Oksana Steshenko
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Oksana Mykhailivna Starytska
24 January [O.S. 12 January] 1875
Oksana Steshenko | |
|---|---|
| Оксана Стешенко | |
 Steshenko in 1891 | |
| Born | Оксана Михайлівна Старицька Oksana Mykhailivna Starytska 24 January [O.S. 12 January] 1875 Karpivka, Kremenchugsky Uyezd, Poltava Governorate, Russian Empire |
| Died | 1942 (aged 66–67) Kazakh SSR, USSR |
| Education | Lysenko Music and Drama School, 1907 |
| Occupations | |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2 including, Yaroslav Steshenko |
| Parents |
|
| Relatives | Mariia Starytska (sister) Liudmyla Starytska-Cherniakhivska (sister) Veronika Chernyakhivska (niece) Mykola Lysenko (uncle) |
Oksana Mykhailivna Steshenko (née Starytska; Ukrainian: Оксана Михайлівна Стешенко; 24 January [O.S. 12 January] 1875 – 1942) was a Ukrainian and Soviet children's writer, translator and teacher.[1][2] Steshenko died during imprisonment in a gulag camp in the Kazakh SSR.[1]
Oksana Mykhailivna Starytska was born on 24 January [O.S. 12 January] 1875 in the village of Karpivka, Kremenchugsky Uyezd (present-day Ukraine) to a Ukrainian intelligentsia family.[1] Steshenko's father, Mykhailo Starytsky, was a writer, poet and playwright, and her mother Sofiia Starytska, was an activist, entrepreneur and actress.[1][3] Steshenko was one of five children, and was the younger sister of the actress and director Mariia Starytska, and the writer, translator, and literary critic Liudmyla Starytska-Cherniakhivska.
In 1892, Steshenko graduated from the First Private Women's Gymnasium[a] and later graduated from the Lysenko Music and Drama School in 1907.[1]
Career
From 1888 to 1893, Steshenko was a member of the "Pleiada" literary group alongside her sister Liudmyla Starytska-Cherniakhivska and her future husband Ivan Steshenko.[1][4][5]
In August 1898, Steshenko and her now husband Ivan Steshenko took part in the congress of the illegal society Young Ukraine (Ukrainian: Молода Україна).[3]
From 1908 onwards Steshenko was a member of the Ukrainian Club and it successor Rodyna (Ukrainian: Родина), [1] until it was outlawed in 1918.
In 1917, Steshenko began working for the Ministry of Education of the Ukrainian People's Republic department of extracurricular education.[1] Steshenko also taught at the 1st Ukrainian Gymnasium in Kyiv.[1]
In 1939, Steshenko was accepted into the National Writers' Union of Ukraine.[1]
Steshenko translated Russian literature into Ukrainian.[3]
Arrests
Russian Empire
In 1897, aged 22, Steshenko was imprisoned for participating in a demonstration protesting the death of Mariia Vetrova.[5] Imprisoned for two weeks at Lukyanivska Prison, Steshenko was housed in a cell next to Ivan Steshenko.[5] During this time the two declared their love for each and agreed to get married upon their release.[5]
Steshenko was released under a "wolf's ticket", which placed her under public supervision for two years and prohibited her from teaching or from working in university towns.[5]
NKVD arrest and death
On 20 July 1941, Steshenko and her sister Liudmyla Starytska-Cherniakhivska were arrested by the NKVD.[1][3][5] Steshenko and Starytska-Cherniakhivska were taken to Kharkiv where they were charged with carrying out anti-Soviet activity under Article 54 of the Criminal Code of the Ukrainian SSR.[1][3][5] Both sisters were then transported via Stolypin wagon to the Kazakh SSR.[1][3][5] Starytska-Cherniakhivska died during the journey, and her dead body was thrown from the train.[2][5]
In 1942 [b] Steshenko died at a gulag camp.[1][5] The location of Steshenko's grave is unknown.[1]