Olena Chekan

Family

Olena Chekan was born on 26 April 1946 in Kiev.

Her father was Vasily Ioannovich Chekan (28 December 1906 – 23 November 1986), mother Lyubov Pavlovna Chekan – Tarapon (15 June 1914 – 19 July 1994).

She descended from the Chekan family of Ruthenians from Carpathian Ukraine. Olena was a niece of an archpriest Alexander Ionavich Chekan, who was a dean of an Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, Paris and a husband of Maria, daughter of a Head of a Russian All-Military Union of the White Movement of the General Yevgeny Miller.

Olena was a sister of a prominent Polish theoretical nuclear physics scientist Jerzy Bogdanowićz who participated in the scientific activities of the Large Hadron Collider project in CERN that was nominated for the Nobel Prize.

Education

In 1972 Olena graduated from the Boris Shchukin Theatre Institute in Moscow.

The artistic director of the course was Vladimir Etush.

Olena studied dramatic arts course in the same years, together with Natalya Gundareva and Konstantin Raikin.

Career

She worked as an actress at the Moscow Drama Theater on Malaya Bronnaya, at the Moscow Pushkin Drama Theatre, at the Studio Theatre of a Film actor of the Alexander Dovzhenko Film Studios (Kiev),

at the Studio Theatre "Suzirya" ("Constellation") in Kiev. She also worked on Ukrainian TV, at the Broadcast Studio 1+1 (TV Channel) as a creative editor of the "Document" project. Olena worked at the "Ukrainskyi Tyzhden'" ("The Ukrainian Week") magazine as a journalist and assistant of editor-in-chief since the day of the magazine's foundation in 2007.

Olena's first role in cinema was in Solaris by Andrei Tarkovsky.

She was a popular and well known actress in the middle of 1980s and she had more than 50 works in cinema including lead roles and secondary roles as well. Olena also worked on more than 30 theater projects performing both leading and secondary roles. Olena Chekan is a member of a Filmmaking Union of USSR and Ukraine and a member of a Union of Theater Workers of USSR and Ukraine.

Olena Chekan is also known as a screenwriter and performer in several one-man performances dedicated to the creative work of Taras Shevchenko, Lesya Ukrainka, Vasyl Stus, Marina Tsvetaeva, Osip Mandelstam, Mikhail Bulgakov, Anna Akhmatova, Maximilian Voloshin, Alexander Blok, Boris Pasternak, Joseph Brodsky, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Federico García Lorca, with the beautiful and amazing musical illustrations (fragments of compositions of Bach, Vivaldi, Haydn, Mozart, Chopin). Her numerous performances were always met with amusement, full house and waiting for the next ones and could be seen on the stage of Cinema House, Central House of Artists, Actors' House, Studio Theater "Constellation", in the Memorial House of Marina Tsvetaeva in Moscow, in Ukrainian Cultural Centers in Moscow and Saint Petersburg, in Literature-Memorial House to Mikhail Bulgakov in Kiev (Mikhail Bulgakov Museum), in Memorial House of Maximilian Voloshin in Koktebel, in Alexander Grin house museum in Stary Krym (Old Crimea). The 73rd season of the Scientists' Club of Academy of Sciences of Ukraine in Kiev was opened with her musical evenings and poetry parties. Olena Chekan performed as a member of an artistic group of USSR State Film actors' group in her one-man-performances in front of the soldiers in Kabul and Bagram in Afghanistan in 1981–1982. She was awarded with the memorial sign of the USSR Border Forces "For Merit to the Fatherland". Olena Chekan recited poetry together with the famous Ukrainian poet Lina Kostenko in front of the fire fighters and Armed Forces personnel during the elimination of emergency at the burning Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in 1986. She also reported from Grozny as an independent and freelance journalist of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty during the First Chechen War in 1994–1996. She was also an author, moderator and presenter of the TV-program "Moments of Eternity" on Inter, in 2000 and a creative editor of the "Document" TV-program produced by Broadcast Studio 1+1 (TV Channel) 1+1 Media Group. Olena Chekan wrote together with Yuriy Makarov as a co-author a screenplay for the 4 parts documentary movie "My Shevchenko" which was the project of 1+1. The "My Shevchenko" film made in cooperation with Yuriy Makarov was nominated for Shevchenko Prize in 2002 (Shevchenko National Prize). She was also an author of an idea and a co-author of a screenplay of the documentary movie "Ivan Mazepa: Love. Greatness. Treachery" (2005, directed by Yuriy Makarov, project of 1+1 (TV Channel) (Ivan Mazepa). Olena Chekan is a columnist and a journalist de premier plan of the "The Ukrainian Week" ("Ukrainskyi Tyzhden", weekly illustrated social and political Ukrainian magazine), where she worked since the founding of the magazine in 2007 as an assistant of an editor-in-chief Yuriy Makarov.

