Yurii Lypa

Yuriy Lypa

Yurii Lypa (5 May 1900, Odesa, Ukraine – 20 August 1944, Shutova village, Yavorivskyi district, Lviv region, Ukraine) – was a Ukrainian writer, poet, social and political leader, translator and medical practitioner.^[1]

Early life

Yurii's father, Ivan Lypa, was the well-known Ukrainian poet, doctor and patriot.

At a young age Yuriy Lypa showed an interest in writing. Famous Ukrainian writers Ivan Franko and Volodymyr Samiylenko read his work and commented positively.

Lypa began his education in Odesa and after graduating from school he entered the Law Department of Novorosiyskyi (Odesa) University. In 1917 Lypa became the editor of Odesa Visnyk magazine and published his first pamphlets: Liberation of Ukraine Union (“Soyuz vyzvolennia Ukrainy”), Kyivan Kingdom According to Bismarck’s Project (“Korolivstvo Kyivske za proektom Bismarka”), Wear your Awards (“Nosit svoi vidznaky”) and Hetman Ivan Mazepa (“Hetman Ivan Mazepa”). These works were published in his father’s publishing house, Narodnyi Stiah.

During the Bolshevik Revolution in Ukraine, Yuriy Lypa sided against the Bolsheviks, and fought for the cause of an independent Ukraine. In 1920 Ivan and Yuriy Lypa moved to Kamyanets, in the western part of Ukraine.

In 1922 Yuriy Lypa studied medicine at Poznan University, Poland. After graduation he moved to Warsaw and in 1931 graduated from its Military School of Medicine.

Medical career and literary development

Lypa commenced work at Warsaw University.

Yurii Lypa's first poetry book, entitled Serenity ('Svitlist'), was published in Poland in 1925. In 1929 Yuriy Lypa, together with Yevhen Malanyuk, established the literary group 'Tank'. The group's members included the outstanding Ukrainian writers L. Mosendz, N. Livytska-Kholodna and O. Stefanovych. The young writers gathered to discuss and develop their literary works, incorporating the ideal of reviving the Ukrainian nation. Yuriy Lypa's second poetry book Severity ('Suvorist'), which was published in 1931, reflected this ideology, expressing faith in the Ukrainian nation's independent and prosperous future.

In 1934 Yurii Lypa's novel Kozaks in Moskovia ('Kozaky v Moskovii') was published in Warsaw, which was followed shortly by a collection of his literature essays, entitled Fight for Ukraine ('Biy za Ukrainy'). In 1936 Notebook ('Notatnyk'), comprising three volumes of the author's short stories, was published. The stories were mainly concerned with the national liberation movement of 1917–1921. The same year he produced the political works Ukrainian Age ('Ykrainska doba') and Ukrainian Ethnicity ('Ukrainska rasa'). Perhaps Lypa's most well known political and philosophical work is his trilogy Cause of Ukraine ('Pryznachennya Ukrainy') (1938), The Black Sea Doctrine ('Tchornomorska doktryna') (1940) and The Severance of Russia ('Rozpodil Rosii') (1941).

Following his father's steps, Yuriy Lypa continued his medical practice. He specialised in phytotherapy and was a great phytotherapist. He also published the medical books: Phytotherapy (‘Phytotherapy’) (1933), Healing Herbs in Ancient and Modern Medicine (‘Tsilyushchi roslyny v davniy I sychasniy medytsyni’) (1937) and The Cure Beneath Our Feet (‘Liky pid nohamy’) (1943).

Political activities

Living in exile did not prevent Yuriy Lypa from working on matters concerning Ukraine and its future. In 1940, together with Ivan Shovhenivskyi, Valentyn Sadovskyi, Lev Bykovskyi and Vadym Scherbakivskyi, Lypa founded the Ukrainian Chornomorskyi (Black Sea) Institute, a research body focused on the potential economic and political problems Ukraine would face if it gained independence.

With the beginning of the German-Polish conflict, Yuriy Lypa was mobilized. However, he soon returned to Warsaw, where he founded the Ukrainian Public Committee, to help eastern Ukrainian refugees. Yuriy Lypa was aware that both Soviet and Fascist authorities were monitoring him. Although Lypa had a chance to migrate to a safe destination, he decided to return to Ukraine.

Last years and death

Grave of Dr Yuriy Lypa at the Buniv Cemetery, Yavoriv Raion, Lviv Oblast

In 1937 Yuriy Lypa married Halyna Zakhariasevych and they had two daughters.

In 1943 Lypa moved his family to the Yavoriv region of western Ukraine. He became an active participant in the Ukrainian resistance movement. While working as a doctor, Yuriy Lypa also conducted training courses for medical staff from the Ukrainian Insurgent Army.

On 19 August 1944, NKVD (Soviet-Russian organisation: The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (Narodnyi Komissariat Vnutrennikh Del) officers apprehended Yuriy Lypa. Two days later, his wife was informed that villagers had found her husband’s corpse in the garbage tip near Shutova village. His entire body had been severely damaged and tortured.

Awards

He received the Simon Petlyura Cross Posthumously.^[2]

Bibliography

1917 – Liberation of Ukraine Union ("Soyuz vyzvolennia Ukrainy")

1918 – Kyivan Kingdom According to Bismarck's Project ("Korolivstvo Kyivske za proektom Bismarka")

1919 – Wear your Awards ("Nosit svoi vidznaky")

1920 – Hetman Ivan Mazepa ("Hetman Ivan Mazepa")

1925 – Serenity ('Svitlist')

1931 – Severity ('Suvorist')

1933 – Phytotherapy ('Phytotherapy')

1934 – Kozaks in Moskovia ('Kozaky v Moskovii')

1935 – Fight for Ukraine ('Biy za Ukrainy')

1936 – Notebook ('Notatnyk')

1936 – Ukrainian Age ('Ykrainska doba')

1936 – Ukrainian Ethnicity ('Ukrainska rasa')

1937 – Healing Herbs in Ancient and Modern Medicine ('Tsilyushchi roslyny v davniy I sychasniy medytsyni')

1938 – Cause of Ukraine ('Pryznachennya Ukrainy')

1940 – The Black Sea Doctrine ('Chornomorska doktryna')

1941 – The Severance of Russia ('Rozpodil Rosii')

1943 – The Cure Beneath Our Feet ('Liky pid nohamy')

Further reading

“A Prominent Man of Letters Was Lost. Yuri Lypa Fell in the Ranks of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army.” by Vladimir Bezhusko, "Svoboda. Ukrainian Daily", 24 February 1948, page 2.

References