Oleksa Hirnyk

Oleksa Mykolajovych Hirnyk
Олекса Миколайович Гiрник
Born28 March 1912
Died21 January 1978 (aged 65)
Cause of deathSelf-immolation
AwardsHero of Ukraine

Oleksa Mykolajovych Hirnyk (Ukrainian: Олекса Миколайович Гiрник; 28 March 1912 – 21 January 1978) was a Ukrainian nationalist and Soviet dissident, an engineer by profession, who burned himself to death as an act of protest against Soviet suppression of the Ukrainian language (russification), culture and history.[1] The act was quickly covered up by the Soviet authorities and remained unknown to general populace for decades.[1]