Volodymyr Yavorivsky

Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Yavorivsky (Володимир Олександрович Яворівський; 11 October 1942 – 17 April 2021) was a Ukrainian poet, writer, journalist and politician who served as a People's Deputy of Ukraine twice, first from 1990 to 1998 and later from 2002 to 2012.

A co-founder of the People's Movement of Ukraine, he later joined the before joining the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc.

Born in 1942 in the Crijopol region of Jugastru County (today part of Vinnytsia Oblast), Yavorivsky graduated from the Odesa State University as a specialist on "Ukrainian language and literature".

He worked as an editor on the local radio, as a newspaper reporter ("Zaporizka pravda", "Literaturna Ukraina", "Prapor Yunosti"), a scriptwriter on Lviv television, a literary consultant, a referent of the Writer's Union of Ukraine and as the department chief and deputy editor to Vitchizna Magazine.

In the late 1980s, Yavorivsky began his active political career.

He was a people's deputy of the last Supreme Soviet of the USSR in 1989–1991 and became one of the founders of People's Movement of Ukraine.

Volodymyr Yavorivsky took active part in defending the rights of the Chernobyl disaster victims.

Yavorivsky combined parliamentary functions with the position of the Writer's Union of Ukraine Chairman (appointed October 2001).

In the 4th Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine (2002–2006), Volodymyr Yavorivsky belonged to the Our Ukraine fraction and in the 5th and 6th Rada convocation to the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc fraction.

In the 2012 parliamentary election he was (re)-elected into the Verkhovna Rada by winning a constituency in Kyiv for Batkivschyna.

In the 2014 parliamentary election Yavorivsky again tried to win a constituency seat in Kyiv for Batkivschyna, but failed this time having finished fourth in his constituency with 13.72% of votes.

The winner of the constituency, Boryslav Bereza, gained 29.44% of the votes.

He died on 17 April 2021, aged 78.