Odessa will bid farewell to dissident and People's Movement veteran Dmytro Shupto

Odessa will bid farewell to a man who dedicated his life to the struggle for Ukraine’s independence, to medicine, and to the Ukrainian language. The city will hold a farewell ceremony for Dmytro Shupto, a poet, doctor, veteran of the People’s Movement of Ukraine, and former prisoner of conscience .

Literary scholarIryna Nechytalyuk announcedhis death.

According to her, on the night of June 29, the heart of Dmytro Shupta —a Ukrainian poet, translator, doctor, former political prisoner of the Soviet regime, and veteran of the People’s Movement of Ukraine—stopped beating. The writer’s colleagues announced his death and expressed their condolences to his family and loved ones.

The funeral service will take place in Odesa on Thursday at 12:30 p.m. at the Holy Trinity Church on Fontanska Road, 3.

Shupta was born on January 20, 1938, in the village of Kurinky in the Poltava region. After graduating from high school, he studied at the Sevastopol Technical Maritime School and worked at a shipyard. He later graduated with honors from the Simferopol Medical School, worked as an emergency medical technician, and headed the Crimean Regional Literary Association “Grono.” He later earned a higher education degree from the Crimean Medical Institute.

Throughout his life, he worked as a surgeon, a trauma and orthopedic specialist, and a surgical expert for the Kyiv region. Because of his civic stance, he was repeatedly persecuted by the Soviet authorities, and in 1983–1984 he was a prisoner of conscience. In 1986, he was admitted to the Writers’ Union of Ukraine.

Shupta was an active participant in the Ukrainian resistance movement from 1960 to 1990. At the dawn of independence, he joined the People’s Movement of Ukraine, participated in the struggle to restore statehood, and later took part in the Orange Revolution and the Revolution of Dignity.

Over the course of his career, he published more than 50 books of poetry, humor, satire, children’s poetry, and translations. Together with Ukrainian composers, he created 18 collections of vocal works. In 2000, he won the All-Ukrainian radio contest “Song of the Year.” Literary scholars have called him one of the most prominent Ukrainian poets specializing in maritime themes.

For his contribution to the development of Ukrainian culture and maritime themes, he was awarded the “Maritime Glory of Ukraine!” medal and the commemorative badge “For Merit to the Naval Forces of Ukraine.”

In addition to his literary work, Dmytro Shupta was involved in historical and literary regional studies, researched Cossack medicine, and participated in scientific conferences organized by the International Center for Skovoroda Studies. In 2017, he was elected a full academician of the International Academy of Original Ideas of Ukraine, and the following year, an academician of the International Academy of Literature and Arts of Ukraine.

Even in his advanced age, Shupta continued his active educational work: he met with schoolchildren and students in the Odesa region, cadets at military academies, and servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, promoting Ukrainian literature, history, and the ideals of statehood. His death was a great loss to Ukraine’s cultural, scientific, and civic communities.

Also in Odesa, the renowned artist and sculptorYevhen Godenko died in an accident. The artist, who dedicated his life to creating unique sculptural impressions of the human body, left a significant mark on the cultural life of the city and Ukraine.

Анна Бальчінос