Ivan Yuriyovych Petrovtsii was born on 22 May 1945 in , a village in
Transcarpathia, which was ceded from
Czechoslovakia to the
Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic the following month. He attended local school in Osii before finishing tenth grade in ,
Khust Raion. After this, he worked various jobs, including as a handyman and laborer. He joined the
Soviet Army, and was stationed for three years in
Dresden,
East Germany. He studied at the
Uzhhorod State University, receiving a degree in French language and literature in 1973. He taught elementary school in Osii from 1973 to 1975, before becoming a journalist for various regional newspapers. He began writing poetry in
Ukrainian, publishing a series of poetry collections, as well as a detective novel,
Manumissio.
Rusyn poetry In the final years of the Soviet Union, Petrovtsii became active in the Rusyn national revival movement, speaking at the
Rusyn World Congresses and beginning to write poetry in the
Rusyn language. His first published Rusyn work was a poetic dictionary and defense of the Rusyn language entitled ('Dialektaria, or a Sweet Little Book of the Rusyn Language in Verse'); this book did not attract much commercial attention, and he republished many of its entries in his later compilations of poetry.
Nashi spivanky Petrovtsii published another compilation of his Rusyn poetry in 1996, entitled ('Our Songs'). The poems were written in coarse, obscene language, which he described as , 'soldiers slang', including a great deal of sexual innuedo and
scatological humour; Petrovtsii stated that his use of language was intended as a means to reach the "average mid-level official who swears incessantly for no reason". Many of the poems in the volume took aim at
Ukrainian nationalism and the independent Ukrainian government. One poem, ('Part-Time President'), mocks the Ukrainian government as corrupt and neglectful and calls for the dissolution of the "Ukrainian empire", calling for the independence of
Crimea, Subcarpathia, and
Galicia. The release of the book sparked literary scandal. Its obscene language caused such public interest that official print runs were unable to meet public demand, and the book circulated via photocopies. Ukrainian president
Leonid Kuchma lambasted the government of
Zakarpattia Oblast for failing to curtail the publication of the book, while deputy
Viacheslav Chornovil declared the book "anti-Ukrainian, anti-president, anti-parliament, anti-government". The Ukrainian national press condemned Petrovtsii, with support generally limited to other Rusyns.
Later works Petrovtsii translated a large volume of foreign-language poetry into Rusyn, publishing some in a compilation entitled ('Our Songs and Others') in 1999. These was included alongside his 2004 poetry book ('Last Songs') and his 2003 collection of Rusyn
erotic poetry ('Scoundrel Songs') into a single volume in 2006. His Rusyn verse, styled off the vernacular of his home village of Osii, incorporates elements of traditional
folk poetry. In 1997, Petrovtsii became the founding editor of a Rusyn-language newspaper, ''Rusyns'ka bysida''. He was awarded the Aleksander Dukhnovych Prize for Rusyn Literature in 1998. He died in Ilnytsya on 1 January 2016. ==References==