His mother, Kateryna Ivanivna, spoke exclusively Ukrainian and taught her son numerous folk songs, tales and legends.

After completing only five years at the Novhorod-Siverskyi gymnasium, where he got acquainted with classical works of Russian literature and folklore,[1] Kulish enrolled at Kyiv University in 1837 but was not allowed to finish his studies because he was not a noble.

He also appealed to Poles, calling for them to recognize Ukrainians as equals and to establish mutual dialogue, but his proposal was ignored by most leaders of Galicia's Polish community.

During his early years at the University of Kyiv, Kulish came under the influence of the historian and literary figure Mykhaylo Maksymovych who turned his attention to his native Ukrainian culture.

During his second period of life in Kyiv Kulish got acquainted with Polish writer and literary critic Michał Grabowski, who remained his lifelong friend.

[9] Thanks to his acquaintance with Grabowski's compatriot, antiquarian Stanisław Świdziński, Kulish got access to valuable documents of Polish-Ukrainian history, including materials from the time of Cossacks and Haidamaks, as well as written correspondence of hetman Pylyp Orlyk, letters and documents of the Khanenko family and the chronicle of Samiilo Velychko.

His most famous contribution in this field was Black Council [uk], which was dedicated to a historical event from Cossack times.

His two-volume collection of Ukrainian folklore, Notes on Southern Rus retains its scholarly significance to the present day.

A nine-episode television series was created by Mykola Zaseyev-Rudenko on the base of Kulish's novel Black Council at the Dovzhenko Film Studios in 2000.