Olena Chekan : The book-interview "The Star of Alex Moscovitch"

Olena Chekan, very well known as the author of the book-interview "Etoile d'Alex Moscovitch" ("The Star of Alex Moscovitch"). This book was written by Olena Chekan in Moscow in 1990–1991 on the basis of personal conversations and political memories by Alex Moscovitch. The book-interview was published in Moscow at publishing house "NORD" 14 September 1992 with the autobiography of Alex Moscovitch "Le Temps Des Punaises" in Russian.

Alex Moskovitch (French Alex Moscovitch, 1911, Kyiv (Kiev) – 1996, Paris) is a famous French politician and analyst. He was also an associate and companion of General de Gaulle. After Russian Civil War Moskovitch family immigrated to France. In 1931 Alex' parents returned to Kiev, where his father was executed in 1935. Alex served then in French Armed Forces, so he stayed in France.

Important dates in life and work of Alex Moscovitch:

Quotes from the book-interview by Olena Chekan "The Star of Alex Moscovitch":

"If you want to understand, look at the stars," that is what General de Gaulle advised him. He was born in Ukraine and he established great career in France.

"... Greet Kiev from me, greet Ukraine. Go for me to the Saint Volodymyr Hill... I agree with Mikhail Bulgakov that Kiev is the best city in the entire world".

"Exceptional circumstances always call the great and prominent people to emerge from the obscurity."

"I knew the most intelligent, smart and educated people who deeply and passionately believed in God. They have the right to be deeply respected."

"God was created by Human in his image and likeness in order to strengthen social order, in order to force the unhappy people to obey the happy people."

"If there is a total freedom, there could be no justice, because the one who is strong will always overmaster the one who is weaker."

"Once some force leaves a particular place on Earth, its place is immediately taken by some other force. The nature cannot bear emptiness."

"Long time ago, once and for all, I explained during the session of The Council of Paris, that a real man can love many various women, but he should love especially strong two women: his mother and his lover. A man can forgive his mother everything, while he cannot forgive everything his lover. I forgive Russia everything and I forgive France nothing..."

"There is a democracy, or rather the so called democracy, because the real and genuine democracy does not exist in this world."

"If I would have to make a choice between the anarchy and the regulated situation, I would always choose the second option? because everything that is forbidden will hide in the shadows, sooner or later."

"The real democracy is, first of all, about the order, respect of the civil rights of the country's citizens and strict abiding to the laws."

"We all strive to the bright and happy future, but this future cannot be achieved, if we would walk the path of breaking and shattering of the state. It contradicts with the winds of history, and all the splashes will fly right to your face."

"Those who are not with us will find no place in our boat."

"You know, the most important thing in business is not even about making and earning money, it's rather about realizing your own potential."

"If only you could know what a great pleasure a businessman could feel at the moment of realization of his dream. Though, he immediately forgets about the recently gained victory and starts thinking of the new goals."

"Now then, it is always better in business to play chess for ninety percent and to play roulette only for ten percent, and not the opposite. Otherwise you could be deeply disappointed."

"If only it were down to me, I would declare today the only one motto which would be: "Get rich!"

"Women are the life itself. It is the changeable and fickle life, it can bring joy and sorrows as well... This life is unexpected and unpredictable. And, even if it sounds paradoxically, women are always right. The power of their reasons and causes though is rather not in what exactly she says, but in how many times he says that."

