Borys Dmytrovych Hrinchenko (1863–1910) was a classical Ukrainian prose writer, political activist, historian, publicist, and ethnographer. He was instrumental in the Ukrainian cultural revival of the late 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries.

Hrinchenko was an editor of various Ukrainian periodicals. He was one of the founders of the Ukrainian Radical Party

Ukrainian Democratic Party (1904)

-Name change:*General Ukrainian Unaffiliated Democratic Organization *Ukrainian Democratic Party **Ukrainian Radical Party *Ukrainian Democratic Radical Party *Society of Ukrainian Progressionists...

. Hrinchenko also was an author of fundamental ethnographic, lexicographic, and pedagogical works, literary studies, historical reviews, the first textbooks in the Ukrainian language, particularly Native word, the school-book for reading. He was an editor of the four volume Dictionary of the Ukrainian language (Publication: "Kievskaya starina", 1907–1909). One of the organizers and directors of Prosvita

Prosvita

Prosvita is a society created in the nineteenth century in Ukrainian Galicia for preserving and developing Ukrainian culture and education among population....

 Society.

Borys Hrinchenko was born on December 9, 1863 in the khutir of Vilkhovy Yar, in the Kharkov Governorate

Kharkov Governorate

Kharkiv Governorate or Kharkov Governorate was a governorate of the Russian Empire originally founded in 1780. It was renamed to Sloboda Ukraine Governorate in 1797 and back to Kharkiv Governorate in 1835....

 of the Russian Empire

Russian Empire

The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...

 (today - Sumy Oblast

Sumy Oblast

Sumy Oblast is an oblast in the northeastern part of Ukraine. The administrative center of the oblast is the city of Sumy.Other important cities within the oblast include Konotop, Okhtyrka, Romny, and Shostka....

, Ukraine

Ukraine

Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...

). His father was a retired army officer of an impoverished noble heritage. His family possessed 19 desyatinas of land mostly forest and a water mill. Father knew the Ukrainian language

Ukrainian language

Ukrainian is a language of the East Slavic subgroup of the Slavic languages. It is the official state language of Ukraine. Written Ukrainian uses a variant of the Cyrillic alphabet....

 well and used it only when talked with neighboring peasants, while at home everyone in the family spoke Russian

Russian language

Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...

. Before enrolling into the Kharkiv city realnoe uchilishche

Realschule

The Realschule is a type of secondary school in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein. It has also existed in Croatia , Denmark , Sweden , Hungary and in the Russian Empire .-History:The Realschule was an outgrowth of the rationalism and empiricism of the seventeenth and...

, young Hrinchenko was home schooled

Homeschooling

Homeschooling or homeschool is the education of children at home, typically by parents but sometimes by tutors, rather than in other formal settings of public or private school...

. While in school he was first arrested on December 29, 1879 "for possession and distribution" of a banned book written by Serhiy Podolynsky "Steam machine" (Парова машина, 1875). At 16 he was prohibited a further higher education. After about a year of exile to his father estate he returned to Kharkiv

Kharkiv

Kharkiv or Kharkov is the second-largest city in Ukraine.The city was founded in 1654 and was a major centre of Ukrainian culture in the Russian Empire. Kharkiv became the first city in Ukraine where the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic was proclaimed in December 1917 and Soviet government was...

 and working as a tutor earned money to obtain the diploma from Kharkiv University

Kharkiv University

The University of Kharkiv or officially the Vasyl Karazin Kharkiv National University is one of the major universities in Ukraine, and earlier in the Russian Empire and Soviet Union...

 as a people's educator.

He died on May 6, 1910 in the town Ospedaletti

Ospedaletti

Ospedaletti is a comune in the Province of Imperia in the Italian region of Liguria, located about 120 km southwest of Genoa and about 25 km southwest of Imperia...

 in Liguria

Liguria

Liguria is a coastal region of north-western Italy, the third smallest of the Italian regions. Its capital is Genoa. It is a popular region with tourists for its beautiful beaches, picturesque little towns, and good food.-Geography:...

, Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

.