Ivan Bahrianyi – 20th-century Ukrainian writer, author of “The Hunters and the Hunted” (Tigrolovy) and “The Garden of Gethsemane.” A survivor of Stalin’s camps, he became a symbol of resilient Ukrainian intellectuals. After WWII, he lived in exile, founding the Ukrainian Revolutionary Democratic Party and writing about freedom and dignity.
📚 Real name – Ivan Lozovyaha-Bahrianyi. 🚔 Arrested in 1932 for “nationalism,” survived exile and camps. 🖋 Wrote “Tigrolovy” while hiding in the Far East. 📖 “The Garden of Gethsemane” depicts torture and prison life under Stalin. 🌍 After WWII, emigrated to Germany, became a leader of the Ukrainian diaspora. 🏛 Was a presidential candidate of the Ukrainian People’s Republic in exile. 💡 His novels were among the first Ukrainian anti-Stalinist works translated abroad. 😮 Odd fact: escaped a labour camp and survived in the taiga, later turning this into literature. 😂 Funny: joked that “Ukrainians need tigers to teach them courage.”