Mykola Tovkailo

(b. 1949)

Mykola Tovkailo was born in 1949 in the village of Korovie in the Teofilpil district of the Khmelnytskyi region. He is a kobzar, bandurist, and craftsman of musical instruments. He also holds a PhD in history.

He graduated from the history department of Taras Shevchenko State University of Kyiv in 1983 with concentrations in archeology and musicology. He has written over 100 scholarly articles on archeology, ethnography, and the kobzar.

He studied under bandurist Heorhii Tkachenko, who passed on a repertoire of kobzar dumas, historical songs, psalms, and ballads. Also well-known as a luthier, he has made over 50 banduras, kobzas, and hurdy-gurdies and two torbans since 1979.

(based on the site duma.com.ua)