People · Kyivans in history

Famous KyivansMusicians and performers

Princes and saints, poets and aviators, patrons and adventurers — people who were born, lived or worked in Kyiv. Biographies, addresses and places to visit.

56 people
11 categories
12 centuries (X–XXI c.)

Musicians and performers

8 people

Mykola LysenkoComposer1842–1912The father of Ukrainian classical music. He lived in Kyiv for over half a century, wrote his operas and founded the first music and drama school here; his house-museum and grave are in the city.
Alexander VertinskySinger-songwriter1889–1957Legendary chansonnier and actor, the “sad Pierrot” of the stage. Born at 43 Volodymyrska Street, he went to school in Kyiv; a monument to him stands on Andriyivskyy Descent.
Serge LifarDancer, choreographer1905–1986A Kyivan who led the Paris Opera Ballet for over 30 years. He sang in the St Sophia Cathedral choir and took his first ballet steps in Bronislava Nijinska’s Kyiv studio.
Bronislava NijinskaDancer, choreographer1891–1972Sister of Vaslav Nijinsky and one of the first great women choreographers. She lived in Kyiv in 1915–1921, founding her innovative School of Movement and training Serge Lifar.
Mariya ZankovetskaActress1854–1934The great tragic actress of the Ukrainian “Theatre of Coryphaei”. She played in Sadovsky’s Kyiv theatre and spent her last years at 121 Velyka Vasylkivska Street, now her museum.
Mykola SadovskyActor, director1856–1933A giant of Ukrainian theatre. In 1907 he brought his company to Kyiv and opened the city’s first permanent Ukrainian theatre in the Trinity People’s House, today’s Operetta Theatre.
Oleksandr DovzhenkoFilm director1894–1956A classic of world cinema, maker of Earth and Arsenal. He studied and worked in Kyiv and filmed at the Kyiv film factory, named after him since 1957.
Sergei ParajanovFilm director1924–1990Director of Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors. He worked at Kyiv’s Dovzhenko Film Studios for over twenty years and was arrested in his Kyiv flat in 1973.