Георгій Нарбут

Activity: Culture
Date of birth: March 9, 1886
Date of death: May 23, 1920, Kyiv
Navigator: The Long 19th Century

Graphic artist, illustrator, creator of the first Ukrainian state symbols — postage stamps and bank notes of the UNR (Ukrainian People’s Republic). One of the founders and rector of the Ukrainian Academy of Arts. Born on March 9, 1886, in the Chernihiv region. Died on May 23, 1920, in Kyiv.

Heorhiy Narbut descended from a family of impoverished Lithuanian gentry. Even in his childhood, he felt a strong attraction to artistic creation: he made vytynankas (paper cut-outs), cut figures out of wrappers, and, even without pencils or paints, tried to recreate the beauty of the surrounding world.
From 1896 to 1906, Narbut studied at the Hlukhiv Boys’ Gymnasium. During this period, his interest in heraldry and graphics emerged: he managed to find the coat of arms of his family—which, as it turned out, included Zaporozhian Cossacks—and recreate it. When a teacher brought a copy of the Ostromir Gospels to class, Narbut painstakingly traced all its written Cyrillic letters.
After graduating from the gymnasium, Narbut moved to St. Petersburg, where he lived until the turbulent year of 1917. There, he took lessons from various artists, notably studying at the studio of Elizaveta Zvantseva, a student of Ilya Repin. In 1909, he spent time in Munich, perfecting his skills at the school of the Hungarian artist Simon Hollósy. Upon his return, he became a member of the St. Petersburg art society “World of Art” (Mir Iskusstva). During this period, Narbut established himself as an illustrator, working on the fairy tales of Hans Christian Andersen, the fables of Ivan Krylov, as well as folk tales and songs.
Despite the popularity he gained in the artistic circles of St. Petersburg, Heorhiy Narbut remained fiercely loyal to his Ukrainian identity and Ukrainian artistic heritage. Traveling through Ukraine, he interacted with collectors of antiquities and studied the cut of Cossack clothing—even sewing a Cossack zhupan (traditional jacket) for himself.
“The first and strongest impression was Narbut’s appearance—very much of the Ukrainian, colonel, Starodub type. […] Every single movement of his reminds one of the Chernihiv region,” recalled art historian and artist Heorhiy Lukomsky.
Following the February Revolution of 1917, Narbut returned to Ukraine and settled in Kyiv, in Heorhiyivsky Lane, not far from the Golden Gate.
“The lane of my patron saint. The Church of St. George is nearby. And most importantly, the windows of the apartment look directly into the wall of Saint Sophia of Kyiv, almost at the Zaborovsky Gate. One could die under this gate,” he used to say.
It was precisely the “Kyiv period” that cemented Narbut’s place in the history of Ukrainian art as the creator of the Ukrainian style in graphic arts. Although it lasted only three years, it proved to be extraordinarily prolific. Following the proclamation of the UNR, Narbut designed postage stamps, excise papers, and banknotes in denominations of 2, 10, 100, 500, 1000, and 2000 hryvnias. Under the government of Hetman Pavlo Skoropadsky, he designed the coat of arms of the Ukrainian State, using the symbol of the Zaporozhian Host—a Cossack with a musket—as its basis. Narbut also created the “Ukrainian Alphabet”, in which he combined the traditions of Ukrainian handwritten script and printing with European type design expertise.
In November 1917, the official opening of the Ukrainian Academy of Arts took place—the first higher education institution of the UNR. Narbut became a professor at the academy, and when almost all the faculty fled Kyiv in 1919 to escape the Bolsheviks, he took over its leadership. Later, the Bolsheviks confiscated the academy’s building, and Narbut began conducting classes at his own home.
“It was a real chicken coop. The ceiling was covered with plywood so that the water wouldn’t pour in so heavily when it rained. The workshops were separated from the hallway by large canvases—the works of the professors. All of this hardly matched the significance Narbut attached to the academy. But with this step, he saved it from inevitable destruction,” recalled art historian Fedir Ernst.
In the summer of 1919, power in Kyiv shifted once again—the “Whites” seized control, announcing the return of Kyiv to Russia.
“At this point, Narbut became completely disheartened. As a Ukrainian who had worked under Skoropadsky, he was persecuted. As a former employee under the Directorate—likewise. As someone who executed orders for the Soviet government—even more so,” related Heorhiy Lukomsky.
In the autumn of that same year, the artist contracted typhus, which led to liver complications. He was almost completely bedridden but continued to work, never letting a pencil leave his hands.
Narbut’s final project was illustrating Ivan Kotlyarevsky’s Eneida (The Aeneid), but he did not live to see it completed. Having finished only one illustration, he died at the age of 34 and was buried at the Baikove Cemetery in Kyiv.

Author: Olha Herasymenko