Valeriy Marchenko (; September 16, 1947 - October 7, 1984) was a

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 (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

translator Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''trans ...

, and 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 ...

. Marchenko was born into an educated family. His grandfather, Mykhaylo Marchenko, was the first

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

dean of the

University of Lviv The Ivan Franko National University of Lviv (named after Ivan Franko, ) is a state-sponsored university in Lviv, Ukraine. Since 1940 the university is named after Ukrainian poet Ivan Franko. The university is the oldest institution of highe ...

.Світ тримається на одержимих. Надія РОМАНЮК , Персоналії , Людина
/ref> His mother was a teacher of literature. Valeriy Marchenko completed the

Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

Academy of Arts and worked in the newspaper '' Literary Ukraine'' (Ukrainian: Літературна Україна) as a translator. He translated into Ukrainian from Azerbaijani and

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

. His speciality was Azerbaijani-Ukrainian literary relations. On June 25, 1973, Marchenko was arrested and charged with Anti-Soviet agitation and propaganda, mainly for three articles he wrote, as well as his efforts to publicize

Ivan Dziuba Ivan Mykhailovych Dziuba (; 26 July 1931 – 22 February 2022) was a Ukrainian literary critic, social activist, and Soviet dissident. Honoured as a Hero of Ukraine in 2001, Dziuba was an academic of National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, the ...

's work ''

Internationalism or Russification? ''Internationalism or Russification?'' () is a book by Ukrainian writer and social activist Ivan Dziuba. It was written in late 1965 as a supplement to a letter sent to the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Ukraine, Petro Shelest, in de ...

'' in Ukraine. On December 29, 1973, Marchenko was sentenced to six years imprisonment and two years exile.

Activity during incarceration

During his incarceration in the Soviet prison system, Marchenko worked as archivist for everything he saw. He collected and published personal accounts about the daily life of prisoners, interviews, and essays. He also translated many works into Ukrainian, such as the

United States Declaration of Independence The Declaration of Independence, formally The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen States of America in the original printing, is the founding document of the United States. On July 4, 1776, it was adopted unanimously by the Second Continen ...

, as well as works by

Robert Burns Robert Burns (25 January 1759 – 21 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the List of national poets, national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the be ...

Voltaire François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778), known by his ''Pen name, nom de plume'' Voltaire (, ; ), was a French Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment writer, philosopher (''philosophe''), satirist, and historian. Famous for his wit ...

, and

Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic who is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales involving mystery and the macabre. He is widely re ...

.Музей Дисидентського Руху
/ref>

Second Arrest

On October 23, 1983, Marchenko was arrested a second time and again charged under Article 62 of the UkSSR Criminal Code with "Anti-Soviet Agitation and Propaganda". Declared a dangerous offender, he was sentenced to ten years imprisonment and five years of

exile Exile or banishment is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons ...

. He was held in terrible conditions, where he became ill. Because of international pressure for the freedom of journalists, he was allowed to move from the camp to a hospital. However, it was already too late. On or about October 7, 1984, Valeriy Marchenko died in a Leningrad hospital.

Burial and Commemoration

Marchenko is buried in the village of Hatne, in the

Kyiv Oblast Kyiv Oblast (, ), also called Kyivshchyna (, ), is an Administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast (province) in central and northern Ukraine. It surrounds, but does not include, the city of Kyiv, which is administered as a city with special sta ...

. Today, there is a museum devoted to the life and work of Valeriy Marchenko in Kyiv school No. 175. In October 2017 the Soviet-era "International Square" in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv was renamed Valeriy Marchenko Square in his honour.Kyiv City Council Renames Internatsionalna Square As Valeriya Marchenka Square
Ukranews (12 OCTOBER 2017)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marchenko, Valeriy Ukrainian prisoners and detainees Ukrainian Helsinki Group Soviet prisoners and detainees Ukrainian people imprisoned in the Soviet Union Soviet dissidents Soviet human rights activists 1947 births 1984 deaths