Volodymyr Ivasyuk

Volodymyr Ivasyuk studied at Lviv Conservatory and Danylo Halytsky Lviv National Medical University. The recorded working language is Ukrainian and Russian. Subjects and genres recorded for the work are ballad. Distinctions recorded are Shevchenko National Prize and Hero of Ukraine, Order of the State.

• Honorific Prefix — Hero of Ukraine • Name — Volodymyr Ivasiuk • Native Name — Володимир Михайлович Івасюк • Born — 4 March 1949 • Birthplace — Kitsman, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union • Died — 24–27 April 1979 (aged 30) • Place of death — Briukhovychi, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union • Occupation — Poet and composer • Period — 1970-1979 • Awards — Hero of Ukraine Shevchenko National Prize

Ivasiuk was born in Kitsman, in Ukraine's western Chernivtsi Oblast. His father Mykhailo Ivasiuk was a well-known writer from Bukovyna. His mother Sofiya Ivasiuk, from Zaporizhzhia Oblast, was a teacher in a local school. He had two sisters, Halyna (b. 1944) and Oksana (b. 1960). As early as the age of five, Volodymyr began learning to play the violin at a music school. Later, he learnt to play the piano as well. During his school years Ivasiuk was inspired by The Beatles and started composing big-beat songs. In 1964 he created a school ensemble called "Bukovynka" and wrote their first songs, the first of which was "Lullaby". Starting from 1967 he co-operated with Smerichka. • Illustration — Ivasiuk's birth house in Kitsman After Volodymyr had already graduated from secondary school, his family moved to the city of Chernivtsi where his father was offered a teaching position at the Bukovynian State Medical University. Volodymyr went on to study at the Lviv Medical Institute while he continued his musical career. He joined the "Karpaty Ensemble" at a local community centre and played the violin and offered his songs to be performed. He became an overnight national sensation in the Soviet Union, after a public performance on 13 September 1970 of his compositions "Chervona Ruta" (Ukrainian for 'Red Rue') and "Vodohray" with Olena Kuznetsova. In 1971 his "Chervona Ruta", performed live in Moscow with Vasyl Zinkevych and Nazariy Yaremchuk, and won the Best Song of the Year award of the Soviet Union. His composition "Vodohray" won the best song award the next year as well. "Chervona Ruta", sung by Sofia Rotaru, was featured in the musical-film Chervona Ruta. After moving to Lviv and finishing the local medical institute, in 1974 Ivasiuk enrolled to formally study composition at the Lviv Conservatory of Music. His mentors at the conservatory were Anatoliy Kos-Anatolsky and Leszek Mazepa. Upon graduation from the medical institute, he worked as a doctor, and joined the post-graduate courses at the Department of Pathological Physiology to work for his next degree. In Lviv Volodymyr created the songs: "I am your wing", "Two rings", "Ballad about mallow", "Ballad about two violins". All these songs and other works of Ivasiuk were premiered by Rotaru.

• Illustration — Ivasiuk's grave in Lviv On 24 April 1979, after finishing a phone call, Ivasiuk was scheduled to meet someone at the Lviv Conservatory, but he never showed up. Three days later, his parents and older sister reported him missing to the police. An investigation followed, until the Lviv district attorney put a temporary pause on the search. On 18 May he was found hanged in a forest located on the outskirts of Lviv. The body was discovered by an off-duty soldier who was testing his radio. The official cause of death was listed as suicide, but the exact circumstances remain unknown to this day. Ivasiuk’s funeral was attended by over 10,000 people, despite obstacles from the Soviet authorities. After his death the Soviet government removed his compositions from sale and banned the broadcast of his radio plays. There is much speculation that Ivasiuk did not commit suicide, but was murdered by the KGB. In June 2019 a new official Forensic examination concluded that Ivasiuk could not have hanged himself without the help of someone else. Ivasiuk is buried at the Lychakiv Cemetery.

There is a museum in Chernivtsi dedicated to preserving his memory and he has statues in Lviv and Kitsman. In 2015 former Nohinska street in Dnipro was renamed to Volodymyr Ivasiuk street. Heroes of Stalingrad Avenue in Kyiv was renamed to Volodymyr Ivasiuk Avenue in September 2022.