In Memoriam: Nadiya Svitlychna
On 8 August 2006, in Irvington (USA), Nadiya Svitlychna died after a long illness. There had seemed some hope after she was able to once again leave her bed, in the early hours of Tuesday morning her heart stopped beating.
It is hard to write about people very dear to us during their lifetime. It is harder still, though, to write about them when they are no longer with us.
On the same day, we remembered Larissa Bogoraz who would have been 77.
“Do not speak with sadness
Of those dear companions who gave life to our world
They have gone, yes,
but for their life, we are thankful”
The key word here is “gave life”. Both Nadiyka Svitlychna and Larissa Bogoraz by their presence in this world, their moral integrity, their nobility of spirit, courage, their refusal to cave in and conform, to accept what was unacceptable, created an atmosphere in which the world seemed less intolerable. And they remained at the same time natural, tolerant and profoundly human.
More details about Nadiya Svitlychna’s life can be found at:
Yevhen Zakharov