96 Years Since the Birth of Ivan Svitlychny: The University Remembers

On September 20, we commemorate Ivan Oleksiiovych Svitlychny — one of the most prominent intellectuals and cultural figures of the 20th century, whose life and work left a bright mark on the development of Ukrainian literature and the human rights movement.

Ivan Svitlychny received a philological education at Kharkiv University (now V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University). It was here that his worldview was shaped, filled with love for his native language and culture, and soon he became one of the voices of the Sixtiers generation.

At Karazin University, his younger sister, Nadiia Svitlychna, also studied. Portraits of the brother and sister, alongside other Karazin alumni who became Shevchenko Prize laureates, are displayed in the gallery of the university’s School of Philology.

The life of Ivan Oleksiiovych was marked by pain and loss, but despite all trials, he became a literary critic, linguist, translator, poet, and organizer of underground literary evenings where works of banned Ukrainian writers were read. “Poets shoot with rhymes, Chekists—with revolvers. They aim at the heart. The heart is the target both for bullets and for rhymes,” he wrote.

His literary and civic achievements are not just pages of books or scholarly works. They represent a movement for the right to be oneself, to speak Ukrainian, to preserve culture even under systemic pressure. After his death, Svitlychny’s legacy did not disappear — it continues to inspire, urging self-discovery and responsibility toward both the past and the future.

The Svitlychny family donated Ivan Oleksiiovych’s valuable personal library to our university. It is still preserved today in the Central Scientific Library as a separate collection.

Today, as Ukraine faces many challenges, the legacy of Ivan Svitlychny reminds us that true culture requires not only inspiration but also the courage to remain faithful to one’s convictions.