Mykhaylo Goryn’s jubilee
Goryn was born in the village of Kniselo, the Zhidachivskiy district of the Lviv oblast.
He was an outstanding figure of the sixties, an organizer of distribution of samizdat, one of the leaders of national liberation movement of 60s-90s.
Father of Mykhaylo Goryn was the head of the village “Prosvita” (“Enlightenment”) society, leader of the district underground organization of the OUN and was repressed by the Polish power. In December 1944 Mykhaylo and his mother were deported to Siberia by the Soviet power. He managed to escape.
In 1949-55 Goryn studied at the faculty of logic and psychology of Lviv University. In 1953 he was expelled from the university for his refusal to join Komsomol, but was restored owing to rector academician E. Lazarenko. Goryn was involved with the OUN underground, produced and distributed leaflets.
Goryn worked as a teacher of logic, psychology, Ukrainian language and literature, headed the district center of teaching technologies and was an inspector of the Strilkivskiy district education department. In 1961 he went in for scientific work. He created the first in the USSR experimental scientific-practical laboratory of psychology and physiology of labor at the Lviv plant of autoloaders. Goryn is the author of a number of methodological works in the sphere of labor psychology, prepared the thesis on this topic.
In May 1962 Goryn established the connection with Kyivan figures of the sixties I. Svitlychny, I. Dziuba, I. Drach and others. Goryn was one of the founders and a member of presidium of the Lviv Creative Youth Club “Prolisok” (1963). He organized distribution of the political literature published abroad and printing of samizdat.
On 26 August 1965 Goryn was arrested and accused of anti-Soviet agitation and propaganda in accordance with Article 62 Part 1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. He was condemned to 6 years of strict regime colony.
The wave of arrests of 1965 made the life in the Mordovian concentration camps more active: samizdat appeared, passing of information was organized, national groups began to consolidate in protest actions. In July 1967 the Zubovo-Polianskiy district court condemned Goryn to 3 years of incarceration in the Vladimir prison for propaganda and distributing samizdat among convicts. Goryn managed to pass out from the prison the information about the state of convicts.
He was released on 26 August 1971. Goryn could not get propiska (residence permit) in Lviv, where his family lived. In order not to be accused of parasitism, Goryn got the job of an engine driver in the Rivne oblast. From September 1972 he worked as a stoker in Lviv boiler-houses, in 1977 -- as psychologist at the plant of television tubes “Kineskop”. Goryn helped to former political prisoners and their families in compiling appeals. When the Ukrainian Helsinki group (UHG) was founded in 1976, Goryn decided to find his place in the rear rank. He took part in creation of the UHG fundamental documents. After the arrest of the UHG founders Goryn took upon himself the publication of the Group’s bulletin, prepared Nos. 4-7.
During 1981 the KGB searched Goryn’s place for six times. During the search on 23 March they “found” a falsified UHG document concerning I. Kandyba’s case, and on 28 November – the essay on 15 pages with the illiterate title “Social research of mechanisms of russification in Ukraine” (they meant “sociological”).
On 3 November 1981, after 13-hour search, Goryn was arrested. Goryn went on a protest hunger-strike and refused to cooperate in the preliminary investigation. On the 10th day of the hunger-strike Goryn had a heart attack. On 25 June 1982 Goryn was condemned in accordance with Articles 62 part 2 and 179 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine to 10 years of incarceration in a special regime colony and 5 years of exile. He was acknowledged as an especially dangerous recidivist.
On 12 November 1982 Goryn arrived to colony BC-389/36 in the settlement of Kuchino of the Chusovskoy district, the Perm region, where his cellmate admitted him to the UHG.
Was ill with kidneys inflammation, hypertonia, arrhythmia. In May 1984 Goryn got the cardiac infarction. In May Goryn had cardiac infarction. On 2 July 1987 he was “pardoned”.
As early as in August Goryn, together with V. Chornovil and P. Skochko, resumed the publication of “Ukrainskiy Visnyk”.
On 11 August 1988 the Lviv oblast KGB officially warned Goryn in connection with his “anti-Soviet activities”.
In summer of 1989 Goryn worked in Kyiv in the organization committee of the People’s Rukh of Ukraine (PRU). At the Initial congress (8-10 September) he was elected the head of the PRU secretariat. M. Goryn was the head and the Political council and a co-chairman of the PRU. In 1990 he was elected a deputy of the Supreme Council of the UkrSSR, worked in the Commission in charge of sovereignty, headed the commission on national minorities. He initiated and organized the greatest all-national actions: “The chain of unity” between Kyiv and Lviv on 21 January 1990, “Children’s diplomacy” (trips of children from Western to Eastern Ukraine and vice versa on Cristmas and Easter), Holiday of Cossack glory (Zaporozhye, summer of 1990), Congress of national minorities (Odessa, November 1991), Ligue of parties of the countries of Baltic-Black Sea region (1994), 50th anniversary of the Ukrainian Central liberation council (1994).
Much-esteemed Mykhaylo!
We are sincerely congratulating you on your jubilee!
We wish you long life and creative successes!
Kharkiv group for human rights protection