Olga Afanasyevna Petlyura (before marriage - Belskaya) ( December 23, 1885 , p. Malaya Dovitsa , Poltava Province , Russian Empire - November 23, 1959 , Paris , France ) - Ukrainian teacher and social activist, the wife of the Director of the UNR Directorate Simon Petlyura and the mother of an emigrant poet Lesi Petlyura. She took an active part in the life of Ukrainian immigrants in Paris .
| Olga Afanasyevna Petlyura | |||||||
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| ukr Olga Opanasivna Petlyura | |||||||
 Olga Petlyura with her daughter Lesya | |||||||
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| Predecessor | Rosalia Y. Vinnichenko | ||||||
| Successor | Antonina Kravchuk (as the 1st lady of Ukraine ) | ||||||
| Birth | December 23, 1885 with. Small Maiden , Poltava Province , Russian Empire now Priluksky district , Chernihiv region , Ukraine | ||||||
| Death | November 23, 1959 (73 years) Paris , France | ||||||
| Burial place | |||||||
| Birth name | Olga Afanasyevna Belskaya | ||||||
| Spouse | Simon Vasilyevich Petlyura | ||||||
| Children | |||||||
| Religion | Orthodoxy | ||||||
Content
Biography
Early years
Born in the family of teacher Athanasius Belsky in with. The Small Maiden , near the town of Priluki, Poltava Province (present-day Priluksky District, Chernihiv Oblast of Ukraine ). She was orphaned early and brought up in a grandmother's house in Priluki. Here she graduated with honors from high school and became a teacher of elementary grades. After some time, Olga arrived in Kiev with the aim of enrolling in the Higher Women's Courses , but due to financial difficulties she was forced to get a job at the Zherebetskaya private gymnasium.
In 1908 , being a guest of her distant relatives in Kiev, she met Simon Petlyura . In 1910 she married him. After marriage, the couple moved first to St. Petersburg , and then to Moscow . Here Petlyura took up the editorial office of the Ukrainian Life magazine, organized by the Ukrainian community. Both spouses actively participated in the life of the Ukrainian diaspora in Moscow: they organized concerts and literary evenings.
In 1911 the first and only child was born in the family - daughter Lesya. Olga paid special attention to raising her daughter. She spoke to her only in Ukrainian , read Ukrainian books to her, instilled Ukrainian traditions. As a child, Lesya wore mostly traditional Ukrainian clothes.
UNR
In 1917, soon after the February Revolution, the family of Simon Petlyura again moved to Kiev. Paying tribute to the position of her spouse, she tried not only to support him, but also to take part in the social life of the newly-formed Ukrainian People's Republic .
In January 1918 , shortly before the occupation of Kiev by the Bolsheviks , the leadership of the UNR left the capital. In order not to burden her husband, Olga and her seven-year-old daughter remained in Kiev. For one and a half years, they lived under another name, often changing their place of residence, sleeping with friends and fleeing persecution. In 1919, Petlura’s friends helped his family move from Kiev to Prague .
Emigration
In 1924, the Petlura family last changed their place of residence, settling in Paris . To earn a living, Olga Afanasevna earned embroidery. Part of the money went to training her daughter, who was working with private teachers.
On May 25, 1926, Simon Petlyura was assassinated by the Jewish poet Samuel Schwarzburd . This greatly affected the health of his widow: she was seriously ill, began to lose her hearing. To top it off, her daughter fell ill with consumption . She continued to live with this disease until 1941 , after which she died at the age of less than 30 years. Subsequently, her remains were transferred to the cemetery of Montparnasse and buried next to the grave of Simon Petlura.
Olga Afanasevna Petlyura died on November 23, 1959 . She was buried in a family grave in the cemetery of Montparnasse next to her husband and daughter.