Vasyl Tkachuk | |
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| Born | 13 January 1916 Illintsi, Galicia and Lodomeria, Austria-Hungary (now Ukraine) |
| Died | 19 October 1944 (aged 28) East Prussia, Nazi Germany |
Vasyl Ivanovych Tkachuk (Ukrainian: Василь Іванович Ткачук; 13 January 1916 – 19 October 1944) was Ukrainian writer, poet, and activist.
Vasyl Tkachuk was born in a very poor rural family to Ivan and Olena Tkachuk. He had two siblings, brother Oleksiy (born in 1904) and sister Mariya (born in 1912). Tkachuk's family lived in destitution, with a one chamber hut (about 16 m²) occupied by two families, ten people altogether. Following the deaths of Tkachuk's father and grandmother in 1921 the responsibility to provide for the family went to his mother, Olena.[1]
In 1922 Tkachuk started his education in a local primary school, which he finished in 1930. During this period he wrote his first poems.
Tkachuk led an active life, both socially and politically. He was interested in ethnography; was a member of local choreographic group "Prosvita" (ukr.: Просвіта) and a member of "Sel-Rob Ednist" (ukr.: Сель-Pоб Єдність) political group. At the age of 15 Tkachuk was arrested for drawing a caricature of Józef Piłsudski, though he was later released due to his young age. He was again arrested in 1922 for propaganda against the szlachta.[2]
In 1934 Tkachuk moved to Lviv where he published his novels in a local press. He was connected with a literary group of young writers and journalists called "The Twelve" (ukr.: "Дванадцятка").[3] In 1937 Tkachuk married Maria Janusz and 1938 their daughter Olha was born.
Following the Soviet annexation of Eastern Galicia and Volhynia, Tkachuk joined the Writer's Union of Ukraine, and became a student of Lviv University (ukr: Львівський університет).[4] In 1941 Tkachuk joined to Red Army and was killed during the East Prussian Offensive.[5]
Rural families, their habits, culture, everyday life had a great influence on Tkachuk’s works, where he often described life of the local society. Tkachuk is compared to Vasyl Stefanyk for using Hutsul dialect in his works.[6]
