Ivan Oleksiyovych Svitlychnyi (Svetlichny; uk, Іва́н Олексі́йович Світли́чний; 1929–1992) was a Ukrainian poet, literary critic, and Soviet dissident.

Biography

Ivan Svitlychnyi was born on 20 September 1929 in Polovynkyne,

Luhansk Oblast Luhansk Oblast ( uk, Луга́нська о́бласть, translit=Luhanska oblast; russian: Луганская область, translit=Luganskaya oblast; also referred to as Luhanshchyna, uk, Луга́нщина) is the easternmost oblast ...

to a family of farmers. In 1952 he graduated from the philological faculty at

Kharkov University The Kharkiv University or Karazin University ( uk, Каразінський університет), or officially V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University ( uk, Харківський національний університет імені ...

. In 1954 he gained his PhD at Shevchenko Institute of Literature in

Kyiv 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 ...

. From 1954 to 1965 he worked as an editor at the literary magazine Dnepr. Svitlychnyi became close to

Vasyl Symonenko Vasyl Andriiovych Symonenko ( uk, Василь Андрійович Симоненко; 8 January 1935 – 13 December 1963) was a Ukrainian poet, journalist, activist of dissident movement. He is considered one of the most important figures in ...

and helped circulate his poems in samizdat (typescript literature) and

magnitizdat ''Magnitizdat'' () was the process of copying and distributing audio tape recordings that were not commercially available in the Soviet Union. It is analogous to ''samizdat'', the method of disseminating written works that could not be officially ...

(unofficial audio tape recordings). Svitlychnyi's poetry in turn was translated into Russian by dissident Yuli Daniel. In the early 1960s, Svitlychnyi was one of the founders of the Club of Creative Youth in Kyiv. The club of Ukrainian left-wing intellectuals was closely watched by the Ukrainian

KGB The KGB (russian: links=no, lit=Committee for State Security, Комитет государственной безопасности (КГБ), a=ru-KGB.ogg, p=kəmʲɪˈtʲet ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)əj bʲɪzɐˈpasnəsʲtʲɪ, Komitet gosud ...

. In August 1965 he was arrested for his involvement in the club and was imprisoned for one year in labour camp. In January 1971 Svitlychnyi along with 18 others was arrested in connection with the case of Yaroslav Dobosh. Dobosh was a 24-year-old Belgian of Ukrainian roots who had been recruited by a Ukrainian nationalist organisation to distribute anti-Communist literature in Ukraine. Svitlychnyi was among Dobosh's main contacts. He was sentenced to seven years of forced labour and five years of exile. He served his time Perm-35 labour camp. In 1977, Andrei Sakharov included Svitlychnyi's name in an appeal to

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he previously served as th ...

. Svitlychnyi was released in January 1983. He returned in a gravely ill condition, having suffered a stroke in prison camp. For the last three years of his life he could not move or speak. Ivan Svitlychnyi died on 25 October 1992. He is buried in

at the Baikove Cemetery. Svitlychnyi was made a member of the

International PEN Club PEN International (known as International PEN until 2010) is a worldwide association of writers, founded in London in 1921 to promote friendship and intellectual co-operation among writers everywhere. The association has autonomous Internationa ...

in 1978 and was a member of the Union of Writers of Ukraine in 1990. In 1989 Svitlychny was awarded the

Vasyl Stus Prize The Vasyl Stus Prize ( uk, Премія імені Василя Стуса), given since January 1989, is the first non-governmental prize awarded for "talent and courage" and being worthy of the memory of Vasyl Stus. This Prize was set up by the ...

. In 1994 he was posthumously awarded the

Shevchenko National Prize Shevchenko National Prize ( uk, Націона́льна пре́мія Украї́ни і́мені Тараса́ Шевче́нка; also ''Shevchenko Award'') is the highest state prize of Ukraine for works of culture and arts awarded since ...

. Svitlychnyi was the brother of dissident and human rights activist

Nadiya Svitlychna Nadiya Oleksiyivna Svitlychna ( uk, Наді́я Олексі́ївна Світли́чна, born 8 November 1936, the village of Polovynkyno, Starobilsk district, Luhansk region — 8 August 2006, Irvington, New Jersey, United States) was a Ukr ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Svitlychnyi, Ivan 1929 births 1992 deaths People from Luhansk Oblast National University of Kharkiv alumni Soviet dissidents Ukrainian male poets Ukrainian dissidents Recipients of the Shevchenko National Prize 20th-century poets Ukrainian nationalists Ukrainian victims of human rights abuses Ukrainian anti-Soviet resistance movement Burials at Baikove Cemetery