Iryna Kalynets

Iryna Onufriyivna Kalynets
Ірина Онуфріївна Калинець (Ирина Онуфриевна Калинец)
Born	Iryna Onufriyivna Stasiv (1940-12-06)December 6, 1940 Lviv, Ukrainian SSR
Died	July 31, 2012(2012-07-31) (aged 71) Lviv, Ukraine
Nationality	Ukrainian
Citizenship	Soviet Union (1940–1991) → Ukraine (1991–2012)
Alma mater	Lviv University
Occupation	poetry
Movement	dissident movement in the Soviet Union
Spouse	Ihor Kalynets
Awards

Iryna Onufriyivna Kalynets (Template:Lang-uk, Template:Lang-ru, 6 December 1940, Lviv – 31 July 2012, Lviv) was a Ukrainian poet, writer, activist and Soviet dissident during the 1970s. Kalynets was the wife of another leading Soviet dissident, Ihor Kalynets.

Kalynets graduated from Lviv University with a degree in philology. She taught courses in Ukrainian literature and language before joining a human rights group called "shistdesyatnyky." Kalynets was the publisher of a banned human rights journal, "Український Вісник." She also publicly protested the detention of other dissidents, including Nina Strokata and Valentyn Moroz. Kalynets and two other activists, Nadiya Svitlychna and Stefania Shabatura, were arrested for a writing on Soviet propaganda. She was sentenced to six years in prison and three years of internal exile within the Soviet Union.

Kalynets was able to return to Lviv in 1981 following the completion of her sentence. A proponent of the Ukrainian independence movement, she soon joined Memorial and Rukh, a pair of civil rights organizations.

Ukraine broke away from the Soviet Union in 1991. Kalynets was elected to the Verkhovna Rada as a deputy in Ukraine's first post independence parliament. She continued to publish writings until her health deteriorated.

Iryna Kalynets died from a long illness on July 31, 2012, at the age of 71.