Vasyl Symonenko
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Vasyl Andriiovych Symonenko (; 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 (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...
, 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 2 ...
movement. He is considered one of the most important figures in
Ukrainian literature The term Ukrainian literature () is normally used to describe works of literature written in the Ukrainian language. In a broader sense it can also relate to all literary works created in the territory of Ukraine. Ukrainian literature mostly de ...
of the early 1960s. In the opinion of the Museum of the Dissident Movement in
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, ...
, 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 peasan ...
family in the village of Biivtsi,
Kharkiv Oblast Kharkiv Oblast (, ), also referred to as Kharkivshchyna (), is an oblast (province) in eastern Ukraine. Kharkiv borders Luhansk Oblast to the east, Donetsk Oblast to the southeast, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast to the southwest, Poltava Oblast to the w ...
(today
Poltava Oblast Poltava Oblast (), also referred to as Poltavshchyna (), is an administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast (province) of central Ukraine. The capital city, administrative center of the oblast is the city of Poltava. Most of its territory was par ...
). After graduating from Kyiv State University in 1957, Vasyl Symonenko worked as a
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 ...
at several newspapers in
Cherkasy Oblast Cherkasy Oblast (, ), also referred to as Cherkashchyna (, ) is an administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast (province) in central Ukraine located along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. The Capital city, administrative center of the oblast is the cit ...
. 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 and Lina Kostenko, the publicists, critics Ivan Dziuba, 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 (; ; 9 March 1814 – 10 March 1861) was a Ukrainian poet, writer, artist, public and political figure, folklorist, and ethnographer. He was a fellow of the Imperial Academy of Arts and a member of the Brotherhood o ...
. 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 (, ), abbreviated as NKVD (; ), was the interior ministry and secret police of the Soviet Union from 1934 to 1946. The agency was formed to succeed the Joint State Political Directorate (OGPU) se ...
repressions in Bykivnia, Lukianivskyi and Vasyslkivskyi cemeteries near
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, ...
. 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 ''Militsiya'' ( rus, милиция, 3=mʲɪˈlʲitsɨjə, 5=, ) were the police forces in the Soviet Union until 1991, in several Eastern Bloc countries (1945–1992), and in the Non-Aligned Movement, non-aligned Socialist Federal Republic ...
'' at the Smila railway station. He never recovered from
kidney failure Kidney failure, also known as renal failure or end-stage renal disease (ESRD), 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 fa ...
, 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 is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...
(1963). In 1967, the publishing house "Smoloskyp" was created in
Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...
by Ukrainian emigrants and named after Vasyl Symonenko. In December 2008, the National Bank of Ukraine 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.


See also

* Bykivnia graves * Kurds'komu bratovi (Курдському братові)


References


External links


Poetry of Vasyl Symonenko
in Ukrainian * {{DEFAULTSORT:Symonenko, Vasyl 1935 births 1963 deaths People from Poltava Oblast University of Kyiv, Journalism Institute alumni Ukrainian male poets Ukrainian satirists Ukrainian dissidents Ukrainian democracy activists Recipients of the Shevchenko National Prize Soviet dissidents 20th-century Ukrainian poets Ukrainian nationalists Ukrainian victims of human rights abuses Ukrainian torture victims Ukrainian anti-Soviet resistance movement Deaths from kidney failure