Semen Hulak-Artemovsky

Semyon Stepanovych Gulak-Artemovsky (Ukrainian: Семен Степанович Гулак-Артемовський, also referred to as Semyon Gulak Artemovsky) (February 16 [O.S. February 4] 1813 – April 17 [O.S. April 5] 1873), was a Ukrainian opera composer, singer (baritone), actor, and dramatist who lived and worked in Imperial Russia.

He is known mainly for his comic opera Zaporozhets za Dunayem (A Zaporozhian (Cossack) Beyond the Danube), as well as for his dramatic talent and his powerful, rich baritone voice. He was the nephew of the poet Petro Hulak-Artemovsky and a close friend of Taras Shevchenko.

Semyon Gulak-Artemovsky was born in Horodyshche a city in present-day Ukraine (at the time a part of Imperial Russia) to the family of a priest, and went on to study at the Kiev Theological Seminary from 1835 to 1838. Having gained the attention of Mikhail Glinka, the young Semyon was brought to the capital of the empire, St Petersburg, in 1838 to receive vocal training directly from Glinka, as well as entry into the Imperial Chapel Choir. The following year, Gulak-Artemovsky left to continue his studies in Italy. Towards the end of his stay in that country, he began performing opera in Florence. Upon his return to St. Petersburg in 1842, Semyon Gulak-Artemovsky became a soloist of the Imperial Opera at the Imperial Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre, a position he held for 22 years. In 1852 and 1853 he sang roles in Anton Rubinstein's first two operas, Dmitry Donskoy and Fomka the Fool.

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