I am a nationalist by birth.

"I am a nationalist from birth, I grew up in such a nationalistic, patriotic environment. And all the time for me the nationalist, Bandera, partisan movement, of course, was and is very close," - said Igor Kalynets about his political views.

He is a famous poet and prose writer, dissident and public figure. A political prisoner of the Soviet regime, who in inhuman conditions atoned for a fabricated crime for nine years. His creative output includes 17 collections of poetry, of which only one was officially published during the USSR. The rest were printed by samizdat or published abroad through the efforts of the Ukrainian diaspora.

☝🏻“The conscience and pride of our time”, “the last of the superpoets of the 60s-70s”, – these are the words that famous Ukrainians remembered Igor Mironovich, having learned that on June 28, 2025, at the age of 86, he passed away.

“Together with Iryna Kalynets, they became the voice of Ukrainian dignity in the darkest times”, – wrote the mayor of Lviv, Andriy Sadovy, about the honorary citizen of the city.

We talk about the life and work of the Ukrainian artist today in our Saturday column “Know Yours, Yours and Ours”.

📚Based on materials from BBC News Ukraine, the cultural and publishing project “Chitomo”, the website Osvita.ua.