Prokofiev, Sergei [Прокофьєв, Сергей; Prokof’ev, Sergej], b 23 April 1891 in Sontsivka, Bakhmut county, Katerynoslav gubernia, d 5 March 1953 in Moscow. Russian composer. He was exposed to Ukrainian folk songs while growing up, and motifs from these songs are prevalent in a number of his works, including the ballet On the Dnieper (1930), the opera Semen Kotko (1939), and sound tracks to the films Partyzany v stepakh Ukraïny (Partisans on the Steppes of Ukraine, 1942) and Kotovs’kii (1942).

[This article originally appeared in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine, vol. 4 (1993).]