Famous Ukrainians are found not only today, and not only among politicians, famous businessmen, athletes, or any other people - history has left behind itself memories of a huge number of really great personalities whose contribution to the development of Ukraine and many other countries has not been forgotten to this day. Moreover, many people do not even know who these individuals were, and why the memory of them is still alive today. N. Gogol, Taras Shevchenko, Bogdan Khmelnitsky - these and many other personalities are known to all. Here we will talk about those whose exploits are not so famous, but who also deserve special attention.
Vyacheslav Maksimovich Chernovol
Vyacheslav Maksimovich Chernovol is one of the most famous Ukrainian nationalists and dissidents of the times of the Soviet Union, and he was also a fairly well-known political figure even during the independence of Ukraine. In 2000, Vyacheslav Chernovol received the title of Hero of Ukraine.
It is worth noting that the political views of Vyacheslav prevented him from living normally at the age of 21, because he could not hide them, and instead decided to simply leave for one year in Zhdanov, where the blast furnace was being built. Moreover, even at that time it was actively published in various newspapers. In 1960, at the age of 23, Vyacheslav Chernovol began working at the Lviv television studio, where he initially held the post of editor, and over time also received the post of senior editor, working on issues for young people. After three years of such work, he moved to Vyshgorod, where he worked on the construction of the Kiev hydroelectric station, and after defending his dissertation in 1964, he got a job in the newspaper “Young Guard”. Already in 1965 he was expelled from the newspaper for organizing protests against the arrest of the Ukrainian intelligentsia of the anti-Soviet movement.
In 1967, Chernovol published a book on the sixties entitled “Woe from Wit”, known to this day, but for this publication he sits in a maximum security colony for six years, but is released ahead of schedule after two years of imprisonment. In 1972, he was once again imprisoned for publishing the underground journal “Ukrainian Herald”, and now, without the possibility of parole, he left only in 1978, but already then the famous Ukrainians and other figures of the USSR knew about his actions.
In 1990, Vyacheslav was elected People's Deputy of Ukraine, receiving more than 68% of the vote from his constituency, and in 1991, he was second in the first ever presidential election in Ukraine, with more than 23% of the vote. Subsequently, with each election, he was repeatedly elected again and again as a people's deputy, but by coincidence, on March 25, 1999, the politician had an accident and died.
Larisa Petrovna Kosach-Kvitka
One of the most famous Ukrainian writers and poets, as well as the greatest cultural figure. If we talk about who the great Ukrainians were, you just can not help but recall this wonderful woman, most of whose works are not only actively printed and read, but are also required for mastering in the school curricula of Ukraine. Known for her collections of poems "Thoughts and Dreams", "On the Wings of Songs" and "Feedback", as well as the drama "Forest Song".
It is worth noting that Lesya Ukrainka (this particular pseudonym was chosen by Larisa) wrote in a wide variety of genres, as well as was engaged in active work in the field of folklore, and 220 different folk melodies were recorded from her voice. The overwhelming majority of modern Ukrainians call her one of the greatest figures in the history of their country, which include such famous Ukrainians as Bogdan Khmelnitsky and Taras Shevchenko.
Lesya Ukrainka herself came from a rather wealthy family, since her father was a nobleman of the Chernihiv province, an official and a public figure. In particular, this contributed to the fact that after the onset of tuberculosis, her parents were able to provide her with high-quality treatment in various countries, while at the same time allowing the future writer to expand her horizons and learn a lot.
During her life, the writer learned Greek, Latin, German and French, and already at the age of 19 she began to compose her own textbooks for her sisters, based on the works of the greatest scientists of his time.
A serious illness haunted the poetess all her life, but, despite this, she still tried to always find strength for creativity until her death on July 19, 1913 in Surami. Today her works are put on a par with the works of poets such as I.P. Kotlyarevsky, Taras Shevchenko and many others.
Lilia Alexandrovna Podkopaeva
Lilia Podkopaeva is one of the most famous public and sports figures in Ukraine today. Basically, she became famous thanks to her merits in gymnastics, has the title of Honored Master of Sports of Ukraine, and is also a judge of the international category. During her sports career, Lilia Podkopaeva received 45 gold, 21 silver and 14 bronze medals, and also earned the title of European champion and absolute world champion in gymnastics.
The athlete received the first two gold medals in 1997 (at the age of 18) in Atlanta, winning them in the absolute championship and floor exercises. It is worth noting that no gymnast, including men, has been able to repeat the double backflip with a 180 ° turn performed by this athlete to this day.
At the moment, Lilia Podkopaeva is better known for her social activities, as well as the Golden Lilia tournament, which is held on a regular basis. It is also worth noting that in 2008, together with Sergey Kostetskiy, the gymnast represented Ukraine at the Eurovision Dance Contest 2008, where they managed to take third place.
Sidor Artemievich Kovpak
Sidor Kovpak is one of the most famous Soviet military leaders, as well as public and statesmen of his time. In many ways, he is known as the commander of the Putivl partisan detachment, which performed a lot of tasks during the Great Patriotic War. Twice Sidor Kovpak received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
Military merit
In the period from 1941 to 1942, the Kovpak compound was engaged in raids behind enemy lines in the Kursk, Oryol, Sumy and Bryansk regions. The Sumy partisan unity, which was also under the command of this commander, fought through the rear of German troops for more than 10, 000 kilometers, defeating enemy garrisons in 39 different settlements. Thus, Sidor Kovpak with his raids made a huge contribution to the deployment of a partisan movement against the invaders from Germany.
