Vasil Tkachuk
Vasil Tkachuk (Ukrainian: Василь Ткачук) (13 January 1916 in Illintsi village (ukr.: Іллінці), nowadays Kolomyia Raion, Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast (ukr.: Івано-Франківська область) – 19 October 1944 in East Prussia), Ukrainian self-taught writer-poet, eulogist of hutsulshtchina (ukr.: Гуцульщина), political and social activist. Life. Vasil Tkachuk was born in a very poor rural family to Ivan and Olena Tkachuk. He had two siblings, brother Oleksiy (born in 1904) and sister Maria (born in 1912). The size of poverty in which Tkachuk grew up can be picture by living conditions: one chamber hut (about 16 m²) occupied by two  families, ten people altogether. After death of Tkachuk’s father and grandmother in 1921 the responsibility to provide for the family went to his mother, Olena. In 1922 Tkachuk started his education in a local primary school, which he finished in 1930. During this period he wrote his first poems. Tkachuk led a very active life, both socially and politically. He was interested in ethnography; was a member of local choreographic group "Prosvita" (ukr.: Просвіта) and a member of "Sel-Rob Ednist" (ukr.: Сель-Pоб Єдність) political group. At the age of 15 Tkachuk was arrested for drawing a caricature  of Józef Piłsudski, later realised due to young age. Arrested again in 1922 for propaganda against Polish nobility (Polish: Szlachta). In 1934 he moved to Lviv where he published his novels in a local press. He was connected with a literary group of young writers and journalists called "The Twelve" (ukr.: "Дванадцятка"). In 1937 Tkachuk married Maria Janusz and 1938 their daughter Olga was born. After aggression of Soviet Union on Poland in 1940, Tkachuk joined Writer’s Union of Ukraine (ukr.: Національна Спілка Письменників України), and became a student of Lviv University (ukr: Львівський університет). In 1941 Tkachuk joined  up Red Army and was killed during the East Prussian Offensive. Works. The rural families, their habits, culture, everyday life had a great influence on Tkachuk’s works, where he often described life of the local society. Tkachuk is compared to Vasyl Stefanyk for using Hutsul dialect in his works.