Lina Kostenko L.d'H.Chevalier[1] | |
|---|---|
 Kostenko in 2006 | |
| Native name | Ліна Костенко |
| Born | (1930-03-19)19 March 1930 (age 95) |
| Occupation | |
| Language | Ukrainian |
| Genres | |
| Literary movement | Sixtiers |
| Years active | 1957–present |
| Notable works |
|
| Notable awards | |
Lina Vasylivna Kostenko (Ukrainian:Ліна Василівна Костенко; born 19 March 1930)[2][3] is aUkrainian poet, journalist, writer, publisher, and formerSoviet dissident. A founder and leading representative of theSixtiers poetry movement, Kostenko has been described as one of Ukraine's foremost poets and credited with reviving Ukrainian-languagelyric poetry.
Kostenko has been granted numerous honours, including an honorary professorship atKyiv Mohyla Academy, honorary doctorates ofLviv andChernivtsi Universities, theShevchenko National Prize, and theLegion of Honour.
Lina Vasylivna Kostenko was born to a family of teachers inRzhyshchiv. In 1936, her family moved from Rzhyshchiv to the Ukrainian capital city ofKyiv, where she finished her secondary education.[2]
From 1937 to 1941, she studied at the Kyiv school #100, located onTrukhaniv Island, where her family lived. The school, in addition to the rest of the village, were burned byNazi forces in 1943.[4] The poemI Grew Up in Kyivan Venice is devoted to these events.
After graduating from high school, she studied at theKyiv Pedagogical Institute, and later at theMaxim Gorky Literature Institute in Moscow, from where she graduated with distinction in 1956.[2][3]
Kostenko was one of the first and most important figures of theSixtiers movement of the 1950s and 1960s. Her poetry is typically lyrical and sophisticated, but also relies heavily on aphorisms, colloquialisms, and satirical language, and is typically critical of authoritarianism.[3]
Kostenko has been credited with revivinglyric poetry in the Ukrainian language,[5] and has been called one of Ukraine's greatest female poets.[6] Ivan Koshelivets, Ukrainian émigré scholar, referred to her writing as "unprecedented" for its deviation fromsocialist realism.[7]
In the early 1960s, she took part in the literary evenings of theKyiv Creative Youth Club. Following her graduation, she published three collections of poetry:Earthly Rays in 1957,Sails in 1958, andJourneys of the Heart in 1961. The poems became immensely popular among Ukrainian readers. She was criticized by Soviet critics for her ideologically nonconformist attitude and her conscious avoidance of the principles ofsocialist realism imposed by the Communist Party.[8] The government of the Soviet Union forced her into silence as she was unwilling to submit to Soviet authorities who censored her poems.[7]
In 1961, she was criticised for "apoliticism." In 1963,The Star Integral poetry collection was removed from print, while another collection of poems,The Prince's Mountain, was removed from typography.[7] During these years, Kostenko's poems were published in Czechoslovak magazines and Polish newspapers. However, they only occasionally reached Ukrainian audiences, mostly viasamizdat.
In 1965, Kostenko signed a letter of protest against arrests of the Ukrainian intelligentsia. She was present at the trial ofMykhailo Osadchyi andMyroslava Zvarychevska inLviv. During the trial of theHoryn brothers, she threw them flowers. Together withIvan Drach, she appealed to the editorial office of the magazine "Zhovten" (now "Dzvin") and to the Lviv writers with a proposal to speak out in defence of the arrested. The writers did not dare to protest, but filed a lawsuit with the request to admitBohdan Horyn on bail as the youngest of arrested. These efforts did not influence the trials, although they influenced the morale of Ukrainian dissidents at the time.[2]
In May 1966, in theNational Writers' Union of Ukraine, where the "nationalist outlaws" were labelled, a part of the youth held the ovation of Kostenko, who defended her position and defendedIvan Svitlichny, Opanas Zalyvaha, Myhajlo Kosiv andBohdan Horyn. In 1967Omeljan Pritsak nominated Kostenko and Ivan Drach for theNobel Prize in Literature along with the older Ukrainian poet and politicianPavlo Tychyna.[9] As of 2025[update], it appeared that among thenominees submitted from 1901 to 1974 – publicly available due to 50-year secrecy period, Lina Kostenko is one of only the four living.
In 1968, she wrote letters in defence ofViacheslav Chornovil in response to the defamation against him in the newspaper "Literary Ukraine." After that, the name of Lina Kostenko was not mentioned in the Soviet press for many years. She worked "in the drawer", knowing that her works were not going to be published.
In 1973 Lina Kostenko was blacklisted by Secretary of the Central Committee on Ideology of the Communist Party of UkraineValentyn Malanchuk. Only in 1977, after the departure of Malanchuk, was her collection of poemsOn the Banks of the Eternal River published,[3] and in 1979, under a special decree of the Presidium of the Socialist-Revolutionary Guard, one of her greatest works was published, a historical novel in the versesMarusia Churai (about a 17th-century Ukrainian folk singer) which had stagnated with recognition for 6 years. She was awarded theTaras Shevchenko National Prize of the Ukrainian SSR in 1987.[3]
Kostenko also wrote collections of poemsOriginality (1980) andGarden of Unthawed Sculptures (1987), a collection of poems for children, titledThe Lilac King (1987).[3]
In 1991, Kostenko moved to theChornobyl Exclusion Zone, saying that she wished to "gain strength," though she cautioned others against doing so. Following the death of her husbandVasyl Tsvirkunov [uk] in 2000, she went into a hiatus from writing.[2]
In 2010,Notes of a Ukrainian Madman was released. It was her first novel, and her first book since her 1989Selected Works. The release ofNotes was intended to be followed by a book tour across Ukraine, but abruptly ended in Lviv, allegedly after Kostenko had been offended either by Lviv residents selling tickets to the presentation (which was intended to be free) or by critics who disliked the book.[2]
And you thought that Ukraine was so easy to understand? Ukraine is great. Ukraine is exclusive. Throughout history, others have bulldozed through Ukraine. Ukraine has endured endless trials and tribulations. My country is tough. In today’s world, that’s priceless!
In 2005, an attempt was made by then-PresidentViktor Yushchenko to decorate Kostenko as aHero of Ukraine, the highest reward of the state. However, Kostenko refused the award, declaring, "I will not wear political jewellery."[2]
Amidst the2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Kostenko criticized the usage of obscene language and publicly opposed its appearance in the media, on billboards, and postage stamps. This was primarily a reaction to slogan "Russian warship, go fuck yourself," which became very popular in Ukraine in response to the Russian invasion. Kostenko felt the slogan, and its use of Russian language vulgarity, reflected poorly on Ukraine and the beauty of the Ukrainian language, stating: "there is, perhaps, no other such thing [as the Ukrainian language] in the whole world. The language is a nightingale, while the devil is blabbering on."[10]
Media related toLina Kostenko at Wikimedia Commons