Thanks to his merits, in 1942 he was personally received by Voroshilov and Stalin in Moscow, where he came to a meeting with other partisan commanders. The main task of his connection was to raid the Dnieper in order to expand the boundaries of guerrilla warfare to the Right-Bank Ukraine, and his connection to the exit numbered about two thousand people. In April 1943, Kovpak received the title of Major General.
Sidor Kovpak died on December 11, 1967 with his death, after which he was buried in the Baykovsky cemetery in Kiev.
Ivan Nikitovich Kozhedub
Ivan Kozhedub is one of the most famous pilot aces, famous for his exploits during the Great Patriotic War. It is worth noting that Kozhedub ultimately became the most productive fighter in aviation among all the allied forces, since there were 64 battles won behind him. He received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union three times, and also became an air marshal in 1985.
An amazing fact is that Ivan Kozhedub joined the Red Army in 1940 almost immediately after graduating from the Chuguev Aviation School, where he subsequently held the position of instructor.
In 1942, Ivan received the rank of senior sergeant, and the next year sent to the Voronezh Front. It is worth noting that in his very first battle, Kozhedub almost died, since his “LA-5” was seriously damaged by the cannon line of the “Messerschmitt-109”, and only the armored back could save his life from hitting an incendiary shell, and during returning home, in addition, the plane was shot by Soviet anti-aircraft gunners, hitting him twice. Naturally, after landing, there was no question of any restoration of the aircraft, so a new pilot was issued. For the first time, the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, Ivan Kozhedub, who was already a senior lieutenant at that time, was awarded in 1944, after he was able to shoot down 20 German planes in 146 sorties.
By the end of the war, Kozhedub was in the rank of major guard and flew on the LA-7, and behind his shoulders there were 330 sorties, in which he shot down 62 German planes, including 17 dive bombers. He spent his last air battle right above Berlin, shooting down two FW-190 fighters. The famous pilot won almost all of his battles at the expense of his amazing shooting talents, which allowed him to almost never get closer to a distance closer than 200-300 meters, and in the end granted the victory even over the ME-262 fighter jet.
Ivan Kozhedub died on his death on August 8, 1991, after which he was buried in Moscow at the Novodevichy cemetery.
Mikhail Sergeevich Grushevsky
Mikhail Grushevsky is one of the most famous revolutionaries, as well as public and political figures of Russia, Ukraine and the Soviet Union. He gained the greatest fame thanks to the work “History of Ukraine-Rus”, which is a monograph of ten volumes, which later became the basis of the history of Ukrainian studies and entailed many scientific disputes. It is worth noting that the concept pursued by Grushevsky has become a rather important milestone in the history of the development of Ukrainian separatism in the last century.
Mikhail Grushevsky tried to postulate the concept of absolutely inextricable ethnocultural development in the Ukrainian region, which, in his opinion, led, ultimately, to the creation of a unique ethnic group that is different from the rest of the Eastern Slavs. In accordance with Grushevsky’s concept, Russia is considered as a form of Ukrainian statehood, and, based on this historiographic assumption, he, on the one hand, spoke about the ethnogenetic difference between the Russian and Ukrainian peoples, including also a fundamental difference in their development vectors, and on the other, he postulated state succession of Ukrainians. At the same time, he strongly criticized the policy of “gathering Russian lands”, which the Russian state pursued throughout the XV-XVII centuries.
Raisa Afanasevna Kirichenko
Kirichenko Raisa Afanasevna is a famous Ukrainian singer, known throughout the former USSR. The singer’s career began at the age of seventeen, when she became a soloist of the folk choir at the Kremenchug Automobile Plant, under the direction of Pavel Ochenash. Already in 1962, she began working in the Veselka professional team, which was under the leadership of Nikolai Kirichenko.
Having a fairly large stage experience, the singer decides to organize her own ensemble called "Kalina". In 1983, in the city of Cherkasy, a small group "Rosava" was created for her, and at the same time she works with the Victor Gutsal National Orchestra, performing in the Crimea, Kiev, as well as in different cities of Belarus and Ukraine.
Due to certain misunderstandings with her team, she decides to leave him in 1987, as a result of which F. T. Morgun invites her and her husband to the Poltava region, where she enters the Churaevna ensemble. After the dizzying success of the song “Pan to the Colonel”, the famous singer’s repertoire is replenished with an increasing number of hits, and as a result, she is increasingly recorded in the studio of the Freestyle group. Gradually, CDs with songs begin to appear, diverging in a good circulation, and later she also begins to collaborate with the folk choir Kalina, which was under the direction of Honored Art Worker Grigory Levchenko.
Raisa Kirichenko died on February 9, 2005 from heart disease.
Nikolai Fedorovich Vatutin
Nikolai Vatutin is a well-known general of the Soviet army who received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. One of the few who managed to get from an ordinary Red Army soldier to a general.
In the Great Patriotic War, Vatutin began to take part already in 1941, and no one could even imagine that he would take a place in the list of “Famous Ukrainians”. Already on June 30, he held the post of chief of staff at the North-Western Font, where the situation was rather complicated, since Soviet troops were actively retreating from the Baltic, and the enemy was able to strike Moscow and Leningrad. It was at this moment that Vatutin needed to make extremely difficult decisions, since his task was to strengthen the Valdai Upland, thus ensuring the integrity of the front between Moscow and Leningrad. One way or another, but he failed to implement this plan, since in 1942 he was transferred back to Moscow.
Under the leadership of Nikolai Vatutin during the war, a lot of famous battles were held, such as the Battle of Kursk, the Battle of the Dnieper and many others that were successfully completed.
The great general was killed in 1944 at the hands of the Ukrainian rebel army, who ambushed him on the way from Rovna to Slavuta.
