Oleksandr Andriyovych Hrytsenko (

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 ...

: Олександр Андрійович Гриценко) (August 29, 1967 - April 3, 2020) was a Ukrainian poet, translator, and culturologist. He was the director of the Ukrainian Center of Cultural Research under the

Ministry of Culture of Ukraine The Ministry of Culture and Information Policy ( uk, Міністерство культури України) or MinCult is the main state authority in the system of central government of Ukraine responsible for country's cultural development a ...

Biography

Hrytsenko was born in

Vatutine Vatutine ( ; ) is a city in Zvenyhorodka Raion, Cherkasy Oblast (region) of Ukraine. It hosts the administration of Vatutine urban hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. It had a population of Administrative status Vatutine gained status as ...

, a city in

Zvenyhorodka Raion Zvenyhorodka Raion is a raion (district) of Cherkasy Oblast, central Ukraine. Its administrative centre is located at the city of Zvenyhorodka. Population: On 18 July 2020, as part of the administrative reform of Ukraine, the number of raions o ...

Cherkasy Oblast Cherkasy Oblast ( uk, Черка́ська о́бласть, Cherkaska oblast, ), also referred to as Cherkashchyna ( uk, Черка́щина, ) is an oblast (province) of central Ukraine located along the Dnieper River. The administrative center ...

(region) of the former

Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic ( uk, Украї́нська Радя́нська Соціалісти́чна Респу́бліка, ; russian: Украи́нская Сове́тская Социалисти́ческая Респ ...

. In 1980, he received his bachelor’s degree in cybernetics from the

Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv Kyiv University or Shevchenko University or officially the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv ( uk, Київський національний університет імені Тараса Шевченка), colloquially known as KNU ...

. He later received his Ph.D from the same university, having defended his doctoral thesis titled, “The Development of Information and Software for Planning the Supply of Local Building Materials.” From 1980 until 1990, Hrytsenko worked as an engineer in the Department of Economic Cybernetics at the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv. Afterwards, he served as an editor of the journal “

Vsesvit ''Vsesvit'' ( uk, Всесвіт, ''Vsesvit'') is a Ukrainian periodical that publishes exclusive translations of world classics and contemporary works of literature, covers different aspects of cultural, artistic, social, and political life in all ...

” (The Universe) until 1992. Beginning in 1993, he worked as an advisor to the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine, and in 2002 was appointed director of the Ukrainian Center of Cultural Research.

Works

Hrytsenko’s body of work focuses on the crossroads of culture, society, and politics. This is exemplified by titles such as Presidents and Memory. The Political Memory of the Presidents of Ukraine (1994-2014): Background, Message, Implementation, Results (2017), Cultural Policy: Concepts and Experience (1994), and Culture and Power: The Theory and Practice of Cultural Policy in the Modern World (2000). Immediately following the collapse of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

, Hrytsenko is credited with developing Ukraine's study of the humanities. One of his final books, Pegasus Perestroika: Parodies, Poems, and Polemics (1985-1991) (2018), is a collection of parodical writings and philosophical tracts published in Soviet Ukraine during the final years of the USSR. In the introduction, Hrytsenko states that while he does not believe the works directly influenced the downfall of the Soviet Union, they are still vital pieces to Ukraine’s culture. In addition, Hrytsenko translated many works from

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

and

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...

into Ukrainian. This includes poems from

Emily Dickinson Emily Elizabeth Dickinson (December 10, 1830 – May 15, 1886) was an American poet. Little-known during her life, she has since been regarded as one of the most important figures in American poetry. Dickinson was born in Amherst, Massach ...

T.S. Eliot Thomas Stearns Eliot (26 September 18884 January 1965) was a poet, essayist, publisher, playwright, literary critic and editor.Bush, Ronald. "T. S. Eliot's Life and Career", in John A Garraty and Mark C. Carnes (eds), ''American National B ...

, and

E.E. Cummings Edward Estlin Cummings, who was also known as E. E. Cummings, e. e. cummings and e e cummings (October 14, 1894 - September 3, 1962), was an American poet, painter, essayist, author and playwright. He wrote approximately 2,900 poems, two autobi ...

, along with prose from the Polish authors

Witold Gombrowicz Witold Marian Gombrowicz (August 4, 1904 – July 24, 1969) was a Polish writer and playwright. His works are characterised by deep psychological analysis, a certain sense of paradox and absurd, anti-nationalist flavor. In 1937 he published his f ...

and

Stanisław Lem Stanisław Herman Lem (; 12 September 1921 – 27 March 2006) was a Polish writer of science fiction and essays on various subjects, including philosophy, futurology, and literary criticism. Many of his science fiction stories are of satirical ...

References

1967 births 2020 deaths Ukrainian male poets Ukrainian translators People from Cherkasy Oblast Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv alumni {{Ukraine-bio-stub