The Mystery of the Photograph: Koshetz Family, Vasyl Benevsky, or Fr. Petro Medynsky?
While working on articles dedicated to the memory of the renowned Maestro Koshetz, I repeatedly drew on his Memoirs; the three-volume diary With Song, Around the World; and the book Ukrainian Song Abroad…, published by Koshetz himself in Paris in 1928. I also examined articles and critical responses to the worldwide triumph of the Ukrainian Republican Capella (Ukrainian National Choir) written by prominent European and American critics in century-old periodicals, among other sources, over more than seven years of research.
With trembling hands, I carefully turned the pages of Koshetz’s diary, gazing with admiration at his photographs, personal belongings, and letters, which his wife, Tetiana Gorgievska-Koshetz, entrusted to the Ukrainian Cultural and Educational Center in Winnipeg after his passing. Exploring his archives left a unique and unforgettable impression. Some of Alexander Koshetz’s archival documents and photographs are published here for the first time .
Notebook of Alexander Koshetz. 1929-1933 .
Note: Unless otherwise stated in the caption, the photograph is from the Alexander Koshetz archival collection at the Ukrainian Cultural and Educational Centre (Oseredok) in Winnipeg.
Folder with documents «Assistance to Family and Friends in Ukraine. 1932-1935 ».
Certificate of Alexander Koshetz’s U.S. citizenship .
Over the years of my research, I have reviewed numerous publications on Maestro Koshetz and his artistic legacy, authored by journalists from various outlets as well as by scholars and specialists in art history. When these works are compared with Koshetz’s own writings, certain discrepancies become apparent. Some publications contain inaccuracies or unverified dates, and in a few instances, interpretations that may require further clarification or reassessment.
As noted in the article The Untold Struggles of Koshetz: An Immigrant’s Fate (EzReklama Blogspot, September 27, 2024), similar issues appear in photographic records. For example, a photograph labeled The Koshetz Family is displayed at the Alexander Koshetz Museum in his native village of Tarasivka, Zvenyhorodka County, Cherkasy Province. The same image, with the same caption, is also shown at the Kyiv Museum of Alexander Koshetz, which opened in 2000 at Specialized School No. 296 ( 8 Alexander Koshetz Street). Relying on the accuracy of the museum information available at the time, I stated in my article that the photograph depicts the Koshetz family.
Subsequently, it came to light that the identical photograph appears in the online collection of the Museum of the Ukrainian Diaspora with a different caption. There, it is identified as «Alexander Koshetz (first on the right) in Kuban, 1904. Oseredok» (https://diaspora.com.ua/category/all-collections/svytlyny-uk/page/5/ ).
This discrepancy in attribution underscores the importance of carefully cross-referencing visual archival materials, even when they originate from reputable institutional sources.
In response to my inquiry regarding this photograph – specifically, how it became part of the Tarasivka Museum’s collection and whether the individuals depicted might not, in fact, be members of the Koshetz family – I received a reply from Raisa Nedostup, one of the founders of the village museum. She explained that when the museum was established in 2005, all exhibits were transmitted electronically from the A lexander Koshetz Museum in Kyiv, with some materials also sent via regular postal services. According to Ms. Nedostup, the accompanying documentation may have contained inaccuracies, which could account for the differing attributions.
The response to these questions from Kyiv stated: « Unfortunately, we are unable to determine how this photograph entered the museum’s collection, as it is no longer possible to clarify this information with the individual who founded the museum. In addition, the image on display is not the original photograph, but only a scanned copy» .
In the Ukrainian reissue of Koshetz’s Memoirs (1995) and in Mykhailo Holovashchenko’s book The Phenomenon of Alexander Koshetz (2007), the caption accompanying this image reads: «The family of Vasyl Benevsky (1864 -1930) – a Kuban friend of Alexander Koshetz. A. Koshetz is standing on the right. Stavropol, 1903 -1904».
Notably, this photograph does not appear in the Winnipeg edition of Koshetz’s Memoirs.
