Vasyl Symonenko

Vasyl Symonenko was born into a peasant family in the village of Biivtsi, located in Kharkiv Oblast, which is now part of Poltava Oblast. He graduated from Kyiv State University in 1957 and subsequently worked as a journalist for various newspapers in Cherkasy Oblast.

His first collection of poems, titled "Тиша і грім / Tysha i hrim" ("Silence and Thunder"), was published in 1962, showcasing his talent among the emerging generation of poets. His contemporaries included notable figures such as Mykola Vinhranovsky, Ivan Drach, and Lina Kostenko, along with publicists and critics like Ivan Dziuba, Ivan Svitlichny, and Yevhen Sverstiuk, who collectively formed a group known as the шістдестятники (Sixtiers).

In his final year, Symonenko authored his second book, "Земне тяжіння / Zemne tyazhinnya" ("Earth’s Gravity"), with verses that were often quoted and memorized, drawing comparisons to the works of Taras Shevchenko.

In 1962, Symonenko, alongside his friends A. Horska and Les Tanyuk, discovered burial sites of victims of NKVD repression at Bykivnia, Lukianivskyi, and Vasyslkivskyi cemeteries near Kyiv. This act led to a citation from the Kyiv City Council but may have also contributed to his subsequent conflicts with the government.

In 1963, Symonenko faced violence when he was severely beaten by local militsiya officers at the Smila railway station. He succumbed to kidney cancer, which was likely exacerbated by the police assault, on December 13, 1963, and was interred in Cherkasy.

Following his death, Symonenko's satirical tale-poem, "Travel to the Country of Vice-versa," was published in 1964. The most comprehensive collection of his works was released abroad under the title "Берег чекань" ("Shore of Anticipation") in Munich in 1963.

In 1967, the Ukrainian émigré publishing house "Smoloskyp" was established in Baltimore and named in his honor. In December 2008, the National Bank of Ukraine issued a commemorative coin featuring Vasyl Symonenko as part of its "Outstanding Personalities of Ukraine" series.

Ukrainian director Oleksandr Zherebko, in collaboration with Angelina Dyatlova, adapted Symonenko's poetry in the film "You Didn’t Come to Me from a Tale or a Dream" (Ukrainian: "Ти до мене прийшла не із казки чи сну").

His works have been partially translated into English, including titles such as "Гранітні обеліски / Granite Obelisks" translated by Andriy M Freishyn-Chirovsky in 1975, and "Тиша і грім. Вибрані поезії Василя Симоненка / Silence and Thunder: The Selected Poetry of Vasyl Symonenko" translated by Michael M Nayden in 2017.