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Andrey GolovkoUkrainian writer
Date of Birth: 03.12.1897
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Content:
- Early Life and Education
- Military Service
- Literary Career
- Mental Illness and Literary Success
- Death and Legacy
- Awards and Honors
- - Order of Lenin (1967)
Early Life and Education
Anton Vasyliovych Holovko was born on November 21, 1897 (December 3, 1897), in the village of Yuriky, in present-day Ukraine. After graduating from elementary school, he attended the Kremenchuk Real School from 1908 to 1914.
Military Service
In 1915, Holovko joined the Chuguev Military Academy, graduating the same year and immediately being sent to the front. During World War I, he commanded a cavalry reconnaissance unit and fought in the Battle of Rava-Ruska. After being wounded, he trained new recruits in a reserve battalion.
In 1917, he was elected to the revolutionary soldiers' committee in the city of Torzhok. Upon returning to Ukraine, he worked as a teacher.
Literary Career
In 1918, Holovko became a staff writer for the newspaper "Novaya Zhizn" in Kremenchuk. In 1919, he published his lyrical poetry collection, "Samozvety."
In 1920, he volunteered for the Red Army, becoming a cavalry reconnaissance commander and later a lecturer at the Kharkiv School of Red Commanders. After being demobilized, he resumed teaching.
Mental Illness and Literary Success
In 1924, Holovko murdered his wife and, the following day, his five-year-old daughter. He explained that he planned to commit suicide after completing his latest book but did not want his family to suffer without a father and breadwinner. Holovko subsequently spent time in a psychiatric hospital.
Despite this tragedy, Holovko's works became classics of Ukrainian literature during the Soviet era. He was a member of the "Pluh" writers' organization from 1923.
Death and Legacy
Anton Vasyliovych Holovko died on December 5, 1972, in Kyiv. He was buried at the Baikove Cemetery. His grave site features a bronze bust on a granite pedestal.
Awards and Honors
- State Prize of the Ukrainian SSR named after T. G. Shevchenko (1969)
- Order of Lenin (1967)
- 2 Orders of the Red Banner of Labor (1958, 1960)- Order of the Red Star (1943)
- Order "Badge of Honor" (1939)
