Valentyn Ostapovych Rechmedin ( uk, Валентин Остапович Речмедін, russian: Валентин Остапович Речмедин; 12 February 1916 – 6 June 1986) was a

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 ...

journalist and writer. He grew up in the village of Andrushivka in present

Pohrebyshche Raion Pohrebyshche Raion ( uk, Погребищенський район, translit. ''Pohrebyschens'kyi raion'') was a raion (district) of Vinnytsia Oblast in west-central Ukraine. The administrative center of the district was the town of Pohrebyshche ...

Vinnytsia Oblast Vinnytsia Oblast ( uk, Ві́нницька о́бласть, translit=Vinnytska oblast; ; also referred to as Vinnychchyna — uk, Ві́нниччина) is an oblast of western and southwestern Ukraine. Its administrative center is Vinnytsia. ...

(

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...

), where his father was a teacher. After studies at

Uman Uman ( uk, Умань, ; pl, Humań; yi, אומאַן) is a city located in Cherkasy Oblast in central Ukraine, to the east of Vinnytsia. Located in the historical region of the eastern Podolia, the city rests on the banks of the Umanka River ...

Cooperative Technicum (Уманський кооперативний технікум) he started his career as a journalist in 1934 at ''Molodyi Bilshovyk'' (Молодий Бiльшовик) in

Vinnytsia Vinnytsia ( ; uk, Вінниця, ; yi, װיניצע) is a city in west-central Ukraine, located on the banks of the Southern Bug. It is the administrative center of Vinnytsia Oblast and the largest city in the historic region of Podillia. A ...

. In 1939 he started to work at ''Vilna Ukraïna'' (Вільна Україна) and later at ''Leninska Molod'' (Ленінска Молодь) in

Lviv Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in western Ukraine, and the seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is one of the main cultural centres of Ukraine ...

. Valentyn remained in

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

also after the

German invasion of the Soviet Union Operation Barbarossa (german: link=no, Unternehmen Barbarossa; ) was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and many of its Axis allies, starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during the Second World War. The operation, code-named after ...

in the summer of 1941. Later he became active in the

Soviet partisan Soviet partisans were members of resistance movements that fought a guerrilla war against Axis forces during World War II in the Soviet Union, the previously Soviet-occupied territories of interwar Poland in 1941–45 and eastern Finland. The ...

movement in the Vinnytsia area. In his partisan group he edited its ''Partyzanska Pravda''. After the war he was awarded the

Order of the Red Star The Order of the Red Star (russian: Орден Красной Звезды, Orden Krasnoy Zvezdy) was a military decoration of the Soviet Union. It was established by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of 6 April 193 ...

. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

he moved to

Kiev 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 ...

where he worked at the newspapers ''Radianska Ukraïna'', ''Literaturna Ukraïna'' (as deputy chief editor) and ''Kultura i zhyttia'' (as chief editor) and the magazine ''Vitchyzna'' (as deputy chief editor from 1963).Rechmedin, А. P.: ''Sivach krasy i dobra. Rodovid, zhytcha, tvortyist pysmennyka Valentyna Rechmedina''. Kniha-Veha, Vinnytsia 2004. . Valentyn started to write novels after the war. The stories were often based on his own experiences during the war. He always wrote in the

Ukrainian language Ukrainian ( uk, украї́нська мо́ва, translit=ukrainska mova, label=native name, ) is an East Slavic language of the Indo-European language family. It is the native language of about 40 million people and the official state langu ...

, but several books have been translated into

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

. Valentyn was also a well-known drama and literary critic. In one of his literary critiques of

Mykhailo Stelmakh Mykhailo Stelmakh (Ukrainian: Миха́йло Пана́сович Сте́льмах, 11 (24) May 1912, Diakivtsi, Vinnytsia Oblast - September 27, 1983, Kyiv, Ukrainian SSR, USSR) was a Ukrainian novelist, poet, and playwright. Member of t ...

published in May 1972, Rechmedin noted: "The older generation sees itself in the heroes of ''Velyka ridnya'', ''Krov lyudska - ne vodytsia'', ''Pravda i Kryvda'', ''Khlib i sil'' those who had their souls scarred with disaster, poverty, hard work and injustice.Stelmakh, Mykhailo
''Independent Information Portal''. 2007.

Bibliography

*1951 Na verkhovyni *1958 Koly zakypala krov *1960 Viter z berehiv iunosty *1960 Vidchynyv u svit ya dveri... *1961 Vesniani hrozy *1962 Tvii pobratym. Romantychna istoria. *1965 Khodimo zi mnoiu, synu! *1967 Divchyna v ternovomu vinku *1971 Vohon batkovykh ran *1974 Narodzhennia Afrodity *1975 Pora piznikh dorih *1979 Za vesnoiu vesna *1983 Navpereimy doli *1986 Vybrani tvory (Koly zakypala krov & Khodimo zi mnoiu, synu!)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rechmedin, Valentyn 1916 births 1989 deaths People from Vinnytsia Oblast People from Lipovetsky Uyezd Communist Party of the Soviet Union members Ukrainian male writers Ukrainian journalists Ukrainian literary critics Soviet newspaper editors Soviet journalists Soviet writers 20th-century Russian journalists Soviet partisans in Ukraine Recipients of the Order of the Red Star