Antonina Grigorivna Dvoryanets ( uk, Антоніна Григорівна Дворянець; ; 23 March 1952 – 18 February 2014) was a Ukrainian hydraulic engineer and political activist. She began her career as an hydraulic engineer at a collective farm in
Hornostaipil from 1972 to 1983 and then worked as a senior project group engineer at the Chernobyl Department of Drainage Systems between 1983 and 1987. Dvoryanets worked as a liquidator, clearing the consequences of the
Chernobyl disaster at the
Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant
The Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant (ChNPP; ; ), is a nuclear power plant undergoing decommissioning. ChNPP is located near the abandoned city of Pripyat in northern Ukraine northwest of the city of Chernobyl, from the Belarus–Ukraine borde ...
in 1986. She later worked variously at the Land Reclamation and Water Management, Kyiv, then at the Chornobilvodeksploatsiya in Kyiv and the Chernobyl Special Plant until her retirement in 2014. As an activist, Dvoryanets took part in the
Ukraine without Kuchma
Ukraine without Kuchma ( uk, Україна без Кучми; ''Ukrayina bez Kuchmy'', Russian: Украина без Кучмы, UBK) was a mass protest campaign that took place in Ukraine in 2000–2001, demanding the resignation of President ...
mass protest, the
Orange Revolution
The Orange Revolution ( uk, Помаранчева революція, translit=Pomarancheva revoliutsiia) was a series of protests and political events that took place in Ukraine from late November 2004 to January 2005, in the immediate afterm ...
and the
Euromaidan. She was posthumously conferred the title of
Hero of Ukraine
Hero of Ukraine (HOU; uk, Герой України, ''Heroi Ukrainy'') is the highest national title that can be conferred upon an individual citizen by the President of Ukraine. The title was created in 1998 by President Leonid Kuchma and as ...
with the Order of the Gold Star and a street in
Brovary
Brovary ( uk, Бровари, , yi, בראָוואַר, Brovar) is a city in Kyiv Oblast (Region) in northern Ukraine, an eastern suburb of the country's capital, Kyiv. It is the administrative centre of Brovary Raion (district). Brovar ...
was named for her.
Early life and career
On 23 March 1952, Dvorianets was born in the village of ,
Chernobyl Raion
The Chernobyl Raion (russian: Чернобыльский район, translit=Chernobyl'skiy rayon) or Chornobyl Raion ( uk, Чорнобильський район, translit=Chornobylskyi raion) was one of 26 administrative raions (districts) o ...
,
Kyiv Oblast
Kyiv Oblast ( uk, Ки́ївська о́бласть, translit=Kyïvska oblast), also called Kyivshchyna ( uk, Ки́ївщина), is an oblast (province) in central and northern Ukraine. It surrounds, but does not include, the city of Kyiv, w ...
in the
Ukrainian SSR
The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic ( uk, Украї́нська Радя́нська Соціалісти́чна Респу́бліка, ; russian: Украи́нская Сове́тская Социалисти́ческая Респ ...
.
She was the daughter of Paraska Onikievna Nechiporenko and had one sister. Dvoryanets was educated firstly at Chornobyl boarding school since the village she was raised in had just a primary school. Dvoryanets went on to study hydraulic engineering at the secondary-level Boyar Reclamation Technical School from 1967.
She graduated from the Ukrainian Republican Correspondence Agricultural Technical School (now the ) with a degree in Hydromelioration in 1972.
Her graduation enabled her to select her workplace at a local collective farm.
[
Dvoryanets worked as an hydraulic engineer at a collective farm named after ]Vladimir Lenin
Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 1 ...
in the village of Hornostaipil from 16 October 1972 to 16 June 1983. She went on to work as a senior project group engineer at the Chernobyl Department of Drainage Systems between 17 June 1983 and 4 May 1987.[ In 1985, Dvoryanets and her family relocated to the city of ]Chernobyl
Chernobyl ( , ; russian: Чернобыль, ) or Chornobyl ( uk, Чорнобиль, ) is a partially abandoned city in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, situated in the Vyshhorod Raion of northern Kyiv Oblast, Ukraine. Chernobyl is about no ...
.[ She was a liquidator who helped to clear the consequences of the Chernobyl disaster at the ]Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant
The Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant (ChNPP; ; ), is a nuclear power plant undergoing decommissioning. ChNPP is located near the abandoned city of Pripyat in northern Ukraine northwest of the city of Chernobyl, from the Belarus–Ukraine borde ...
in 1986 after she was evacuated from the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone
The Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant Zone of Alienation, Belarusian: Хона адчужэння Чарнобыльскай АЭС, ''Zona adčužennia Čarnobyĺskaj AES'', russian: Зона отчуждения Чернобыльской АЭС, ...
to in Borodianka Raion
Borodianka Raion () was a raion (district) in Kyiv Oblast of Ukraine. Its administrative center was the urban-type settlement of Borodianka. The raion was abolished on 18 July 2020 as part of the administrative reform of Ukraine, which reduced the ...
on 5 May of that year. Dvoryanets worked as an engineer at the mechanisation department and was also an engineer-dispatcher of the Kyiv Department of Land Reclamation and Water Management, Kyiv water protection works department from 5 May 1987 to 31 March 1988.[ On 2 February 1988, she and her family moved to ]Brovary
Brovary ( uk, Бровари, , yi, בראָוואַר, Brovar) is a city in Kyiv Oblast (Region) in northern Ukraine, an eastern suburb of the country's capital, Kyiv. It is the administrative centre of Brovary Raion (district). Brovar ...
