Oracle SQLPlus [Electronic resources] : The Definitive Guide, 2nd Edition نسخه متنی

What About Those Names?

To add interest to the book and because I'm half
Ukrainian, I've used the names of notable Ukrainian
literary and historical figures for the employee names in my example
data. Thanks to Professor Myron Hlynka, University of Windsor,
Windsor, Canada for his kindness in providing the following, very
brief biographical sketches of the people whose names I used:

Marusia Bohuslavka
A legendary Ukrainian heroine of the 16th or 17th century. Like
Roxolana Lisovsky (see later in this section), Marusia was captured
by the Turks and added to the harem of a Turkish lord. A famous Kozak
duma (epic poem) of the period tells the story of how Marusia rises
to such a level that her Turkish master leaves her with the keys to
his castle (and dungeon). She uses the opportunity to free a group of
Ukrainian kozaks who had been in captivity there for 30 years.
Strangely, she does not flee with them but remains with her harem, as
this has become the only life she is now comfortable with. Marusia
symbolizes those who leave Ukraine but still have a strong connection
to the land of their ancestry.

Pavlo Chubynsky (1839-1884)
Born in Boryspil, Ukraine. He was a geographer and ethnographer who
collected information on folk customs and folk music in Ukraine. He
wrote a book of poetry entitled Sopilka
("Ukrainian wooden flute"). He is
best known for writing the lyrics to the current Ukrainian national
anthem, "Shche ne vmerla Ukraina"
("Ukraine is Not Yet Dead"). This
strange negative title reflects the fact that Ukraine has often been
under foreign rule; in Chubynsky's time, Ukraine was
divided among Russia, Austria, and Romania.

Marusia Churai (1625-1650)
A singer and composer of Ukrainian songs. A historical novel in
verse, Marusia Churai , by Lina Kostenko (1979),
tells the story of Marusia who died during the Ukrainian struggle for
independence from Polish rule. Among the songs she composed is
"Oy ne khody, Hrytsiu"
("Don't go to the party,
Hrytz"). This song (with its story about a poisoning
by a betrayed lover) was turned into a novel V Nedilyu rano
zillya kopala ("On Sunday morning, she
gathered herbs") by Olha Kobylianska, 1909. Further,
the song had completely different English lyrics written by Jack
Lawrence (who learned the music from his Ukrainian born mother). The
English language version of the song was "Yes, My
Darling Daughter." Singer Dinah Shore sold over a
million copies of this song in 1940.

Mykhailo Hrushevsky (1866-1934)
A scholar and politician, he was arrested by the Russian government
in 1914 for his outspoken pro-Ukrainian positions. He was released in
1917. In 1918, he became President of the short-lived Ukrainian
National Republic. In 1919, he left Ukraine, but returned in 1924
with the hope that the new Soviet government would allow more
Ukrainian autonomy. However, in 1929, the Soviet authorities limited
his work and, in 1929, he was exiled from Ukraine to Moscow. He died
in 1934, one year after Stalin's famine genocide in
Ukraine. Hrushevsky's 10-volume History of
Ukraine is the standard on which all other major Ukrainian
histories are based. An abridged English language version was
published in the United States in 1941.

Hryhory Kytasty (1907-1984)
Born in the Poltava province of Ukraine. Kytasty was a performer on
the bandura, a conductor, and a composer. (The bandura is the
multistringed national instrument of Ukraine.) In 1935, Kytasty
became the concert master of the Ukrainian State Bandurist Capella,
and in 1941, he was drafted into the Red Army. Captured by the Nazis,
he escaped to form and direct the Shevchenko Ukrainian Bandurist
Capella in Kyiv. This group was captured and interned by the Nazis.
In 1949, after World War II, having escaped from the Communists,
Kytasty and many of the members of the group settled in Detroit and
formed the Ukrainian Bandurist Chorus, with Kytasty as conductor.
This marvelous choir and bandura ensemble continues to amaze
audiences across North America and Europe, long after the death of
its founder.

Mykola Leontovych (1877-1921)
A Ukrainian composer, arranger and conductor. In 1918, he moved to
Kyiv where his arrangements caught the attention of Oleksander
Koshetz, who directed the Ukrainian National Choir. One of the works
that Koshetz's choir performed on its world tour was
Leontovych's arrangement of a Ukrainian New
Year's carol called
"Shchedryk." Peter Wilhousky, an
American, heard the choir and obtained a copy of the score. He wrote
a new set of English lyrics and titled the piece
"Carol of the Bells." Under this
name, the song has become one of the most popular Christmas carols in
the world. "Hark, how the bells, sweet silver bells
. . . ."
Roxolana Lisovsky (1505-1558)
A Ukrainian girl captured by Tatars. She was purchased as a slave and
added to the harem of Sultan Suleyman (the Magnificent) of the
Ottoman Empire (Turkey), 1494-1566, who ruled as Sultan from 1520.
This was at the height of the power of the Ottoman empire. Roxolana
persuaded the Sultan to marry her and she acquired great power. Her
Turkish name was Hurrem. One comment on her influence was
"The slave girl enslaved Suleyman."
One of the sons of Suleyman and Roxolana was Selim II, who became the
next Sultan (one of the worst). Their only daughter, Mihrimah, was
born in 1522. She became one of the most powerful princesses in the
history of the Ottoman empire. Roxolana is the subject of a 1991
opera by composer Denys Sichynsky.

