Leonid (Les) Stepanovych Tanyuk ( uk, Леонід (Лесь) Танюк, August 7, 1938 – March 18, 2016

Interfax-Ukraine The Interfax-Ukraine ( uk, Інтерфакс-Україна) is a Kyiv-based Ukraine, Ukrainian independent news agency founded in 1992. The company does not belong to the Russian news corporation Interfax Information Services. The company pub ...

(March 18, 2016)) was a Ukrainian

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

and

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

director,

Soviet dissident Soviet dissidents were people who disagreed with certain features of Soviet ideology or with its entirety and who were willing to speak out against them. The term ''dissident'' was used in the Soviet Union in the period from the mid-1960s until ...

and after 1991's

Ukrainian independence Ukraine emerged as the concept of a nation, and the Ukrainians as a nationality, with the Ukrainian National Revival which began in the late 18th and early 19th century. The first wave of national revival is traditionally connected with the publ ...

, a multi-term member of the

Ukrainian parliament 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 ...

.Died outstanding director and politician Les Tanyuk

Segodnya ''Segodnya'' ( rus, Сегодня, p=sʲɪˈvodʲnʲə, t=Today, a=Ru-сегодня.ogg) was a Russian-language Ukrainian tabloid newspaper founded in 1997. While run from Kyiv, it was linked to Donbass political and business groups; its hold ...

(March 18, 2016) He was a husband of Nelli Korniyenko, a native of

Khabarovsk Khabarovsk ( rus, Хабaровск, a=Хабаровск.ogg, r=Habárovsk, p=xɐˈbarəfsk) is the largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative centre of Khabarovsk Krai, Russia,Law #109 located from the China ...

and merited worker of arts of Ukraine.

Biography

Tanyuk was born in Zhukyn, Dymer Raion (liquidated),

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 ...

, the son of Stephen Samiylovych, a teacher of

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 ...

and

literatures Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include ...

. His mother was Natalya Mykolayivna, also a teacher of languages. After spending some of his childhood in a Nazi concentration camp, he and his family returned to Ukraine, but they were not allowed to live in Kyiv. They returned to his father's hometown of

Lutsk Lutsk ( uk, Луцьк, translit=Lutsk}, ; pl, Łuck ; yi, לוצק, Lutzk) is a city on the Styr River in northwestern Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Volyn Oblast (province) and the administrative center of the surrounding Luts ...

. He studied at the National University of Theatre, Film and TV in Kyiv.

Club of Creative Youth

In 1959, Tanyuk was one of the founders of the Club of Creative Youth (Клуб творчої молоді) in Kyiv. He was elected the club's first president. Under his leadership, the group was active in promoting Ukrainian culture and protesting Soviet totalitarianism. He and other members were made demands to the Soviet authorities to preserve Churches and other monuments that faced destruction. In 1962, he and fellow members

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

Alla Horska Alla Horska ( uk, Алла Горська; 18 September 1929, Yalta — 17 November 1970, Vasylkiv) was a Ukrainian artist of the 1960s, Monumentalism, monumentalist painter, one of the first representatives of the Ukrainian underground, und ...

were sent to investigate information about mass graves in

Bykivnia , image = , caption = Bykivnia central monument , image2 = , caption2 = Map of Bykivnia grave site , header1 = , data1 = , label2 = Location , data2 = Kyiv, Ukraine , label3 = Founded , data3 = April 30, 1994 (as a complex). , label4 = Purpos ...

from the 1930s terror implemented by

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secreta ...

. After questioning the locals, they wrote a letter to the authorities demanding an investigation into the executions and the burials. It was at this point that the Soviets began to exert strong pressure on the club, and Tanyuk was removed as president, though he effectively continued to lead the organization until it was closed in 1964.

Dissident activities

During the early 1960s, Tanyuk travelled around Ukraine and produced numerous drama productions, which were later banned. He also established clubs similar to the Club of Creative Youth outside of Kyiv.

Activities since 1991's
Ukrainian independence Ukraine emerged as the concept of a nation, and the Ukrainians as a nationality, with the Ukrainian National Revival which began in the late 18th and early 19th century. The first wave of national revival is traditionally connected with the publ ...

From 1991 till his death, Tanyuk was Chairman of the Union of theatrical figures of Ukraine. In the

1990 Ukrainian parliamentary election The first relatively free election to the Supreme Soviet (Rada) held in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic (Ukrainian SSR) took place in several stages, from March 4 to March 18, 1990. The elections were held to elect deputies to the republ ...

Tanyuk was elected into 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 ...

(Ukraine's parliament). He was reelected in the

1994 Ukrainian parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in Ukraine on 27 March 1994, with a second round between 2 and 10 April. Nohlen, D & Stöver, P (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p1976 15 political parties gained seats and the majority of deputi ...

and

1998 Ukrainian parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in Ukraine on 29 March 1998. Nohlen, D & Stöver, P (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p1976 The Communist Party of Ukraine remained the largest party in the Verkhovna Rada, winning 121 of the 445 ...

. All three times for Rukh. Tanyuk was reelected in the

2002 Ukrainian parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in Ukraine on 31 March 2002. Nohlen, D & Stöver, P (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p1976 The Our Ukraine bloc emerged as the largest faction in the Verkhovna Rada, winning 111 of the 447 seats ...

and

2006 Ukrainian parliamentary election 6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number. In mathematics Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second small ...

and

2007 Ukrainian parliamentary election Early parliamentary elections in Ukraine took place on 30 September 2007. The date of the election was determined following agreement between the President Viktor Yushchenko, the Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych and the Chairman of the Verkhovna ...

for the

Our Ukraine Bloc Our or OUR may refer to: * The possessive form of " we" * Our (river), in Belgium, Luxembourg, and Germany * Our, Belgium, a village in Belgium * Our, Jura, a commune in France * Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR), a government utility regulat ...

. Tanyuk died on March 18, 2016; the cause of death was not disclosed.

References

Museum of the Dissident Movement

External links