Friends!

Friends! This day in 1907 Vasyl Misyk was born - a Ukrainian poet and translator, a prisoner of Stalin concentration camps. He translated the works of William Shakespeare, Robert Burns and Omar Khayyam. He is the one who, despite all, survived in Solovki. Let's remember this talented man.

Vasily Oleksandrovych was born on July 24, 1907, in the village Novopavlovka, Mezhiv district, Dnipropetrovsk region. His father was a priest, he very much wanted his son to be educated, so Vasily was sent to a seven-year school. Teacher Arkady Kazka during this time realized - the boy had a poetic talent. The book with the poetry of the schoolboy Kazka sent to his friend Pavlo Tychyna, and he shared them with Mykola Zerov, Maxim Rylsky and Pavel Filippovich. With their help, the first verses of Misyk appeared in the magazine "Red Way".

At age 19 Vasyl Misyk moved to Kharkiv. He settled down as a proofreader in the printing house, and later became a librarian at the House of Literature named after Vasyl Blakitnoy. Already in 1927, he has published his first poetic collection entitled "Herbs".

Mysik's other passion was a translation. While studying at the school, he studied German and French. In Kharkov began to study English. Next – he went to college and studied Oriental studies. So after studying, he translated works from Russian, Belarussian, Hebrew, Polish, German, French, and most of all from English, Persian and Tajik. Misyk is considered to be the first translator from Esperanto to Ukrainian.

Vasyl Misik was a member of the Pluh - Union of Peasant Writers. At 27, he had a great deal of work, which included collections of poems "Grass", "Blue Bridge", "Four Winds", "Builders", collections of stories, numerous translations.

1934 started - a terrible period for all the Ukrainian intelligentsia, which was destroyed, thrown over the graves, shot. On the night of November 4, 1934, Vasyl Misyk was arrested in his apartment.

Shame a joke of fate, but according to one version – they came not even behind him, but his neighbor, Vasyl Minko. But he was not at home, but he could not come with anything. Therefore, they took the one who was there. According to another version, it was according to Misyk - according to the denunciation of the same Minko.

The accusations are the same as in others - "the preparation of terrorist acts against the leaders of the party and government". Later, 28 accused in this case were sentenced to death - in particular, Grigory Kosinka, Dmitry Falkivsky, Kostya Burevy, Oleksa Vlyzko, Ivan and Taras Krushelnytsky and others.

Misyk, on the other hand, did not admit guilty, did not sign any documents, and with another eight, the defendants entered the list for additional investigation. Due to the lack of evidence, Vasil Alexandrovich's sentence was different - 5 years in Solovki, which he retired.

After the prison, Vasyl Misyk returned to his native village. After the war, in 1956 Misyk was removed from prosecution. Then he began to write again. Since 1958, poetry collections of Vasily Oleksandrovich came out.

But he did not forget about translations, for his masterful activity in this field he was even awarded the name of M. Rylsky.

He died at the seventy-sixth year of his life on March 3, 1983.

Friends! Vasyl Misyk is perhaps the only Ukrainian intellectual who survived the Stalinist camps and whose life ended happily after all the tests that were his age. His story is another reminder of us about faith, hope, stability of character and beliefs, as well as love for our cause.