The Jubilee of Lina Kostenko. The country congratulates the legend on her 95th birthday.

On March 19, Ukrainian poetess and public figure Lina Kostenko celebrates her jubilee. Famous Ukrainian artists and officials congratulate her on her birthday.

“Sincere. Brave. Free. Bright. Talented. Always modern and relevant. Unyielding and resolute. Her word goes straight to the heart. It pierces, stirs, and engraves in memory. Many years to you, Madam Lina,” wrote the Ambassador of Ukraine.

Ivan Malkovich, poet, publisher, and director of the publishing house “A-ba-ba-ha-la-ma-ha,” also expressed his congratulations and recalled a childhood story of Lina Kostenko.

Malkovich noted that before her birth, Ukrainian youth conducted various flash mobs in Ukraine and abroad.

“She is called the queen of Ukrainian poetry of the 20th century, who ‘in times of disbelief returned faith in the word to people, as well as concepts such as dignity, national honor, and self-respect.’ Her poetic lines express many themes and things. In the poetry of Lina Kostenko, there is everything: from love lyrics, the history of Ukraine and the world, music, sports to the current day: ‘And horror, and blood, and death, and despair, and the roar of the predatory horde. A little gray man has wrought black trouble…’

Today, March 19, Lina Kostenko turns 95. She is one of the most influential figures in contemporary Ukrainian culture. Moreover, she supported dissidents and was a key figure in the sixties movement.

The name of Lina Kostenko was banned in the publishing sphere for 16 years, so her work was inaccessible to readers. Her novel in verse “Marusya Churai,” which became a masterpiece of Ukrainian and world literature, lay in the drawer for six years before publication.

Lina Kostenko was awarded the Order of the Legion of Honour of France and received the title of “Honorary Citizen of Kyiv.”