The idea to reissue Koshetz’s Memoirs in Ukraine came from Walter Klymkiw, conductor of the Alexander Koshetz Choir (formerly the UNF Choir) and a member of Oseredok’s Board of Directors. Acknowledging Holovashchenko’s long-standing efforts to restore the names of unjustly forgotten Ukrainian artists, Klymkiw invited him to Winnipeg in the early 1990s to work with Koshetz’s archives at Oseredok and allowed him to make photocopies of the Maestro’s personal archival materials.
The books brought from Winnipeg to Ukraine by Holovashchenko, along with newspaper clippings, documents, photographs, and other materials he copied, were used to enrich the exhibits of the first A lexander Koshetz Museum in Kyiv and later the museum in Tarasivka. Copies of these materials also served as the foundation for the book The Phenomenon of Alexander Koshetz. Considering that this process involved not just a single item but a substantial number of documents, it is reasonable to assume that some inaccuracies in the accompanying information may have occurred.
The conflicting captions and uncertain dates beneath this photograph stirred an irresistible curiosity, pulling me into a quest for the truth. I plunged into the primary sources themselves – the silent witnesses of history – where the hidden details and forgotten facts lie in wait, revealing their secrets only to those willing to look closely.
Upon revisiting the recently digitized photographic documents from Alexander Koshetz’s archive at the local Oseredok, I was able to locate the original portraits of the Maestro’s parents, along with an old mysterious group photograph. Notably, Anton and Evdokia Koshetz , the Maestro Koshetz parents , clearlyabsent from the photograph in question, confirming that it does not depict the Koshetz family.
Upon revisiting the recently digitized photographic documents from Alexander Koshetz’s archive at the local Oseredok, I was able to locate the original portraits of the Maestro’s parents, as well as an old, mysterious group photograph.
Fr. Anton and Evdokia Koshetz, the parents of Maestro Alexander Koshetz.
A mysterious archival photograph, inscribed : « A. Koshetz visiting Fr. Petro Medynsky during the recording of Kuban songs. Kuban, 1904-1905» .
Notably, Anton and Evdokia Koshetz, are clearly absent from this group photograph, confirming that it does not depict the Koshetz family.
During the digitization of the Maestro Koshetz’s archive, the captions for the photographs were generally transcribed into the catalog based on the handwritten notes found on their reverse sides.
The archival pages of the typewritten text from Oseredok’s online catalog, titled
Kuban – Recording of Songs (Part 1 of 2), together with a careful reexamination of Koshetz’s
Memoirs, gradually revealed the circumstances surrounding the creation of this photograph, bringing long-hidden details into clearer view.
Typewritten pages from Alexander Koshetz’s Memoirs, featuring his handwritten corrections and additions, chronicling the recording of Kuban songs.
It is well known that Alexander Koshetz undertook the collection and documentation of Cossack folklore in the Kuban region at the recommendation of Mykola Lysenko, who had been approached with this request by the government of the Kuban Cossack Host. Administratively composed of both Ukrainian and russian Cossacks, the Host offered Koshetz a rare opportunity to immerse himself in their everyday lives. During this period, he carefully recorded both Ukrainian and russian songs, capturing not only their musical features but also the cultural character of the settlements he visited.
After the destruction of the Zaporizhian Sich by Catherine II, Ukrainian Cossacks settled in the Kuban region. Generations later, they still held fast to their traditions, customs, and songs – songs that might have faded into silence if not for Koshetz. Through the recollections of « the old Cossacks», Koshetz brought these melodies back from the brink of oblivion, giving voice once more to a heritage that had survived centuries of displacement.
In his Memoirs , Koshetz writes the following: «My excursions to the Kuban continued over the course of three years – from 1903 to 1905. I made the first two excursions on my own [not as part of any expedition, as some authors claim!], and the last one in the company of Pavlo Dobrohaiev – my friend and colleague from my service at the Kyiv Seminary. I took him along to write down the words during the singing » ( Спогади. Ч. 2 , 1948. – p . 48).
Beginning at the stanytsia (Cossack settlement) nearest to Ekaterinodar, Koshetz spent three years recording «around a thousand » songs. From this vast collection, he prepared 500 for publication – 450 Ukrainian and 50 russian – and submitted ten notebooks, each containing 50 songs, to the Kuban Statistical Committee in Ekaterinodar. He referred to the songs he recorded as « a treasure of the highest artistic and historical value» and considered himself « fortunate to have uncovered it» .
