Ivan Gel (, July 17, 1937, Klitsko (today
Lviv Raion
Lviv Raion () is a raion (district) of Lviv Oblast, Ukraine. It was created on 18 July 2020 as part of the reform of administrative divisions of Ukraine. The center of the raion is the city of Lviv. Four abolished raions, Horodok, Peremyshliany, ...
) – March 16, 2011) was a Ukrainian politician and
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 2 ...
. He was a member of the
Ukrainian Helsinki Group
The Ukrainian Helsinki Group () was founded on November 9, 1976, as the Ukrainian Public Group to Promote the Implementation of the Helsinki Accords on Human Rights () to monitor human rights in Ukraine. The group was active until 1981 when all ...
and the
Ukrainian Christian Democratic Party.
Biography
He graduated from a night school in Sambir and worked as a mechanic at the Lviv Forklift Plant.
From 1956 to 1959 he served in the army. After demobilization, he entered the department of the History Faculty of
Lviv State University.
On August 24, 1965, he was arrested and sentenced to 3 years in a strict regime camp for "anti-Soviet propaganda".
On January 12, 1972, he was arrested for the second time and sentenced to 10 years in a special regime camp and 5 years in exile, recognized as a particularly dangerous recidivist. He served his sentence in Mordovia (Sosnovka) and in the Perm region (Kuchino).
He participated in hunger strikes in the camps, including a hunger strike demanding political prisoner status. Total duration of hunger strikes was over 300 days.
Ivan Gel returned to Ukraine on January 17, 1987, and created and headed the Committee for the Protection of the
Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church
The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC) is a Major archiepiscopal church, major archiepiscopal ''sui iuris'' ("autonomous") Eastern Catholic Churches, Eastern Catholic church that is based in Ukraine. As a particular church of the Cathol ...
.
He was a deputy and deputy chairman of the
Lviv Oblast Council
The Lviv Oblast Council or Lviv Regional Council () is the regional council (parliament) of the Lviv Oblast (region) located in western Ukraine.
Legislative framework
The Regional Council is a local self-government body representing the common ...
of the first democratic convocation (1990–1994). He headed the Lviv Regional Commission for the Restoration of the Rights of Rehabilitated Persons.
He died on March 16, 2011, in Lviv and was buried in the family grave at
Lychakiv Cemetery
Lychakiv Cemetery (; ), officially State History and Culture Museum-Reserve "Lychakiv Cemetery" (), is a historic cemetery in Lviv, Ukraine.
History
Since its creation in 1787 as Łyczakowski Cemetery, it has been the main necropolis of the c ...
.
Awards
* (September 18, 2009).
*
Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise 4th class (August 18, 2006).
*
Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise 5th class (January 21, 2002).
Указ Президента України №57/2002 від 21 січня 2002 року «Про нагородження працівників підприємств, організацій та установ Львівської області»
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References
1937 births
2011 deaths
Burials at Lychakiv Cemetery
Politicians from Lviv Oblast
People from Lwów Voivodeship
Soviet dissidents
Ukrainian dissidents
Ukrainian politicians
Ukrainian Helsinki Group
Recipients of the Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise, 4th class
Recipients of the Order of Liberty (Ukraine)
Dubravlag detainees
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