Semen Stepanovich Hulak-Artemovskyi (February 4 (16), 1813, Horodyshche - April 5 (17), 1873, Moscow) - Ukrainian composer, singer, baritone (bass-baritone), dramatic artist, playwright, late writer P. P. Gulak- Artemovsky, the author of one of the first operas with a Ukrainian-language libretto - the opera "Zaporozhets za Danube".

The fate of Semen Hulak-Artemovsky was decided by his beautiful voice. In 1838, when Hulak-Artemovsky was studying at the Kyiv bursa, Mykhailo Glinka noticed his talent, who was looking for a performer for the part of Ruslan in the newly written opera and took him with him to St. Petersburg. Here, Glinka first gave him singing lessons himself, and in 1839 organized several concerts for his benefit, and sent him to study abroad with the collected funds. After visiting Paris, Gulak-Artemovsky left for Italy, where after two years of study he made his debut in the Florentine opera (1841).

Postal stamp of Ukraine, 2013

In 1842, Gulak-Artemovsky returned to St. Petersburg, where for 22 years, until 1864, he was a soloist of the Russian Imperial Opera in St. Petersburg, and in 1864-1865 - of the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow. Wide popularity of Gulak-Artemovsky as a composer was brought by the opera "Zaporozhets za Danube", dated 1862, which became a Ukrainian musical classic. The premiere of the opera took place on April 14, 1863 on the stage of the Mariinsky Theater. Gulak-Artemovskyi was not only its first director, but also the performer of Karasya's part. A year later, on October 6, 1864, the performance took place at the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow.

The tsarist censorship after the Ems circular prohibited the staging of the opera on the stage for 20 years. On June 11, 1884, the opera was staged again by Mark Kropyvnytskyi in Mykhailo Starytskyi's troupe with the participation of Maria Zankovetska and Maria Sadovska-Barilotti.

A special place in the creative heritage of Hulak-Artemovsky is occupied by Ukrainian songs, in particular, "The sycamore stands over the water" (dedicated to Taras Shevchenko, with whom the author had been friends since 1838), "I don't want to sleep", "Oh, on the mountain and the reapers are reaping" — rhapsody from a collection of seven songs under the general title "Ukrainian Wedding". Hulak-Artemovskyi visited Ukraine in 1843 for the purpose of selecting singers and in 1850, when he toured with an Italian opera troupe.

He was fond of folk medicine and statistics, compiled the "Statistical and Geographical Tables of the Cities of the Russian Empire" (1854).

He died on April 17, 1873 in Moscow, buried at the Vahankiv cemetery.

On February 15, 2013, the National Bank of Ukraine issued a silver jubilee coin dedicated to the 200th anniversary of the birth of Semen Hulak-Artemovskyi.

In February 2013, on the occasion of the celebration of the 200th anniversary of the birth of S. S. Gulak-Artemovsky, Horodyshchensk ZZSO No. 1 was named after him.

The S. S. Gulak-Artemovsky museum is located in the city of Horodyshche, Cherkasy region. A street, the Palace of Culture and a children's art school are named after him.

Gulak-Artemovsky Street in the cities of Ukraine.