«...He impressed with everything. He impressed with his unique biography, where there is the entire XX century spread before your eyes, he impressed with his fortunate destiny and with his fantastic working performance and energy. During the time of his work in Paris City Hall (Hôtel de Ville, Paris), where he was responsible for the city's budget, police's work and land distribution, the legendary "Le Ventre de Paris" disappeared and ultra-modern residential district La Defense grew in the city.

Alex Moskovitch is also an endless space of communication and dialogue with contemporary intellectual and prominent figures: Prince Felix Yusupov (very same Prince Yusupov who shortened life of Rasputin), Edith Piaf, Jean Gabin, Coco Chanel, Serge Lifar, Mikhail Koltsov, Andrei Tarkovsky, the entire Olympia of French politics including General de Gaulle, and one finds out with surprise that General de Gaulle was not only a brave soldier and politician but also an "extraordinary delicate and even a shy person".

Everything mentioned above is about France. Ukraine is a trouble-free childhood and Babi Yar, where his mother, grandmother and aunt died.

Two persons once changed my life. It was Taras Shevchenko and Alex Moskovitch, and I had an honor to be his friend during the latest ten years of his life. My book of interviews with him was published in Moscow in 1992, though the habit to write down all our conversations remained with me.

WE ARE FROM OUR CHILDHOOD

“Nobody here can work normally; I simply cannot fail to see this muddle and disorder. And you are getting surprised when I start to rage and get really angry about that. Okay, you gave up your nuclear weapons, although there is absolutely nothing good in it, you will regret it many times, because nobody will reckon with you. Power and insolence rule this world. Okay, you gave up nuclear weapons, but why did you give it up so cheap? Almost for free? You should think about the future and look ahead at least a little bit. There is Russia right next to you, and it is an Empire with all the consequences. It will bring to knees anybody with its gas and oil! And don't even dare to defend them!"

“Is it your love to Ukraine?”

“Why did you decide that I love Ukraine?”

“Well, who planted cherry trees in Lucéram?”

“Kid, it's just nostalgia, a simple nostalgia. I often dream of Dnipro floods, Saint Sophia's Cathedral, Kiev and Kiev Pechersk Lavra, where my nanny Marusya always carried me around. I also dream of those endless cherry gardens in Batyieva Hora, we had our dacha there. And everyday it's getting stronger. Serge Lifar told me the same. He also dreamed of Ivana Kupala (Kupala Night) celebrations he visited in the country seat of his grandfather. He told me that when he was a little boy, one of the young local guys swept him up and jumped over the fire. He was looking for this feeling of weightlessness in dance all life long since that time".

“Do you remember Kiev of your childhood times?”

Of course I do. I remember our apartment on Svyatoslavska Street (current Chapaev Street – The Ukrainian Week). I remember all the books from an enormous library of my maternal grandfather. He was a head of a Kiev department of a Petersburg Bank. I remember my school and I remember my first love Zhenechka. I was trying to find her in 1966 when I came to USSR (Soviet Union) to prepare General de Gaulle's visit. She was a grandmother already at that time, and her pretty granddaughters accompanied me to the airport".

FAITHFUL SCUFFLE

“You mother and your father…”

“I was raised by my grandmother and my grandfather. And I also had two gouvernantes: one of them was from Vienna and another one was from Bordeaux. Half a day I had to speak German, while another half a day I spoke French. My father was socialist revolutionary, he was either in exile or deported. Children of rich prosperous people often decide to join revolutionaries. We left Russia and traveled to France three weeks after Lenin's death, because my father understood very well how it will be going. We lived in France for the money of our relative, Kiev millionaire and sugar manufacturer Lev Brodsky. My parents came back to the birthplace in 1931, they were possessed with yearn for justice. My father was poisoned in 1935, and my mother…”

“Why did you stay?”

“I was serving in French Armed Forces. In 1933 I arrived in Moscow as a correspondent of a newspaper Matin where Mikhail Koltsov invited me to work with him as a French editor in the recently created The Moscow News. I didn't stay there for a long time, because I had a fight with Konstantin Umansky, head of the Press department of the People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs (Ministry of Foreign Affairs)".

