Vasyl Berezhnyi

Vasyl Pavlovych Berezhnyi (June 26, 1918 – March 19, 1988) was a Ukrainian Soviet science fiction writer and journalist.

Biography Vasyl Berezhnyi was born on June 26, 1918, in the village of Bakhmach, Chernihiv Oblast, Ukraine. In 1937, he graduated from the Ukrainian Journalism Technical School in Kharkiv and worked at the editorial offices of the newspapers Prapor Komuny in Bakhmach and Molodyi Komunar in Chernihiv. In 1938, he published his first science fiction short story, "The Planet Will Live" .

During World War II, Berezhnoy served in the tank forces, actively participating in combat operations and sustaining severe injuries. After the war and his demobilization, he worked for the newspapers Molod Ukrainy and the magazines Dnipro, Vitchyzna, and Ukraina. In 1948, he published his first book, a collection of documentary essays titled At the Helm . In 1952, he graduated from Kyiv University named after Taras Shevchenko. He later published several essay collections, including Pages of Life (, 1952) and Ships Launched from the Slipways (, 1959), as well as the novellas Green Sea (, 1955) and Thorny Thorn (, 1966). Berezhnoy also translated novels by Afanasiy Koptelov, and plays by Nikolai Pogodin and Anatoly Sofronov from Russian into Ukrainian.

Berezhnyi gained the most recognition for his science fiction works. His debut science fiction book, To the Stellar Worlds , was published in 1956 and reprinted in 1958, a rare occurrence for the time. In total, Berezhnoy wrote around 15 science fiction novellas and over 50 short stories, published in about a dozen authorial collections in Ukrainian. His works were translated into English, Hungarian, Spanish, Latvian, Moldovan, Polish, Russian, Slovak, and French.

Berezhnyi participated in the First World Symposium of Science Fiction Writers, held in Tokyo in 1970 as part of the Expo '70 international exhibition, and the Third European Science Fiction Congress in Poland in 1976.

He died on March 19, 1988, in Kyiv and was buried at Baikove Cemetery.

Selected bibliography (Russian-language publications)

Standalone editions To the Stellar Worlds: A Science Fiction Novella. Simferopol: Krymizdat, 1958. Sensation on Mars: Science Fiction Novellas and Short Stories. Authorized translation from Ukrainian by Alexander Tverskoy; Illustrated by Petr Karachentsov. Moscow: Soviet Writer, 1988. ISBN 5-265-00105-0. Novellas Archeoscript Under the Ice Shield Younger Brother of the Sun Cosmic Gulf Stream Sakura Truth Nearby To the Golden Dawn Architectural Fantasy Labyrinth Short Stories Interplanetary Tornado Ephemeris of Love Legend of Happiness Mystery of the House of Eternity Noosphere Phenomenon Air Lens In Cosmic Obscurity Chronotone Niagara Sensation on Mars Chumkhab's Long Journey Solar Saga Voice of the Mother Life's Relay Children of One Sun Formula of the Cosmos Gifts of Shambala Mysterious Nova Pendulum Man Ivan the Wise's Graviantenna By Trolleybus to Khreshchatyk Oh, Those Telepaths! Vera-Verunya

Periodical and anthology publications "What the Glass Eye Didn't See: A Science Fiction Short Story". Translated from Ukrainian. Pioneriya (Kyiv), 1958, No. 9. To the Stellar Worlds: [Novella]. Translated from Ukrainian; Illustrated by B. Arzhekaev. Adventures and Science Fiction. Simferopol: Krymizdat, 1958. "Return of the Galaxy: A Science Fiction Short Story". Translated from Ukrainian. Pioneriya (Kyiv), 1959, No. 2. "Blue Planet: A Science Fiction Short Story". Illustrated by E. Skuinya. Science and Technology, 1961, No. 10. "Voice of the Mother: [Short Story]". Translated from Ukrainian by A. Roskopyta. Science Fiction-78. Moscow: Molodaya Gvardiya, 1978.