It was at the darkest hour when the rights and privileges of the Ukrainians were being consistently reduced in Russian Ukraine and all hope seemed lost, that there passed across the scene a strange figure. That was Hrihori Skovoroda, philosopher, poet and ethical teacher. Even today it is hard to understand his attitude toward life, for he was one of those men who are sincerely human but who stand aside from the vices and evil deeds of men and in their avoidance of the bad, refrain also from much of the good, if not from life itself. Had Skovoroda been ambitious, he could have occupied almost any post in the service of the Russian government. Had he been thoroughly moved by nationalistic fervor, he could have had anything that Ukraine could offer him. An able man, he wished for nothing except to be allowed to live his life in his own way, to teach whom he wished as he wished how to live, and perhaps because of his refusal to fit into the conventional mode of existence, he left an indelible but none too sharply defined imprint upon all who came into contact with him. All of the writers who remodelled the Ukrainian language at the close of the century speak of him with the greatest respect and he was a precursor of the Ukrainian Renaissance which was to follow just a few years after he ceased his wanderings. Skovoroda was born in 1722 in the village of Chornukhi in the province of Poltava. His parents were Kozaks and his father had belonged to the Lubny Regiment. They were not of the lowest class materially and the young boy had the opportunity to secure what education was available. He was a remarkably sensitive child and unlike the majority of his fellows, he cared more for reading than he did for the rough sports of the day. Religion and the Bible interested him but he early declined to be bound by the conventional interpretation, and this grew upon him as he passed through life. Because of his beautiful voice, his father sent him to study at the Academy of Kiev. He stayed there for two years and then he went to St. Petersburg and had a position in the court choir of the Empress Elizabeth. She had secretly married Aleksyey Rozumovsky (1709-1771) and he induced her to do something for Ukraine. She even restored the post of Hetman after it had been abolished in 1734 and appointed her husband’s brother Cyril to the position. In 1744 Skovoroda returned to Kiev and resumed his studies. His talents and his voice were such that the Archbishop urged him to take holy orders. It was in vain. Skovoroda absolutely refused and expressed himself so forcefully that he was finally compelled to leave the Academy.