Ivan Sokulskyi
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Chervonyi Yar, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union (now Ukraine)
Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine (now Dnipro, Ukraine)
- Poet
- human rights activist
Ivan Sokulskyi | |
|---|---|
 Sokulskyi on left | |
| Native name | Іван Григорович Сокульський |
| Born | 13 July 1940 Chervonyi Yar, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union (now Ukraine) |
| Died | 22 June 1992 (aged 51) Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine (now Dnipro, Ukraine) |
| Occupation |
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| Alma mater |
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| Period | c. 1962–1992 |
| Literary movement | Sixtiers |
| Notable works | Letter of the Artistic Youth of Dnipropetrovsk |
| Spouse |
Orysa Lesiv (m. 1974) |
Ivan Hryhorovych Sokulskyi (Ukrainian: Іва́н Григо́рович Соку́льський; 13 July 1940 – 22 June 1992) was a Ukrainian poet, Soviet dissident and human rights activist who was a member of the Ukrainian Helsinki Group.
Ivan Hryhorovych Sokulskyi was born on 13 July 1940 in the khutir of Chervonyi Yar, in Synelnykove Raion within Ukraine's southern Dnipropetrovsk Oblast. His father volunteered for frontline Red Army service after the beginning of Operation Barbarossa and was declared missing in action in February 1944. Sokulskyi graduated from Synelnykove Secondary School No. 3 in 1957 and he subsequently began working as a blacksmith.[1]
Sokulskyi started studying at the University of Lviv's faculty of philology in 1962.[2] He joined the Lviv branch of the Artistic Youths' Club[1] and began publishing poetry in multiple periodicals, including the almanac Vitryla, and the Flag magazine. He also translated Belarusian poetry, which was published in the Vitchyzna periodical.[3] During his time in Lviv, Sokulskyi became part of the Sixtier movement.[4]
Sokulskyi began studying at the University of Dnipropetrovsk in his third year, but was expelled on 13 May 1965[1] or May 1966[2] for supporting Ukrainian nationalism. He was also expelled from the Komsomol[5] and came under surveillance by the KGB. Sokulskyi later attributed these events to being a response to a spiritual awakening.[6]
