Country | Ukraine |
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A molfar (Ukrainian: мольфа́р) is a person with purported magical abilities in Hutsul culture. Their abilities focus around herbalism and other folk magic.[citation needed]
The origin of the word is uncertain. It may originate from Romance languages, e.g., Italian malfare 'to do evil'.[1]
Molfar culture was popularised by Mykhailo Kotsiubynsky's book Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors, published in 1911, and a subsequent film made in 1964.[citation needed]
A prominent Carpathian molfar was Mykhailo Nechay, who lived in Verkhniy Yaseniv and was killed in 2011.[2][3][4]