“Did you fight with fists?”

“Of course! We were rolling on the ground, he was very strong. I received a report of a People's Commissar Maxim Litvinov that was read by him in League of Nations in French, but I didn't know about that, because I was given this report in Russian. I translated it repeatedly. Of course, my text differed from the one of Litvinov. Umansky summoned me and said: “Who was that idiot who published Litvinov’s report?” I couldn’t hold myself. He still didn’t recover and come to his senses, while I was running to the French Embassy. As a person who served in The French Armed Forces I had the right for the French citizenship. Thus, I took the train in two hours. If not that story, I'd stay in USSR (Soviet Union) and I am sure I wouldn't survive it, because repressions just started".

“Did you share your parents' political views and sympathies?"

“I shared their views regarding the necessity of justice, and I will never ever agree on limiting freedom for the sake of this justice. One should always find compromise between freedom and justice at any historical moment. Every epoch and every country should have their own compromises".

WAR IS MONOTONY AND ROUTINE

“Did de Gaulle know how to do it?"

“If only France wouldn't have been defeated in 1940, de Gaulle would die a Division General. De Gaulle became catalyst of resistance, and this resistance was inevitable".

“How did it happen that you became one of the founders of de Gaulle's Party and one of General's closest associates?”

“The story that I was among the founders of this Party is true, but the story that I was one of the closest associates is a legend. I was just one of the first people who joined him in June 1940. General addressed all the French people through the radio from London, while I had no questions whether to live in France occupied by Germans or to fight Germans".

“When did your war start?"

“It started in 1936. I was writing some poetry at that period of time and I wrote in one of my verses: if Francisco Franco will seize Madrid, Germans will take Paris. I heard about German offensive on 10 May 1940, when I was in Paris, where I was having a ball celebrating awarding of the first officer rank. Youth is always careless and light hearted".

“How did you get to England?"

“We dashed to the small city of Saint-Jean-de-Luz, where Englishmen embarked the rests of Polish Military on their vessels. Then there was an African Campaign (Mediterranean and Middle East theatre of World War II). De Gaulle addressed the troops on our way with the short speech that ended with the words: “Future of France is in our hands”. It was that moment when I first saw his famous gesture that became later an ordinary and well known gesture for the millions of French citizens, – he raised his hands above his head and stood motionless for some time. It’s impossible to forget it”.

“The war is…”

“It’s a colossal routine and monotony. Everyday it’s the same sort of thing. It doesn’t matter where you are, in the desert, in Alsace or in a tropical forest. Every day you sit like a donkey, waiting for an order, and then you run through the fire net, heading to some hill or to the forest, and there are shells and missiles exploding around you, to the right and to the left, the wounded scream, the slain fall. During five years I was losing my friends and I will never forget their sufferings, torments and their courage… There was a lieutenant in out battalion, he was very young, just like a child, he was a first year student of Sorbonne. The shell tore apart the bottom of his stomach in one of the first battles. He was given strong morphine injections and left to die silently in the village barn. When I bent over to him, he smiled to me and said: “They are bastards! They damaged the best thing I had!” I hate all those pathetic speeches about war, about holiness, sacrifice, because they offend memory of my friends. But anyway war gave me also unforgettable meetings. Doctor Albert Schweitzer, future Noble Prize laureate (I met him in Gabon, in the field hospital which was created by him), and he struggled to rescue my fighters for whom he was just a German. Winston Churchill looked like a big rosy-cheeked infant because he never stopped sucking his cigar. Josephine Baker was a wonderful woman, with fantastic body and wild temper. I saw her in Moulin Rouge for the first time, when I was just a young boy, and then I saw her again in the paratroopers' school in Algeria. She took the field as a volunteer".

POLITICIAN WHO BOUGHT "ANDREI RUBLEV"

“You were a party functionary".

