as a place populated by active, effective, creative people who constructed a new reality, built a new life according to new rules. Significant literary loci of the city for Ukrainian autobiographers of this period are the House of Blakytnyi, the Peasant House, the Literary Fair quarter, the Slovo House, the Berezil Theater. From 1933, all spheres of life were strictly controlled by the authorities, many leading figures of that period were repressed, and every mention of them was prohibited. The Soviet system gripped the city.