The fate of the ten notebooks of songs received by Secretary Chobotariv deserves a separate story. The article Koshetz Alexander Antonovych (Encyclopedia of the History of Ukraine, Vol. 5: http://resource.history.org.ua/cgi-bin/eiu/history.exe ) notes that in 1908, Koshetz was awarded a gold medal at the Ethnographic and Agricultural Exhibition of Kuban for his song collection 500 Kuban Folk Songs .
From Koshetz’ s own records, the reader finds out that no song collection titled 500 Kuban Folk Songsever saw the light of day. In 1910, he searched for his notebooks «in all the institutions of Ekaterinodar but could not find them ». Although he was awarded a gold medal, it was not for the collection itself, but for certain samples of his song recordings. He had to retrieve these from his archive and send them to Ekaterinodar, as «they could not locate [his] notebooks …».
While recordin g Cossack folklore, Kosh etzobserved « a disdainful attitude towards this endeavor» from the new government of the Kuban Cossack Host , «b ecause it was, after all, a Ukrainian matter! ».Moreover, all his notes ended up in the hands of the bolsheviks ...
Summarizing this period of his life, the work he loved, which brought him «great joy and satisfaction », along with fond memories of «the people and that region» , Koshetz wrote: « Thus, the matter of the greatest cultural significance ended so futilely! This is how all Ukrainian matters ended in russia ... What remains today of this original chapter of history and the remnants of our Cossack legacy?... » (Спогади. Ч. 2. – p . 70 ).
Koshetz’s Memoirs also contain reliable information about the enigmatic photograph and the Cossack settlement – whose name the author could no longer recall – where it was taken. After settling into a guesthouse run by Old Ritual m uscovite women, the newly arrived song collectors visited the local church, where they encountered a priest who seemed distinctly unwelcoming. Hoping he might eventually invite them in for a cup of tea, they drew him into a long conversation.
When it was time to say goodbye, the priest, somewhat reluctantly, did indeed invite them to his home and led them to his residence, where several acquaintances and friends of the family had gathered. The priest introduced them to his daughter, a young lady studying «in the 5th grade at the Eparchial School », her lady friend, as well as the priest’s wife, a teacher, and other women... «Thus», Koshetz recalls, «we found ourselves in a "ladies " company».
The young ethnographer, who turned out to be quite the storyteller, «was simply... "on fire" and made the ladies laugh to the point of tears ». Later, everyone was «invited to a modest meal ». The "modesty" of this meal can be gauged by Koshetz’s description of the table, which he said was « two kilometers long» , covered with « a whole row of bottles» . They sat around it and remained there almost until morning. When it was time to part ways, the song collectors (after all, the priest ’s young daughter was of marriageable age!) were invited to dinner. The hosts even insisted, «...without you, we wouldn’t even sit down at the table!».
They spent – or, as Koshetz put it, «dawdled through » – an entire week in this stanytsia . «We even took a ‘family’ photograph, so that anyone looking at it would think we were not guests but close relatives… Overall, we had a wonderful time. I still have that ‘family’ photograph somewhere in Kyiv ». Following these words, a handwritten note was added to the typescript page of Koshetz’s memoirs: «The priest’s name was Fr. Petro Medynsky ».
Based on Koshetz’s own words, we can confidently conclude that the photograph in question does not depict either the Koshetz family or the family of Vasyl Benevsky. Rather, it shows the family and friends of Fr. Petro Medynsky, together with their guests from Kyiv – Alexander Koshetz (standing first on the right in the back row) and Pavlo Dobrohaiev (standing in the middle of the back row, wearing glasses).
This naturally raises the question: how did this photograph make its way across the ocean?
The answer lies in the Alexander Koshetz archives, which include letters exchanged with his close friend in Kyiv, Ivan (Vania) Masychenko. In them, Koshetz entrusted Masychenko with his notes and family photographs, asking that they be sent by registered mail to his address in the United States.
The opening page of a July 5, 1934, letter from Ivan Masychenko to Alexander Koshetz, detailing the photographs he had mailed to Koshetz in the United States.
Галина Кравчук, Вінніпеґ, Канада
