Semykina, Liudmyla
Semykina, Liudmyla [Семикіна, Людмила], b 23 August 1924 in Odesa. Painter and designer. A graduate of the Kyiv State Art Institute (1953), she painted views of Odesa, seascapes, landscapes, and still lifes. In 1963 Semykina joined the ‘dissident’ Club of Creative Youth in Kyiv, and in 1964 she, Opanas Zalyvakha, Alla Horska, and Halyna Sevruk created the stained-glass panel at Kyiv University depicting Taras Shevchenko that was destroyed by the Communist Party authorities. For her activities Semykina was expelled from the Union of Artists of Ukraine for one year. She was again expelled in 1968 for signing public petitions in defense of human rights and was not reinstated until 1988. In the meantime she designed original coats and outfits using Ukrainian folk-dress motifs. Her costume designs were used in the film Zakhar Berkut, directed by Leonid Osyka.
[This article was updated in 2014.]