Ivan Brovko is nearly a contemporary of the cruel 20th century. He is a witness to three Holodomors and a participant in three wars, commander of one of the first “Katyusha” batteries, and a colleague of the rocket and space systems designer Sergei Korolev. He participated in the launch of the first V-2 ballistic missile. But the way he lived made the struggle for his humiliated people and their culture the most prominent feature of his biography. On January 15, 2005, Ivan Benedyktovych turned 90. But he is not just a long-liver in deserved retirement—he is an active citizen, a tireless figure in the struggle for human rights and dignity, and in advocating for the independence and statehood of Ukraine. Friends of the famous educator and scientist, his pupils and students, and like-minded colleagues wrote about this generous and sincere person, unshakable in his principles, who was persecuted during the dictatorship. Against the backdrop of gray and gloomy times, interesting facts and vivid details from this exceptionally generous life story emerge, which allow for a deeper and more substantive understanding of the spiritual phenomenon in the history of Ukraine known as the Sixtiers movement.
The book is an expanded reprint of a brochure of the same name, published in 1995 by the Ukrainian Republican Party, and is being released as part of a series of memorial publications under a program of the Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group.
