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Igor UhnovskiyUkrainian political and public figure
Country:
 Ukraine |
Content:
Biography of Igor Yekhunovskiy
Igor Yekhunovskiy is a Ukrainian political and public figure, a member of the Presidium of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, and a Hero of Ukraine. He was born on September 1, 1925 in the village of Knyahynyny in Volyn Voivodeship, Poland (now in the Rivne Oblast of Ukraine).
Academic and Scientific Career
During the years 1944-1945, Yekhunovskiy served in the frontlines. In 1951, he became the head of the Department of Theoretical Physics at Lviv State University. From 1969, he led the Lviv branch of the Institute of Theoretical Physics of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR. In 1990, Yekhunovskiy became the director of the Institute of Condensed Matter Physics of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR.
Political Career
On March 30, 1990, Yekhunovskiy was elected as a deputy of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine with 59.07% of the votes. On May 15, 1990, he became the leader of the first opposition faction in Ukrainian history, called "People's Council." However, on June 4 of the same year, Yekhunovskiy lost the election for the head of the Verkhovna Rada to Volodymyr Ivashko.
In the presidential elections held on December 1, 1991, Yekhunovskiy participated as a candidate nominated by the collective organizations of Lviv, receiving 554,719 votes (1.74%). In 1992, Yekhunovskiy first became a state advisor on science and technology, and then the First Deputy Prime Minister until 1993.
On March 27, 1994, Yekhunovskiy was re-elected as a deputy of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine with 60.41% of the votes. Subsequently, he joined the People's Movement of Ukraine (NRU). In the parliamentary elections on March 29, 1998, he ran on the NRU list as number 15. In the parliamentary elections on March 31, 2002, Yekhunovskiy ran on the "Our Ukraine" bloc list as number 69 and became a deputy of the Verkhovna Rada for the fourth time.
On November 23, 2004, he initiated the swearing-in ceremony of Viktor Yushchenko using the ancient Ostroh Bible in the Verkhovna Rada. On August 23, 2005, Yekhunovskiy was awarded the title of Hero of Ukraine.
In the fourth convocation of the Verkhovna Rada, Yekhunovskiy left the NRU and became a member of the People's Party of Ukraine (PPPU). However, he did not make it to the parliament in the parliamentary elections on March 26, 2006. In August-September 2007, Yekhunovskiy participated in a working group appointed by the President of Ukraine to develop amendments to the current constitution.
In addition to his political career, Yekhunovskiy is a Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences. He is the head of the All-Ukrainian Association of World War II Veterans, and also serves as the acting director of the Ukrainian Institute of National Memory, established on May 31, 2006. He is known for advocating for reconciliation between the soldiers of the Red Army and the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA).
