10 Facts About Iryna Kalynets

Iryna Onufriyivna Kalynets was a Ukrainian poet, writer, activist and Soviet dissident during the 1970s.

Iryna Kalynets was born in a Christian family of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, who was exiled at the time of the USSR.

Iryna Kalynets's father was Onufrii Ivanovych Stasiv, a worker from the Bratkovychi village, Horodotsky district.

Iryna Kalynets's mother was Hanna Dmytrivna Stasiv from a peasant family in the Malnivska Volya village, Mosty district.

Iryna Kalynets studied Slavic Philology at the Ivan Franko National University of Lviv.

Six months later, her husband, Ihor Iryna Kalynets, received the same sentence.

Iryna Kalynets was allowed to go back from her exile in 1981.

Iryna Kalynets carried out school system reform emphasizing the Ukrainian language and culture and contributed to the legalization of UGCC temples despite USSR prosecution.

In 1990, Iryna Kalynets was elected a deputy of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, where she continued to work on educational issues.

Iryna Kalynets died from a long illness on 31 July 2012, at the age of 71.