Larysa Volodymyrivna Denysenko ( uk, Лари́са Володи́мирівна Денисе́нко; born 17 June 1973) is a Ukrainian writer, lawyer, human rights activist, TV and radio presenter, and member of the

PEN Ukraine PEN Ukraine is a Ukrainian non-governmental organization established to protect freedom of speech and authors' rights, promote literature and international cultural cooperation. It is part of the network of national centers of the International P ...

Biography

Denysenko was born on 17 June in

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

. She is of

Lithuanian Lithuanian may refer to: * Lithuanians * Lithuanian language * The country of Lithuania * Grand Duchy of Lithuania * Culture of Lithuania * Lithuanian cuisine * Lithuanian Jews as often called "Lithuanians" (''Lita'im'' or ''Litvaks'') by other Jew ...

- Greek origin with admixtures of Hungarian,

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

Romani Romani may refer to: Ethnicities * Romani people, an ethnic group of Northern Indian origin, living dispersed in Europe, the Americas and Asia ** Romani genocide, under Nazi rule * Romani language, any of several Indo-Aryan languages of the Roma ...

and

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

blood. She mastered

at the age of 23 when she started working at the

Ministry of Justice A Ministry of Justice is a common type of government department that serves as a justice ministry. Lists of current ministries of justice Named "Ministry" * Ministry of Justice (Abkhazia) * Ministry of Justice (Afghanistan) * Ministry of Just ...

of Ukraine. She graduated from the University of Kyiv, Law faculty, Central European University (Budapest)15 розмов, свідком яких стала письменниця Лариса Денисенко // Країна, № 147, 15.11.2012
/ref> and attended a law course at the

Ministry of Justice and Security The Ministry of Justice and Security ( nl, Ministerie van Justitie en Veiligheid; JenV) is the Dutch Ministry responsible for justice, imprisonment and public security. The Ministry was created in 1798 as the ''Department of Justice'', before it ...

. Denysenko lives in Kyiv. She is in a civil marriage and has two sons. She also collects snails.

Legal career

Denysenko conducts law practice. She is licensed to practice in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

and

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

on refugee and migrant matters. She is one of the lawyers representing the interests of citizens in the

European Court of Human Rights The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR or ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights. The court hears applications alleging that a ...

(Strasbourg). She also worked as the director of the international law department of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine, an adviser to the Minister of Justice, a scientific consultant to parliamentary committees, and headed the national branch of the international anti-corruption organization Transparency International.

Literary career

Denysenko began her literary career by winning the Coronation of the Word competition. The book "Dancing in Masks" took 1st place in the ranking of the best Ukrainian book in the fiction genre of

Korrespondent ''Korrespondent'' (russian: links=no, Корреспондент; uk, links=no, Кореспондент; literally: ''Correspondent'') is a weekly printed magazine published in Ukraine in the Russian and Ukrainian languages. It is part of Unite ...

magazine in 2007. She is the author of 10 books (as of 2012). The book about the diversity of human relations in modern Ukraine by Maya and her mother, whose presentation was thwarted by right-wing radical forces, became widely known. After the incident, the author posted a PDF version of the book for free access. In 2019, the book "Me and the Constitution" was published, co-authored by Denysenko. It is a book that explains the

Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When ...

for children in simple language and illustrations.

Media career

Denysenko works for

Hromadske Radio Hromadske Radio (Ukrainian for " Public Radio") is a Ukrainian non-governmental and nonprofit media organization, which aims to create an independent radio broadcasting in Ukraine. Its predecessor, also called ''Hromadske Radio'', was created in 2 ...

. She consistently uses femininities on the radio, during interviews and on television. She is the author and host of the culturological program "Document +" on TV channels "Studio

1+1 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1 ...

" and " 1+1 International".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Denysenko, Larysa 1973 births Living people Writers from Kyiv Ukrainian women journalists Ukrainian women lawyers Ukrainian human rights activists Women human rights activists Ukrainian women television presenters Ukrainian women radio presenters Ukrainian people of Greek descent Ukrainian people of Lithuanian descent Lawyers from Kyiv