Vasyl Ellan-Blakytny

Vasyl Ellan-Blakytny
Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union
Occupation	poet, politician
Language	Ukrainian
Nationality	Ukrainian
Period	1920-1933
Genre	poetry, publicistic writing
Signature

Vasyl Ellan-Blakytny (Ukrainian: Василь Еллан-Блакитний), born Vasyl Ellansky (Ukrainian: Василь Елланський; January 12, 1894 – December 4, 1925) was a Ukrainian poet, journalist and politician. As a poet, using the pseudonym Ellan, he was hailed as a pioneer of Ukrainian proletarian literature. Ellansky was a founder of the Borotbists party, since 1920 he had been a member of Central committee of the Ukrainian Communist Party.

Biography

Born in

At university, he joined the Ukrainian Socialist Revolutionary Party. In 1911-1917, he worked for youth organisations, under police supervision. After the February Revolution, in 1917, he was an active in the Socialist Revolutionary party in Chernihiv, and was one of the leaders called the Left Bank (Levoberezhtsev).

The levoberezhtsi supported the

After a failed attempt to establish soviet rule in Poltava, he was imprisoned by Ukrainian nationalists loyal to Symon Petliura, but was freed by the arrival of the Red Army. He moved to Kyiv, where he was elected to the Central Executive Committee of the Ukraine soviets, and appointed editor of the newspaper Borotba. He was one of the leaders of the Borotbist faction who advocating merging with the Ukraine communist party. In March 1920, he was elected a member of the Central Committee of the Ukraine CP, and later head of the Ukraine publishing house.

Literary work

In 1923, he found a literary organization of Ukrainian revolutionary writers "

He died of heart disease, in Kharkiv, on 4 December 1925.^[2] After his death, a literary group called the Free Academy of Proletarian Literature, was formed by his friend Mykola Khvylovy.^[3]

In 1930s his works were considered as a manifestation of Ukrainian nationalism and became prohibited; the monument of him in Kharkiv was demolished.

References