.[ Dvoryanets acquired employment as an senior inspector in the personnel department of the Brovary Department of Irrigation Systems from 1 April 1988 to 30 July 1994.][ Between 1 August 1994 and 1 May 2011, she worked as a lead hydrotechnical engineer at Chornobilvodeksploatsiya in Kyiv,][ ensuring that radionuclides did not enter the water streams of the basins of the ]Pripyat
Pripyat ( ; russian: При́пять), also known as Prypiat ( uk, При́пʼять, , ), is an abandoned city in northern Ukraine, located near the border with Belarus. Named after the nearby river, Pripyat, it was founded on 4 February 1 ...
and Uzh rivers.[ Dvoryanets was a leading hydrotechnical engineer at the Chernobyl Special Plant from 1 May 2012 to 4 May 2012.][ She retired in 2012.]
From the start of the 2000s, Dvoryanets took part in various activist causes in public. She partook in the Ukraine without Kuchma
Ukraine without Kuchma ( uk, Україна без Кучми; ''Ukrayina bez Kuchmy'', Russian: Украина без Кучмы, UBK) was a mass protest campaign that took place in Ukraine in 2000–2001, demanding the resignation of President ...
mass protest that lasted from 2000 to 2001.[ Dvorianets was also an active participant in the ]Orange Revolution
The Orange Revolution ( uk, Помаранчева революція, translit=Pomarancheva revoliutsiia) was a series of protests and political events that took place in Ukraine from late November 2004 to January 2005, in the immediate afterm ...
in 2004.[ From late 2013 to early 2014, she actively participated in the Euromaidan protests at ]Maidan Nezalezhnosti
Maidan Nezalezhnosti ( uk, Майдан Незалежності , literally "Independence Square") is the central square of Kyiv, the capital city of Ukraine. One of the city's main squares, it is located on Khreshchatyk Street in the Shevchen ...
in Kyiv, becoming acquainted with several women in the House of Trade Unions and provided food and drink to fellow activists.[ According to a colleague of hers, Dvoryanets took part in the protests to ensure the future of her family for generations.]
Personal life
She was married to the plant worker Ivan Grigoryovych Dvoryanets from 1 May 1973 until her death in 2014 and they had two children.[ Dvoryanets did embroidery in her leisure time.][
]
Death
On 18 February 2014, she picketed at the Verkhovna Rada
The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine ( uk, Верхо́вна Ра́да Украї́ни, translit=, Verkhovna Rada Ukrainy, translation=Supreme Council of Ukraine, Ukrainian abbreviation ''ВРУ''), often simply Verkhovna Rada or just Rada, is the ...
before going on to join a barricade on Institutskiy Street near the upper entrance of Khreshchatyk Metro Station where she was hit with clubs by the Berkut Police Force after attempting to help other Euromaidan supporters push back the police.[ A coroner recorded her cause of death as a heart attack but her family disputed this;][ her family were required to sign Dvoryanets' death certificate before her ashes could be released to them.] She was given a funeral service on the afternoon of 20 February, and she was buried at a cemetery in Brovary.[
]
Awards
She was posthumously made an honorary citizen of the City of Brovary during a session of the Brovary City Council in September 2014. In November 2014, president Petro Poroshenko
Petro Oleksiyovych Poroshenko ( uk, Петро́ Олексі́йович Пороше́нко, ; born 26 September 1965) is a Ukrainian businessman and politician who served as the fifth president of Ukraine from 2014 to 2019. Poroshenko se ...
posthumously conferred Dvoryanets the title of Hero of Ukraine
Hero of Ukraine (HOU; uk, Герой України, ''Heroi Ukrainy'') is the highest national title that can be conferred upon an individual citizen by the President of Ukraine. The title was created in 1998 by President Leonid Kuchma and as ...
with the Order of the Gold Star "For civic courage, patriotism, heroic defense of the constitutional foundations of democracy, human rights and freedoms, selfless service to the Ukrainian people, demonstrated during the Revolution of Dignity
The Revolution of Dignity ( uk, Революція гідності, translit=Revoliutsiia hidnosti) also known as the Maidan Revolution or the Ukrainian Revolution, ."
A memorial plaque dedicated to her was unveiled on the facade of her residence in Brovary in April 2015.[ Two months later, the ]Ukrainian Orthodox Church – Kyiv Patriarchate
The Ukrainian Orthodox Church – Kyiv Patriarchate (UOC-KP; uk, Украї́нська Правосла́вна Це́рква – Ки́ївський Патріарха́т (УПЦ-КП), Ukrainska Pravoslavna Tserkva — Kyivskyi Patr ...
posthumously awarded Dvoryanets the .[ The Chubarya Brewery Street in Brovary was renamed after her by Brovary City Council on 25 December 2015.] The Supreme Archbishop of Kyiv-Halytsk UGCC posthumously conferred her an honorary diploma in May 2016.[ Dvoryanets's name and portrait are engraved on the memorial of the Heroes of the Heavenly Hundred in Kyiv on Instytutska Street.][
]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dvoryanets, Antonina
1952 births
2014 deaths
People from Kyiv Oblast
20th-century Ukrainian women
21st-century Ukrainian women
20th-century Ukrainian engineers
21st-century Ukrainian engineers
Hydraulic engineers
Ukrainian women engineers
Chernobyl liquidators
Ukrainian women activists
People of the Orange Revolution
People of the Euromaidan
Recipients of the title of Hero of Ukraine
Recipients of the Order of Gold Star (Ukraine)