"When de Gaulle told me that he was going to found a party, he told me that he reckoned on me. That was how I appeared to be at the origins of his de Gaullist Party and was its national speaker for years to come. I engaged twice in controversy with Maurice Thorez, who was the leader of French communists. You have to admit that it was quite difficult to get 10 thousand voices of the miners in his native region. We were met with the metal rods and bicycle chains. And in one of the most aristocratic districts of Paris, on Île Saint-Louis, where old marquises, counts and countesses, dukes and duchesses live, one respective lady suddenly asked me after my report: “Is it true, Monsieur Moskovitch, that unnatural relationships occur between the men in the colonial troops where you served during the war?” I answered her honestly, because you shouldn’t lie to your potential voters, so I told her: “Madame, even a black soldier will look to you like a beauty after six months in the desert!"

“When did you leave politics?”

“I left when de Gaulle left. Other times came, with all those intrigues and bribes. All the time when General was not in office anymore, he always called me to his residence”.

“And what was the story of selling Tarkovsky’s “Andrei Rublev"?"

“I cooperated with Sovexportfilm (Soviet Committee for Export of Movies) and once I saw this film during the closed screening in Moscow. It impressed me a lot, and I was interested in cinema, we were friends with Jean Gabin, Vittorio de Sica, Odile Versois, by the way, I don't like her sister Marina Vlady a lot. Anyway. I urgently signed a contract for selling ten films, and "Andrei Rublev" was among them, while other movies were just insignificant. There and then head of Sovexportfilm Aleksandr Davidov warned me that I had to act very fast. Actually, I just crossed the threshold of my Paris apartment on the next day, and I heard my phone ringing. "It is prohibited to sell "Andrei Rublev"," Davidov said in an official tone. "I'm so sorry, but I have already sold all ten films," I replied". “Did it correspond to the facts?"

“I sold it three days later, but the documents contained the needed data. I had a monopoly distribution rights for the Soviet movies for two years. The crowd wants bread and circuses, so let them watch the best films. I assign myself to the crowd as well. But it would be fine to add some herring, bread, potatoes and a drink of life, Vodka, to the loaf of bread".

SQUEEZE ALL THE JUICE OUT OF CITRINE

“How do you see yourself from that far star General was talking about?"

“I see myself as a straight thinker and a man of sense who follows facts and makes conclusions. And my prudence doesn't prevent me from giving easy time to some of my own weaknesses. And I do it with a great pleasure. I would like to be 18–20-year-old now, so I could make the same silly things with the great pleasure and joy. Experience prevents you from enjoying your life. One should know how to squeeze the juice out of citrine, how to squeeze everything out till the last drop and drink it. It's sad only that nobody will give you another citrine after that…"

“Did you rely on yourself only in your life?"

“If we are talking about decisive events, then yes, I did. And just understand, kid, human being doesn't have freedom of choice. There is almost no freedom of choice. Everything depends on biology, on the external conditions, on the heat or cold and on hell of a thing. I will keep living until everything will be fine with me. The only one thing I'd preferred to have is to have enough power to grab the gun and to pull the trigger if something will go wrong. One should leave this world timely. Why did you become so upset? It was a joke. And if to be serious: bow to Kiev, to Ukraine, when you will be back. Go to Saint Volodymyr Hill instead of me, when you will be home. I agree with Mikhail Bulgakov, it's the best place on Earth"."

Personal life

Olena Chekan has been married four times.

civil marriage

(He was a famous Serbian poet, writer and director, author of numerous books and film scripts, best known for Covek zvani vazduh (1983), Praznik pobede (1947) and Jugoslovenska porodica (1984). In 1948 he began presenting cinema news in documentary films. In 1958 he took part in the first experimental TV programs on Yugoslavian TV. Subsequently, he directed and wrote for a number of popular TV shows. A close friend of Josip Broz Tito and yet a staunch supporter of democracy, he had a lot of adventures in his long and active life, including a few weeks spent in guerilla captivity in Nicaragua during Nicaraguan Revolution.)

Olena has a son, Bohdan Rodyuk-Chekan, an industrial design engineer and artist, (born 11 July 1973) from her marriage with Stanislas Rodyuk

In spring 2012 Olena was diagnosed with the fourth stage brain cancer. She underwent three serious surgeries, and died on 21 December 2013. She had glioblastoma. She died at the beginning of the first clashes on Euromaidan, marking democratic changes in Ukraine.

