- Vasyl Symonenko
"Vasyl Symonenko" ( _uk. Василь Андрійович Симоненко;
January 8 1935 - 1963) a well-known Ukrainianpoet , journalist, activist ofdissident movement. He is considered one of the most important figures in Ukrainian literature of the early 1960s. By the opinion of the Museum of dissident movement inKyiv , the works and early death of Vasyl Symonenko had an enormous impact on the rise of the national democratic movement in Ukraine. [http://khpg.org/archive/en/index.php?id=1113996183 Museum of dissident movement in Kyiv] ]The poet was born in a
peasant family in the village of Biyivtsi (Poltava oblast ).After graduating from
Kiev State University in 1957, Vasyl Symonenko worked as ajournalist in several newspapers inCherkassy oblast .The debut book of poems "Tysha i hrim" ("Silence and thunder") came in 1962 and made clear the talent of Symonenko among the young poets, though he had only one year to live (cancer of kidneys was diagnosed later). His literary environment included the poets Mykola Vinhranovsky, Ivan Drach and
Lina Kostenko , the publicists, critics I. Dziuba, I. Svitlichny, Y. Sverstyuk and other "shestydesyatnyky" (the sixtiers) [ [http://www.wumag.kiev.ua/index2.php?param=pgs20044/48 Welcome To Ukraine Magazine] ] [ [http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/pages/S/H/ShestydesiatnykyIT.htm Encyclopedia of Ukraine] ] .During his last year of living Vasyl Symonenko wrote his second book – "Zemne tyazhinnya" ("Earth’s gravity"), the verses from which were quoted, written out (adding what the censor had omitted), learned by heart and compared with the poetry of
Taras Shevchenko . [http://khpg.org/archive/en/index.php?id=1113996183 Museum of dissident movement in Kyiv] ]In 1962, Symonenko together with his friends A.Horska and
Les Tanyuk found the burial places ofNKVD repressions inBykivnia , Lukianivskyi and Vasyslkivskyi cemeteries nearKyiv .His works had been translated into English and published mostly among the Ukrainian
diaspora in theAmericas and WesternEurope . [ [http://www.utoronto.ca/cius/HTMfiles/Intpub/Tarnawsk/RR62/rr62-t.htm UKRAINIAN LITERATURE IN ENGLISH, 1980-1989] ]The fullest collection of Symonenko’s works was published abroad under the title "Bereh chekan" ("Shore of anticipation") in
Munich (1963). [http://khpg.org/archive/en/index.php?id=1113996183 Museum of dissident movement in Kyiv] ]The publishing house "Smoloskyp" was named after Vasyl Symonenko in 1967. [ [http://www.smoloskyp.kiev.ua/docs/englishe.htm Smoloskyp Publishing House] ]
Examples of Vasyl Symonenko works
"...Gray-haired L'viv! The capital of my dreams,
Epicenter of my joy and hope!
My heart bursts - I understand you
But, L'viv, you have to understand me a little.
I came to you with admiration of a son
From the plains where Slavuta composes its legends
To have your desperate lion's heart
Shed a drop of power into my heart."
(extract from the poem "Ukrainian Lion", 1962) [ [http://www.leopolis.lviv.net/eng/main.htm Leopolis Portal] ]
"Billions of beliefsare buried in the black soil,billions of happinesseshave been scattered into dust..." [ [http://memorial.kiev.ua/expo/eng/second.html Kiyv Memorial Society] ]
References
External links
* [http://poetyka.uazone.net/symonenko/index.phtml Poetry of Vasyl Symonenko] , in Ukrainian
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