Vasyl Andriiovych Symonenko ( uk, Василь Андрійович Симоненко; 8 January 1935 – 13 December 1963) was a Ukrainian

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems ( oral or wri ...

, journalist, activist of

dissident A dissident is a person who actively challenges an established political or religious system, doctrine, belief, policy, or institution. In a religious context, the word has been used since the 18th century, and in the political sense since the 20th ...

movement. He is considered one of the most important figures in

Ukrainian literature Ukrainian literature is literature written in the Ukrainian language. Ukrainian literature mostly developed under foreign domination over Ukrainian territories, foreign rule by the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, Poland, the Russian Empire, t ...

of the early 1960s. In the opinion of the Museum of the Dissident Movement in

Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the seventh-most populous city in Europe. Kyi ...

, the works and early death of Vasyl Symonenko had an enormous impact on the rise of the national democratic movement in Ukraine.''Museum of dissident movement in Kiev.''

Biography

He was born into a

peasant A peasant is a pre-industrial agricultural laborer or a farmer with limited land-ownership, especially one living in the Middle Ages under feudalism and paying rent, tax, fees, or services to a landlord. In Europe, three classes of peasant ...

family in the village of Biyivtsi,

Kharkiv Oblast Kharkiv Oblast ( uk, Харківська́ о́бласть, translit=Kharkivska oblast), also referred to as Kharkivshchyna ( uk, Ха́рківщина), is an oblast (province) of eastern Ukraine. The oblast borders Russia to the north, Luhan ...

(today -

Poltava Oblast Poltava Oblast ( uk, Полта́вська о́бласть, translit=Poltavska oblast; also referred to as Poltavshchyna – uk, Полта́вщина, literally 'Poltava Country') is an oblast (province) of central Ukraine. The administrative ...

). After graduating from Kyiv State University in 1957, Vasyl Symonenko worked as a

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalis ...

at several newspapers in

Cherkasy Oblast Cherkasy Oblast ( uk, Черка́ська о́бласть, Cherkaska oblast, ), also referred to as Cherkashchyna ( uk, Черка́щина, ) is an oblast (province) of central Ukraine located along the Dnieper River. The administrative center ...

. His debut book of poems "Тиша і грім / Tysha i hrim" ("Silence and thunder") was published in 1962 and made the talent of Symonenko apparent amongst the young poets. His literary environment included the poets Mykola Vinhranovsky,

Ivan Drach Ivan Fedorovych Drach ( uk, Іва́н Фе́дорович Драч; 17 October 1936 – 19 June 2018) was a Ukrainian poet, screenwriter, literary critic, politician, and political activist. Drach played an important role in the founding of Ru ...

and

Lina Kostenko Lina Vasylivna Kostenko ( uk, Ліна Василівна Костенко; born 19 March 1930) is a Ukrainian poet, journalist, writer, publisher, and former Soviet dissident. A founder and leading representative of the Sixtiers poetry movem ...

, the publicists, critics

Ivan Dziuba Ivan Mykhailovych Dziuba ( uk, Іва́н Миха́йлович Дзю́ба; 26 July 1931 – 22 February 2022) was a Ukrainian literary critic, social activist, dissident, Hero of Ukraine, academic of National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, t ...

, Ivan Svitlichny, Yevhen Sverstiuk, who, with other Ukrainian intilligensia of the time, made a group which is now known as the ''шістдестятники'' ( Sixtiers). During his last year Vasyl Symonenko wrote his second book – "Земне тяжіння / Zemne tyazhinnya" ("Earth’s gravity"), verses from which were quoted, written out (adding what the Soviet censorship had omitted), learned off by heart and compared with the poetry of

Taras Shevchenko Taras Hryhorovych Shevchenko ( uk, Тарас Григорович Шевченко , pronounced without the middle name; – ), also known as Kobzar Taras, or simply Kobzar (a kobzar is a bard in Ukrainian culture), was a Ukrainian poet, wr ...

. In 1962, Symonenko together with his friends A. Horska and Les Tanyuk, uncovered the burial places of

NKVD The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (russian: Наро́дный комиссариа́т вну́тренних дел, Naródnyy komissariát vnútrennikh del, ), abbreviated NKVD ( ), was the interior ministry of the Soviet Union. ...

repressions in Bykivnia, Lukianivskyi and Vasyslkivskyi cemeteries near

. Because of this, he was cited by the Kyiv City Council. According to some scholars, this could have caused his falling out of favour with the government, and, possibly, his death. In 1963, Symonenko was beaten badly by employees of the local '' militsiya'' at the Smila railway station. He never recovered from

kidney failure Kidney failure, also known as end-stage kidney disease, is a medical condition in which the kidneys can no longer adequately filter waste products from the blood, functioning at less than 15% of normal levels. Kidney failure is classified as eit ...

, and died soon after in the local hospital on 13 December 1963.

Legacy

After his death, his satiric tale-poem "Travel to the country of Vice-versa" was published (1964). The fullest collection of Symonenko's works was published abroad, under the title "Берег чекань" ("Shore of anticipation") in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

(1963). In 1967, the publishing house "Smoloskyp" was created in

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

by Ukrainian emigrants and named after Vasyl Symonenko. In December 2008, the

National Bank of Ukraine National Bank of Ukraine ( uk, Національний банк України) or NBU ( uk, НБУ) is the central bank of Ukraine – a government body responsible for unified state policy in the field of country's monetary circulation, includ ...

issued into circulation a commemorative coin "Vasyl Symonenko" within "Outstanding Personalities of Ukraine" series.

Film adaptation

The Ukrainian director Oleksandr Zherebko, having formed a creative tandem with Angelina Dyatlova, created an adaptation of the poetry “You Didn’t Come to Me from a Tale or a Dream” ''(Ukrainian: “Ти до мене прийшла не із казки чи сну”)'' by Vasyl Symonenko.

English translations

His works have been translated partially into English. * Vasyl Symonenko. "Гранітні обеліски. / Granite obelisks". Translated into English by Andriy M Freishyn-Chirovsky. Jersey City: Svoboda. 1975. 143 p. (parallel bilingual texts in both English and Ukrainian) * Vasyl Symonenko. "Тиша і грім. Вибрані поезії Василя Симоненка / Silence and Thunder: The Selected Poetry of Vasyl Symonenko". Translated into English by Michael M Nayden. Lviv: Piramida. 2017. 128 p. (parallel bilingual texts in both English and Ukrainian) * Vasyl Symonenko. "Rose Petal Wine". Translated into English by Yuri Tkacz. Melbourne: Bayda Books. 2020. 116 p.

References

External links