Ivan Mazepa (more often spelled Mazeppa) (1638-1709)
The hetman (chief) of the Ukrainian kozaks from 1687 until his death.
In his youth, he served as a page of Jan Casimir in Poland. A famous
legend tells the story of how Mazepa had an affair with a Polish
noblewoman and how her husband got revenge by tying Mazepa to a wild
Ukrainian horse that was sent into the steppes of Ukraine. Mazepa was
supposed to perish but he was rescued by Ukrainian kozaks and
eventually became their leader. This legend was the subject of a poem
by Byron and a symphonic poem by Liszt. Mazepa was the subject of a
book by Pushkin and an opera by Tchaikovsky. In 1709, when the
Ukraine was under Russian rule, Mazepa joined forces with Charles XII
of Sweden to secure Ukraine's independence. At the
famous Battle of Poltava, Tsar Peter I defeated Charles and Mazepa,
leaving much of the Ukraine under Russian control for most of the
next 300 years.

Taras Shevchenko (1814-1861)
Born a serf in central Ukraine. In 1830, his owner, Engelhardt, moved
with his serfs to St. Petersburg, Russia. There
Shevchenko's talent as an artist was discovered and
in 1838, generous artists and writers raised enough money to purchase
his freedom. In 1840, Shevchenko's first collection
of poetry, The Kobzar , was published in the
Ukrainian language. This work was immensely successful among the
Ukrainian people, who had not been able to boast of a literary figure
of his stature. His poetry encompassed many different styles:
historical epics, lyrical poetry, philosophical musings, and
political commentary. Speaking of the many nationalities held
forcibly in the Russian empire, he wrote, "Each, in
his own language, holds his tongue."
Shevchenko's political poetry got him in trouble
with the tsarist government. As a result, he was arrested in 1847 and
did not see Ukraine again until 1859, two years before his death. His
fame and importance to Ukrainian literature is so immense that even
outside Ukraine there are major statues erected in his honor, in
cities as diverse as St. Petersburg, Buenos Aires, Winnipeg, and
Washington.

Igor Sikorsky (1889-1972)
Born in Kyiv, Ukraine at a time when Eastern Ukraine was part of
Russia, and Western Ukraine was part of Austria, he began studies at
the Kyiv Polytechnic Institute in 1907. He built his first
(unsuccessful) helicopter in 1909. During and prior to World War I,
Sikorsky designed and flew planes in Russia. He helped develop the
world's first multiengine aircraft. After coming to
the United States in 1919, he continued working on fixed wing
aircrafts. Other people had developed helicopters prior to Sikorsky;
however, none of their designs led to commercial development. In
1939, Sikorsky successfully designed and flew what was to be the
world's first practical helicopter. The successful
Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation in the United States stands as a legacy
to his achievements. He was honored with a United States postage
stamp in 1988 and a Ukrainian postage stamp in 1998.

Lesia Ukrainka (1871-1913)
The pseudonym of Ukrainian poetess Larysa Kosach. She is considered
one of the three major early pillars of Ukrainian literature, along
with Taras Shevchenko and Ivan Franko. Tuberculosis affected her most
of her life, so she spent many years outside of Ukraine seeking
medical aid. Her poetry often showed her yearning for Ukraine. Some
of her lyric poetry appears in the collection Na Krylakh
Pisen ' ("On the Wings of
Song"), 1892. Her most famous work was
"Lisova Pisnya"
("Forest Song"), 1912.

Mykhailo Verbytsky (1815-1870)
Born in the Ukrainian region of Halychyna. He was a composer,
conductor, and priest. His most famous composition is the music for
the Ukrainian national anthem "Shche ne vmerla
Ukraina" ("Ukraine is Not Yet
Dead") with words by Chubynsky. He arranged church
and choral music, and composed overtures, operetta music, and other
musical works.

Pavlo Virsky (1905-1975)
A Ukrainian dancer and choreographer. In 1937, he helped found the
State Dance Ensemble of Ukraine. From 1955 to 1975 he was the
artistic director. The ensemble was renamed the Virsky Ukrainian
National Dance Company in 1977, two years after
Virsky's death. Since 1980, the artistic director
has been Myroslav Vantukh. The company of 90 performers has toured
the world many times. At the end of its first performance in New York
City in 1958 (during the Cold War era), the company received a
25-minute standing ovation. The company has been called one of the
ten best dance companies in the world. The concluding dance is
usually the colorful, fiery, athletic Ukrainian Hopak.