Marchenko, Valerii

Marchenko, Valerii [Марченко, Валерій; Marčenko, Valerij], b 16 September 1947 in Kyiv, d 7 October 1984 in Leningrad. Literary scholar, writer, and dissident; grandson of Mykhailo Marchenko. After graduating in philology from Kyiv University he studied Azerbaijani language and literature at Baku University and wrote a dissertation on Ahatanhel Krymsky’s research and translations of Azerbaijani literature. He translated Hryhir Tiutiunnyk’s short story ‘Markiian’ into Azerbaijani and A. Rzaev’s ‘Sklianka vody’ (Glass of Water) into Ukrainian. In 1970–3 he worked as an editor for Literaturna Ukraïna. He was arrested in June 1973 and sentenced to six years’ imprisonment and two years’ exile for ‘Ukrainian and Azerbaijani nationalism.’ He was accused of writing three samvydav articles. Having served his time in the Perm concentration camps and his exile in Aktiubinsk, in May 1981 he returned to Ukraine. In 1984 he was tried again and sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment and 5 years’ exile for ‘anti-Soviet agitation and propaganda.’ He died of kidney failure resulting from inadequate medical attention during his incarceration.

[This article originally appeared in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine, vol. 3 (1993).]