There are cities that silently hold entire worlds in their arms. Kyiv is one of them. Its old streets, bustling markets, noisy courtyards and quiet nooks and crannies of Podil became a cradle for people whose names are now engraved in human history. They were born here, among Kyiv chestnuts and Dnipro slopes, carried a part of this city – its indestructibility, its soul – and gave the world something more than just talent. Their lives are a hymn to the human spirit that breaks through the thorns to the stars. And when you read about them, your heart swells with pride and warmth.
Golda Meir: a girl from Kyiv’s courtyards who became an “iron lady”
Imagine a little girl running barefoot through the narrow streets of Kyiv. Her name is Golda Mabovich, and she was born in 1898 to a poor Jewish family. Life around her was harsh: the smell of fresh bread mixed with anxiety, and children’s laughter with the echoes of pogroms. But even then, a fire burned in her eyes, a fire that would never die out. In 1906, the family left Kyiv to seek a better life in America, but the memories of this city – its struggles, its life – have always been in her heart.
Years later, this girl would become Golda Meir, one of the founders of Israel, its Prime Minister, and a symbol of resilience. During the Yom Kippur War, when the country’s fate hung in the balance, her determination and wisdom kept the nation together. She was an “iron lady”, but in her chest beat a heart tempered by the winds of Kyiv. Kyiv gave her the strength that made the world bow its head before her greatness.
Volodymyr Horovyts: music born over the Dnipro
Now imagine a boy who, at the age of 6, sits down at the piano in a wealthy Kyiv household. Vladimir Horowitz was born in 1903, and his fingers already knew how to touch the strings of people’s souls. At 17, he made his concert debut, and at 25, he left the USSR to conquer the world. And he did. Carnegie Hall, La Scala, 25 Grammy Awards – his music has become a hymn to beauty and freedom.
When you listen to Horowitz, it seems that you hear the whisper of Kyiv chestnuts, the rhythm of the city, its joy and pain. He played as if every note was a cry of his soul – a soul born in Kyiv. And even when he stood at the pinnacle of fame, somewhere deep inside him lived that boy from the Kyiv courtyard who dreamed of giving the world the melody of his heart.
Sholem Aleichem: laughter that hides tears
In Podil, amidst the hustle and bustle of the traders and the sound of trams, there lived a man who could see beauty in the ordinary. Sholem Aleichem, whose real name was Solomon Rabinowitz, spent his most brilliant years in Kyiv. Here, in the 1890s and 1905, he created Tevye the Milkman, a story that makes you laugh through your tears. His words are the voice of the Jewish people, his humour is a shield against adversity, and his love for people is a light in the darkness.
Kyiv was not just a city to him. It was the pulse of life that he absorbed: the smell of fried fish from the market, the whisper of prayers in synagogues, the sound of wheels on the pavement. And when the world read his works, he heard in them the echoes of Kyiv, the city that taught him to laugh even when he was in pain.
Ephraim Katsir: a mind born in Kyiv laboratories
Efraim Katsir, born Katchalski, was born in Kyiv in 1916. His childhood was cut short when his family emigrated to Palestine in the 1920s. But his short time in Kyiv planted the seeds of curiosity and strength in him. He became a scientist whose research on proteins changed science, and later the President of Israel, leading the country with wisdom and dignity.
Katsyr was a man who combined his mind and heart. And somewhere in his soul, he always had Kyiv, the city that taught him to look for answers and not give up. His journey from Kyiv laboratories to the presidency is a story that inspires you to believe in yourself.
Alex Kapler: from threads to film footage
Imagine a boy growing up in a Kyiv tailor shop. Oleksiy Kapler could have held a needle, but he chose a pen and a camera. Born in 1903, he became a screenwriter and director whose films, such as Lenin in October, went down in history. His life was full of dramas: love for Stalin’s daughter, Stalin’s camps, and his return to creativity. But the Kyiv fire always burned in him – bold, rebellious, creative.
Isaac Babel: the rhythm of chaos and beauty
Isaac Babel, although better known as an Odessan, studied in Kyiv in the 1910s and absorbed its frantic rhythm. His Konarmiyi and Odesa Stories are an explosion of irony, pain, and love of life. He saw beauty in the chaos of the civil war, heard music in the shots and screams. Kyiv gave his words that special touch that made them eternal. And although his life ended in Stalin’s torture chambers in 1940, his voice still sounds – loud, alive, Kyivan.
Stars shining from the Kyiv sky
And then there was David Hofstein with his tender poems, Ber Borokhov with his dreams of Zionism, Solomon Vovsi-Michoels with his theatrical magic, Max Mandelstam who saved his eyesight, Isak Rabinowitz with his stage brush, and Nadezhda Mandelstam who preserved the memory of the era. All of them are children of Kyiv, its pride, its tears and joy.
Kyiv is the cradle of the greats
Kyiv is not just a city. It is a soul that creates history. Its streets whisper the names of those who have gone out into the world, carrying its warmth and strength in their hearts. And when we remember these people, we seem to touch their fate – so far away and so close. They remind us that even from the humblest courtyards a star can rise to illuminate the whole of humanity. And this is our Kyiv, our miracle, our eternal pride.
Author: Aleksandr Potetiuiev
