Svyatoslav Vakarchuk

Sviatoslav "Slava" Vakarchuk (Святослав Іванович Вакарчук; born 14 May 1975) is a Ukrainian musician, politician, public activist and soldier.

He is the lead vocalist of Okean Elzy, a rock band in Ukraine.

Vakarchuk founded the band Okean Elzy ("Ocean of Elza"), in 1994 as an undergraduate at Lviv University.

At this university he earned a Ph.D. in the field of supersymmetry.

After graduating Vakarchuk moved to Kyiv.

In 2005, Vakarchuk answered all questions correctly and won the grand prize (₴1 million) for the first time on the Ukrainian version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, called Khto khoche staty milyonerom? – Pershyi milyon.

He donated his winnings to orphanages in Ukraine.

In the early 30 September 2007 parliamentary election, he ran as an independent candidate on the Our Ukraine–People's Self-Defense Bloc's list (as No. 15).

In the Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian parliament) he was a member of the parliamentary committee for freedom of speech issues.

He was also a member of groups of parliamentary contacts with the Russian Federation and other countries.

Vakarchuk did not submit any legislative acts during his deputy's term.

He submitted two amendments, one of which was accepted by the Verkhovna Rada.

In early September 2008, he renounced his seat in the Verkhovna Rada due to the political situation.

On 16 December 2008, the Verkhovna Rada accepted Vakarchuk's renunciation.

According to Vakarchuk, he renounced his seat because “I was really frustrated by the level of mutual fights, at the absurd Hobbesian world of all against all, rather than changing the country for the better.”

In 2008, Vakarchuk released a solo project "Vnochi" (In the Night).

This album was released under the name of Svyatoslav Vakarchuk, but it includes appearances by all members of Okean Elzy and other various guest musicians.

Another solo project followed in 2011, "Brussel" (Brussels).

In support of their album "Zemlya" in spring 2013, the band embarked on a stadium tour throughout cities in Ukraine, Russia, Belarus, the US, Canada, and a number of countries in Western Europe.

In December 2013, Okean Elzy performed during the Euromaidan protests.

In the summer of 2014, Okean Elzy performed a number of large concerts in the biggest stadiums in Ukraine to mark the band's 20th anniversary.

Their performance in Kyiv's Olympiyskiy Stadium broke the record for the largest number of people attending a concert by a Ukrainian band — over 75,000.

In 2015, Vakarchuk took part in the Yale World Fellows international fellowship program at Yale University.

Vakarchuk stated multiple times in 2017 that he had no political ambitions.

However, in 2018 he joined Stanford University as a visiting scholar, focusing on politics and leadership.

Later that year he appeared at several politically themed conferences, speaking alongside established Ukrainian politicians.

But by late 2018 he was overtaken by other potential candidates, and in October 2018 he stated “Who can change the political culture is more important than who becomes the president.” In the election Vakarchuk did not back any of the candidates.

Vakarchuk is a former member of the Ukrainian parliament, and the founder of the Voice (in May 2019).

Vakarchuk was active in supporting the Orange Revolution and Euromaidan, and is involved in many social and cultural projects.

He is one of the most successful musicians in Ukraine and has a PhD degree in theoretical physics.

Vakarchuk is the son of Ivan Vakarchuk, a professor of physics at Lviv University and a former Ukrainian Minister of Education and Science.

Vakarchuk was born in the western Ukrainian city of Mukachevo, into a family of scientists.

His mother and father were both university professors of physics.

His father Ivan Vakarchuk is also former Education Minister.

This led the public to view him as a potential candidate for the 2019 Ukrainian presidential election, where he became one of the frontrunners according to opinion polls.

According to an early March 2019 poll by sociological group "RATING", 64% of the electorate would have liked to see Vakarchuk among the presidential candidates.

Vakarchuk also plays an active role in social and cultural projects, and is the founder of the charity foundation "Lyudi Maybutnyoho" (People of the Future).

The main projects of the foundation were "Knyga Tvoryt' Lyudynu" (A Book Creates a Man), "Osvita Krainoyu" (The Country's Education), "3-D Proekt. Dumay, Diy, Dopomagai."

(3-D Project. Think, Act. Help.).

Together with the members of the band he actively supported the preventive campaign IOM and MTV Europe's "People Are Not For Sale."