Symonenko Vasyl
Vasyl Symonenko - Ukrainian poet and journalist, activist of Ukrainian resistance movement "Man of the Sixties". Born in the village Biivtsi in Lubny district. Graduated from the Faculty of Journalism, University of Kiev (1957). He worked at editorial office of newspapers "Youth of Cherkassy", "Cherkasy true", and as
correspondent in "Labour newspaper". He started writing poetry back in college days, but under meticulous Soviet censorship was printed reluctantly. Most popular were unpublished works of the poet, that were the satire on the Soviet system, describing difficult life of Soviet people, especially peasants, exposing atrocities of communist despotism, stigmatizing Russian great-power chauvinism. Separate cycle was formed of significant works where the poet expressed his love for his homeland - Ukraine.
Author of collected works: "Silence and Thunder" (1962), "Force of gravity!" (1964), "Swans of Motherhood" (1988). A number of poems set to music. In 1965 he published a collection of short stories "The wine of roses". Although his poetry had inherent lyricism, humanist pathos, authorities pursued him for some anti-Komunist direction of some even officially published works.
He entered the history of Ukrainian literature as a defining figure in the struggle for state and cultural sovereignty of Ukraine in the second half of XX cent.
He died in Cherkasy of kidney disease due to the rapid repeated severe beatings inflicted by unknown after his petition to the Kiev City Council on identifying the graves of victims killed by the NKVD.
