Vasyl Stus
Encounter the courageous Ukrainian poet and dissident whose powerful words became a symbol of resistance against oppression
Vasyl Stus by Online edition of Espresso WestCFC Big Ideas in association with the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy
Vasyl Stus was a genius poet and one of those jailed by the Soviet authorities. A real truth-seeker and fighter for freedom and justice, he was not afraid to speak up and write what was on his mind, not on the communist party line.
Stus began his career in poetry as a student. However, due to his participation in the dissident movement, his first collection of poems was not published. Although he continued writing while being incarcerated, the KGB regularly took away and destroyed his works.
Vasyl Stus with his wife and son by Maryna Petushkova For INFOLIFECFC Big Ideas in association with the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy
Vasyl Stus had many challenges along his way and endured all of them. His poems were destroyed, so he wrote them again. Imprisoned, he suffered from a disease, but kept advocating for help for others. He twice refused to take Soviet citizenship and didn't talk to the KGB agents.
Another writer, dissident, and political prisoner, Yevhen Sverstyuk, named Stus "a rock, which is beyond variable winds’ power." This describes Stus and his poetry well.
Protesting against the absurdity of the Soviet regime's injustice, undergoing several imprisonments and countless questionings, the poet developed his own "upright-standing" philosophy.
In his views and works, he preached a stoic attitude with patience to endure all hardships.
Vasyl Stus. Portrait by By floyd on Verlibr BlogspotCFC Big Ideas in association with the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy
Poetry by Vasyl Stus is as worthy of recognition as his biography. He is rightfully regarded as a genius and one of the greatest Ukrainian poets of all time. Stus was invited to lecture abroad and even nominated for a Nobel Prize. Imprisonments and, soon, death did not let him.
Vasyl Stus died in 1985 in prison on Russian territory. During his lifetime, his works were banned from being published in Ukraine, so they were introduced abroad. Nowadays, Ukrainians can freely read and take inspiration from his poetry. The depth of his thoughts continues to impress modern readers. The messages of patience, endurance, standing up for justice, and being a patriot of one's country to inspire Ukrainians every day, remaining ever-relevant in times of war.
Text: based on text by Vasyl Skakun
Original text from the album of the Prominent Ukrainians project, published jointly by Pictoric Illustrators Club, Pavlo Gudimov Ya Gallery Art Center, Artbook Publishing House and Ukraine Crisis Media Center.
