Iryna Senyk

Biography Iryna Mykhailivna Senyk was born on June 8, 1926, in Lviv. Her parents were Mykhailo Senyk and Maria Senyk.

From 1939, she was a member of the Youth of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN), and in 1941, she became a full member of the organization, working in the regional propaganda department. She studied at a folk school and a private girls' gymnasium before entering University of Lviv in 1944.

In December 1945, while a student at the University of Lviv, she was arrested on charges of "treason against the homeland" (Article 54-1 "a") and "involvement in a counter-revolutionary organization" (Article 54–11) of the Criminal Code, and imprisoned on Lontsky Street. She was sentenced in 1946 to ten years in concentration camps in Siberia (Ozerlag, Angarlag, and Irkutsk Oblast) and life in exile on charges of links with the Ukrainian Insurgent Army. Despite all the camp bans, she continued writing poetry, which she had been doing since the age of nine, secretly writing on scraps of paper. While in camp, she learned how to embroider pieces on religious themes. she became an invalid, her arm broken during an accident at a rock quarry. Since 1979, she was a member of the Ukrainian Helsinki Group. She was also an honorary member of PEN International. Senyk was a signatory of the 1987 Ukrainian Association of Independent Creative Intelligentsia (UANTI) declaration.

Awards

2005, Order of Princess Olha, 3rd order

Selected works Suviĭ polotna : poeziï, 1990 White aster of love : collection of poetry embroidery and contemporary dress designs, 1992 (in English and Ukrainian) Bila aĭstra li︠u︡bovy : zbirka virshiv, vyshyvok ta zrazkiv suchasnoho odi︠a︡hu, 1992 Zahratovana i︠u︡nist ́ : poeziï, 1996 Slavni dochky Ukraïny-Rusi, 1999 V nas odna Ukraïna, 1999 Knyz͡hechka Babusi Iryny dli͡a chemnöi dytyny (Babusia Iryna's little book : won't you come and have a look)