Nadiya Svitlychna

Nadiya Svitlychna
Надія Світлична
Born(1936-11-08)November 8, 1936
Polovynkyne, Starobilsk Raion, Luhansk Oblast, Soviet Union
DiedAugust 8, 2006(2006-08-08) (aged 69)
Irvington, New Jersey, United States
NationalityUkrainian
Alma materUniversity of Kharkiv
Known forhuman rights activism with participation in the Ukrainian Helsinki group
Movementdissident movement in the Soviet Union
AwardsShevchenko National Prize, Vasyl Stus Prize

Nadiya Oleksiyivna Svitlychna (Ukrainian: Надія Олексіївна Світлична, born 8 November 1936, the village of Polovynkyne, Starobilsk district, Luhansk region — 8 August 2006, Irvington, New Jersey, United States) was a Ukrainian dissident and human rights activist, and an active member of the Ukrainian Helsinki group. She was a writer and editor and for a time was a political prisoner of the Soviet regime.[1][2]

Svitlychna was praised by Ukraine's President Viktor Yushchenko, who stated that "her views, the way she lived her life and passed along values to the next generation, have left footsteps to follow for millions of contemporary Ukrainian patriots."[1]

After emigrating to the United States in November 1978 she became a member, along with General Petro Grigorenko and Leonid Plyushch (and later others) of the External Representation of the Ukrainian Helsinki Group and continued her work in advocating human and national rights in Ukraine and protesting Soviet violations of the Helsinki Accords.[1]

  1. ^ a b c "Editorial: Nadia Svitlychna 1936—2006". The Ukrainian Weekly. Vol. LXXIV, no. 35. 27 August 2006.
  2. ^ Procyk, Anna (5 November 2006). "Human rights activist Nadia Svitlychna through the prism of Amnesty International, sixth annual Grigorenko readings". The Ukrainian Weekly. Vol. LXXIV, no. 45.