Vadym Smohytel (* 1 April 1939, Odesa) is a Ukrainian composer.
Biography.
During the Second World War, he and his mother moved to Zhmerynka. He studied in 1955-1959 at the Gliere School in Kyiv, and in 1959-1964 at the Kyiv Conservatory. He was expelled from the conservatory for his "nationalist bias", demanding that he "confess" to Svitlychnyi's anti-state role.
In the 1970s, songs arranged by him were performed by Nina Matvienko. He was imprisoned in the Kherson region, in Stara Zburivka, in 1977-1980, for political reasons. On 13 December 1977, a man fell at his feet near the house where he lived, jumped up and shouted: "Why did you hit me?"; a police car was standing by, and there were eight witnesses. Not considering himself guilty, he went on a hunger strike for 29 days (in other sources - up to the trial, 53 days); he was force-fed through a hose. His wife was brought by plane to persuade him to plead guilty. He was not paid for his work, could not buy additional food, went on strike, received 10 days in a cold punishment cell; he survived by constantly moving. When he left the punishment cell, the prisoners greeted him as a winner - they laid a white towel under his feet. He suffered a cerebral haemorrhage in detention. He was released with the note "Prone to anti-Soviet fabrications".
On 21 October 1989, he became the secretary of the UNP.
In 1990, he moved to the United States, where he was first taken care of by Terelia Yosyp, lived there for 15 years, and then returned: "I was convinced that it was pointless for a Ukrainian artist to live outside of Ukraine."
He repaired his house and lives in Zhmerynka. He has not been rehabilitated - the criminal case was destroyed after the expiry of the storage period of 15 years, so the judicial authorities refuse to review it.
The author of the following works:
"Night Reflections" - based on the words of Ivan Franko,
"Summer of Youth - based on her own text,
a sonata for flute and piano,
songs based on lyrics by I. Svitlychnyi, M. Vorobiov, V. Barka, Y. Lesiv, and Y. Malaniuk;
music for the film "Rusalchyn's Week" (1988, with Nina Matvienko).
His wife Halyna Ripa, a teacher (died 1985), raised his son Volodymyr, who graduated from the university in the USA but took Ukrainian citizenship.
