Vasyl Stus

A leading figure of 20th-century Ukrainian literature, Vasyl Stus was a poet, essayist, translator, and literary scholar. His work, marked by a deep commitment to Ukrainian independence and cultural identity, made him a symbol of resistance against Soviet oppression. As an active member of the Ukrainian dissident movement, Stus endured years of imprisonment and torture but never compromised his principles. He died in a Perm prison in 1985.