23 Facts About Mykola Rudenko

Mykola Danylovych Rudenko was a Ukrainian poet, writer, philosopher, Soviet dissident, human rights activist and World War II veteran.

Mykola Rudenko was the founder of the Ukrainian Helsinki Group, and was twice arrested for his dissident activities.

Mykola Rudenko was traumatized by the Holodomor, and remarked that it remained with him his entire life.

Mykola Rudenko began to write as a child, and had some of his poems published by the local newspapers.

Mykola Rudenko's writing earned him a scholarship to Kyiv State University in 1939.

Mykola Rudenko only studied for two months until he was called into the Red Army.

Mykola Rudenko was awarded the Order of the Red Star, of the Great Patriotic War 1st class, and six other medals.

In 1946 Mykola Rudenko left the army, but did not return to university.

Mykola Rudenko continued to write, and his first collection of poems was published in 1947.

Mykola Rudenko was a member of the Communist party, and he worked a variety of jobs for various publishing companies.

Mykola Rudenko wrote a wide variety of poetry and novels, some of his most famous being: The Last Sabre, The Magic boomerang, The Eagle's Ravine, and the collection of poems about Holodomor The Cross in 1976.

Mykola Rudenko stopped his cooperation with the Party in the late 1940s.

Mykola Rudenko was convinced that De-Stalinization was not the answer, and that real problem was the Soviet ideology, not Joseph Stalin.

Mykola Rudenko began to petition all levels of the Party about the need for reform, even sending a letter to Nikita Khrushchev in 1960.

Mykola Rudenko was put under surveillance by the KGB, and he began to meet more and more other members of the dissident movement.

Mykola Rudenko lost his job and had to take a position as a night watchman.

Mykola Rudenko's trial took place between 23 June and 1 July 1977, and he was sentenced to 7 years in a labor camp and 5 years exile for "anti-Soviet agitation and propaganda".

Mykola Rudenko was first taken to a Mordovian prisoner camp, but then his wife was arrested and sent to the same camp.

Mykola Rudenko was then transferred to a camp in the Perm region.

Three years later, his wife Raisa Mykola Rudenko joined him, and they were released in 1987 due to public pressure.

Mykola Rudenko worked in the US for Radio Svoboda and Voice of America, while continuing work for the Ukrainian Helsinki Group.

Mykola Rudenko returned to Kyiv in September 1990, and his citizenship was reinstated and he was fully rehabilitated.

In 1993 Mykola Rudenko was awarded the State Taras Shevchenko Prize for Literature.