 Sydir Vorobkevych was born 18 May 1836 in Chernivtsi to a family of Orthodox priests and theologians.His brother was Ukrainian poet Hryhoriy Vorobkevych.Vorobkevych's great-grandfather, Skalsky Mlaka de Orobko, ran away from Lithuania, and his grandfather changed his name from Orobko to Vorobkevych.