Filmography

Olena worked as an actress in many films in 1980-1990s including:

Journalist`s work in "The Ukrainian Week"

Olena Chekan worked as a journalist and a columnist at the "Ukrainsky Tyzhden'" ("The Ukrainian Week") weekly magazine and she became an author of numerous great, creative and fascinating articles and interviews, including her interviews with Václav Havel, André Glucksmann, Natalya Gorbanevskaya, Boris Nemtsov, Krzysztof Zanussi, Igor Pomerantsev, Akhmed Zakayev, Tomas Venclova, Valentyn Sylvestrov, Lina Kostenko, Sergey Krymsky, Myron Petrovsky, and other prominent people. Her intelligence, her politeness, her openness towards other people and her tolerance have been always speaking to the hearts and souls of all the people who were lucky to have the chance to communicate with her and to know her. In the interview with the citizens of other countries Olena Chekan offered them artistically to also discuss the issues of Ukraine. She used to always create in her interviews an extensive and wide image of her interview companions and of Ukraine as well.

Publishing house DER KONTERFEI : Olena Chekan books

Olena Chekan "The Quest for a Free Ukraine" Bohdan Rodyuk-Chekan committed himself first to the search of the ways to save his mother's life, and when the tragedy happened, and Olena Chekan died, he promised to preserve her memory and initiated publishing of English translation of her creative works and collections of her best materials published previously in "The Ukrainian Week" magazine. Austrian artist and publisher Robert Jelinek has published the book. The book named "The Quest for a free Ukraine" has seen the world in Vienna, in the editorial house "Der Konterffei" and was introduced to Ukrainian audience on 31 October 2015 in Kiev bookshop "Ye".

"OLENA CHEKAN – The Quest for a Free Ukraine – Bohdan Rodyuk Chekan (Ed.)" DER KONTERFEI-015

The interviews are included in the book Olena Chekan "The Quest for a Free Ukraine»

The book presentation was attended by Yuri Makarov, Robert Jelinek, Anna Korbut (one of the interpreters working on the book). Andrew N. Okara, Sergiy Trymbach, Vadym Skurativskiy, Serhiy Proskurnia. During the commemoration evening dedicated to Olena Chekan, that was held on the same day in the "Constellation Theatre" and was named "Olena Chekan: years, roles, texts, people", Kiev band of the spiritual choral singing "Patericon" (Patericon) performed the fragments of the ancient Serbian Orthodox Christian liturgies. Fascinated visitors also had the chance to listen to harpsichord and to hear the famous Cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach Ich ruf' zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ (BWV 639) Orgelbüchlein from Andrei Tarkovsky's "Solaris", in which Olena Chekan made her first appearance as an actress in 1972. The guests also listened to the declamation of Sergei Yesenin's "A letter to a Woman"(1924) poem, performed artistically and incredibly by Serhiy Proskurnia. Presentation of the book has been organized and held with support of the social and political weekly magazine "Ukrainian Week", National Film Community of Ukraine, International Festival of Modern Art GOGOLFEST, magazine "Sho", Czech Center, Polish Center, French Institute and Austrian cultural Forum in Kiev, Editorial House of Dmitry Burago, Literature-Memorial Museum to Mikhail Bulgakov (Mikhail Bulgakov Museum), Institute of David Guramishvili in Ukraine and Stepan Bandera Center of National Renaissance and other institutions and organizations as well. Translation of the book "Olena Chekan. The Quest for a Free Ukraine" DER KONTERFEI was carried out with support of Raiffeisen Bank AVAL Ukraine.

Bohdan Rodyuk-Chekan shared the story of writing this book during the book presentation and said: "My acquaintance with Robert started with the passport of the country State of Sabotage I've asked him for, as he was an Ambassador of the State of Sabotage for my Mother. Probably, because he wanted her to spend great and beautiful afterlife in the State of Sabotage. When Robert knew more about my Mother, he offered me to publish a book and he also brought the passport for Olena Chekan for the presentation of our book in Kiev".

