Oleksa Tykhyi

Oleksii Ivanovych Tykhy (; 27 January 1927 – 6 May 1984) was a Ukrainian linguist, writer, and human rights activist who was one of the founders of the Ukrainian Helsinki Group. An activist from early in life, Tykhy was arrested twice on charges of anti-Soviet agitation for his activism against the Soviet invasion of Hungary and the Russification of Ukraine, and spent 17 years imprisoned before his death from stomach cancer in 1984. Since his death, he has been celebrated by other Ukrainian dissidents, such as Levko Lukianenko and Nadiya Svitlychna, for his efforts to preserve Ukraine's nationhood and strengthen human rights in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. Possessing strong academic abilities, he attended the faculty of philosophy at Moscow State University after having previously studied at Zaporizhye Agricultural Institute and the Dnipropetrovsk Institute for Transport Engineers. His first job was as a teacher of physics, mathematics, and the Ukrainian language in Pryazovske Raion, and he also worked as a fireman and in construction.

From this period, Tykhy was a strong critic of the Soviet government, being arrested for his opposition to the Soviet electoral system in 1948. However, he was soon released, and he began working as head of studies at the secondary school in Oleksiievo-Druzhkivka. He strongly criticised the Komsomol and Soviet youth, arguing that the latter needed to strive for greater independence from their elders. Further information leading to Tykhy's arrest was taken from a conference on reforms to the Soviet education system, where Tykhy strongly criticised the state of schools.

The ultimate verdict of Tykhy's trial was seven years of corrective labour, as well as five years of internal exile or deprivation of civil rights. The verdict was delivered on 18 May 1958 by the Stalino Regional Court (now Donetsk Regional Court), citing Article 54-10 of the Criminal Code of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. Amnesty International also listed him as a prisoner of conscience, a status he would maintain until his death. After his death, Tykhy's body was not handed over to his son. In 1989, along with Stus and dissident Yuriy Lytvyn, was reburied in Baikove Cemetery in Kyiv, in a ceremony involving 30,000 people.