Ivan Hel

Ivan Andriiovych Gel (, July 17, 1937 – March 16, 2011) was a Ukrainian politician and dissident. He was a member of the Ukrainian Helsinki Group and the Ukrainian Christian Democratic Party.

Biography

Gel was born on 17 July 1937 in the village of Klitsko, which was then located within Lviv Oblast within the Ukrainian SSR. He was born into a peasant Greek-Catholic family. He was the son of Andriy Hel (born 1901), who volunteered for the Ukrainian Galician Army and served during the Polish–Ukrainian War. He later was the head of Prosvita, a society aimed at preserving Ukrainian culture, within the village of Klitsko and then participated in the Organisation of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) before being arrested and sent to the gulags in 1950. Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise 4th class (August 18, 2006). Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise 5th class (January 21, 2002).