Passport of this country and this creative project saved lives of many refugees from Northern Africa, Syria and Middle East, granting them the right of a temporary person identification in European Union, according to Robert.

On the next day 1 November 2015 after the book presentation a symbolic Embassy of the State of Sabotage was officially opened in Kiev. Bohdan Rodyuk-Chekan, speaking about both the editorial house and an Embassy, stressed: "It was my and Robert's purpose, and idea of political protest against Putin's expansion, and we also wanted to draw the world's attention to the issue of the freedom and liberty of Ukraine, in order to represent Ukraine in the world as a country that has chosen the path of transformation and development, and that path was chosen by her people and is based on the principles of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity".

In the foreword for the book Andrew N. Okara shared his view of the current situation in Ukraine and Russia and the possible perspectives and he also wrote about Maidan, when Olena Chekan died, in a following manner: "This revolution became possible and inevitable and it finally won, because there was a critical mass of people within Ukrainian society who appreciated and valued high the principles of Liberty, Freedom, People's Dignity, Universal Good, solidarity, modernization and fraternity, and these principles were for Ukrainians not some insignificant words, but the behavior imperative, a motto, a landmark of the moral choice. And there will be no exaggeration to say that the role of the new intellectual journalism, the role of the colleagues of Olena Chekan and her personal role was extremely important in this education of Ukrainian society in terms of "emotional education", and this role was really very important, it was a decisive role. We all know, that in the beginning was the Word..."

In such a manner, this book of interviews of Olena Chekan with the progressive and influential political leaders of Europe and prominent modern intellectuals will contribute to the wider and deeper discovery of an image of Ukraine beyond her borders, and it is very important today, when forming of a real, right and European image of Ukraine, despite the propaganda of the "fraternal country", is so important for us. And let us always remember this wonderful woman, this great actress and journalist Olena Chekan!"

Reviwe of the book "OLENA CHEKAN – The Quest for a Free Ukraine – Bohdan Rodyuk Chekan (Ed.)" DER KONTERFEI 015 – was written by JUTTA LINDEKUGEL and published in German at " TITEL kulturmagazin 2016" 25. März 2016

Reviwe in English of the book "OLENA CHEKAN – The Quest for a Free Ukraine – Bohdan Rodyuk Chekan (Ed.)" DER KONTERFEI 015 – was written by Dr.Tetyana Dzyadevych and published at "The Sarmatian Review" (Rice University) September 2016 Vol. XXXVI, No. 3

This reviwe was created with the approval and personal involvement of Prof.Ewa Thompson to which the son of Olena Chekan – Bohdan Rodyuk Chekan made the official request in a personal letter in which expressed personal thanks for the memory of his Mother and personal thanks to Prof.Ewa Thompson in the support for the contributing to the progress of the formation of democratic journalism in Ukraine.

Ewa Thompson is Research Professor of Slavic Studies at Rice University. She is the editor of The Sarmatian Review.

"OLENA CHEKAN – Hymns to Ukrainian Art – Bohdan Rodyuk Chekan (Ed.)" DER KONTERFEI-21

In March 2016 the publishing house "DER KONTERFEI" has published the second book of Olena Chekan :

«OLENA CHEKAN – Hymns to Ukrainian Art – Bohdan Rodyuk Chekan (Ed.)"

Presentation of the book "OLENA CHEKAN – Hymns to Ukrainian Art – Bohdan Rodyuk Chekan (Ed.)" DER KONTERFEI-21 took place in Literaturhaus Wien 9.März 2016∙19:00 Vienna, Austria

The book presentation was attended by Robert Jelinek – Founder and head of the publishing house DER KONTERFEI (SoS Journal; "The Likeness"), Igor Pomerantsev – writer, poet and journalist, the close friend and colleague of Olena Chekan, Bohdan Rodyuk Chekan – Olena Chekan's son, Barbara Zwiefelhofer – Veranstaltungen & Presse of Literaturhaus Wien and Jelena Dabic was a translator at the press conference.

Igor Pomerantsev said at the presentation about Olena Chekan:

“Forever”

»Olena Chekan came into journalism from the theater. Her favorite activity was to recite poetry. The golden rule of journalism is to keep balance. Olena often neglected this rule and that’s why readers loved her: she was answering emotions with emotions. She didn’t just formally ask her questions during the interviews, she was talking with her heroes as if it were a private conversation. For people to interview, she always chose those she found interesting. We had multisided relations with Olena. She was my editor at the Ukrayinskiy Tyzhden (The Ukrainian Week) weekly, and a sensitive and attentive one. She was also my interviewer (we talked about radio art, wine culture and Ukraine). She was my author (she told about her favorite music at my Above Boundaries radio show). And, finally, she was my pen-friend. I liked to receive her letters; they were always clever, witty, ironic and lyrical. I remember very well her essays about her trips; I remember her voice and her laughter. I often feel that I wish to write her a letter and then to wait for her reply. All her letters sent to me were signed by her with an English letter "F". I was the only one who knew that this letter was for the word "forever" (Eternity). And she remained for me like this – "forever".«

The forewords to the book "OLENA CHEKAN – Hymns to Ukrainian Art – Bohdan Rodyuk Chekan (Ed.)" DER KONTERFEI-21 was written by Oksana Zabuzhko – "Soft and Solid" and Natalia Belchenko – "Waiting for the better time".

The interviews are included in the book Olena Chekan "Hymns to Ukrainian Art»

"Soft and Solid" by Oksana Zabuzhko from the book "OLENA CHEKAN – Hymns to Ukrainian Art – Bohdan Rodyuk Chekan (Ed.)" DER KONTERFEI-21:

»I remember Olena from the Art-Line magazine. It was in the mid- 1990s, the blessed, even if short-lived period of actual media freedom, not the one simulated by today's Shuster-like talk shows. At that point, Ukrainian media were actually Ukrainian, both in terms of owners, and in terms of content. Ukrainian journalists did not look up to Moscow, but to the West, actually trying hard to win the audience in the good old meritocratic way – by the quality of publications. As a result, Ukraine had press that was interesting to read and TV that was interesting to watch. More than that, it was necessary to read and watch them as the only source of information about what other Ukrainians were writing, shooting, playing or painting, and how they live in general – just like in an actual European state. In a word, Art-Line edited by Yuriy Chekan was a must-read for all. So were Olena's articles. Yuriy called me once and asked me to write a small essay for them (I think it was about some international writers' forum which I had just attended) – we were faxing tests back then; we didn't have Internet. Then, we had to go to the office for our pay. The magazine's office was in some industrial middle of nowhere – in the district of Bilshovyk factory. That was where I first saw Olena Chekan in person, someone I had previously known through publications – always smart, intelligent, marked with special "internally toned-up" of style and (lost in between the lines but impossible to hide) – sincere and unimitable excitement about things (and people) she wrote about. Olena was a beautiful, similarly toned-up, and elegant woman. We exchanged several jokes and I remembered her laugh: she looked good laughing, which doesn't happen to many beautiful women (Lesya Ukrayinka was the first one to note that – her Mavka had an instant accurate impression of Kylyna from her "laugh and voice"; when Lukash told her that it wasn't enough, she said confidently that it was "perfectly enough"; laugh and voice are indeed the most certain markers of a person that never deceives anyone). Many years later, I found out that for Olena, Lesya Ukrayinka was too one of the "key writers", the ones who stay with you "through – out life". One important aspect that completed her portrait to me: she was a woman of that specific type, Lesya's readers. And that is an original cultural category, an elite one I would even say...The most memorable story of Olena was linked to another classic figure. Writer and journalist Yuriy Makarov shared it. He then worked with Olena at 1+1 (when the TV channel still had a wholerange of intelligent debate shows and great art programs, before it was Putinized). The idea to shoot a documentary about Taras Shevchenko, according to Makarov, was Olena's. He was the driver behind the entire project ("Yurochka, we must do it!" – I still hear her soft yet solid tone, echoed enchantedly by Makarov later, and it brings to my mind the "soft solidity" formula invented by poet Vasyl Stus and documented by Mykhailo Kheifets in his memoirs. In Olena, that was felt all the time...). Then, during the shooting of My Shevchenko documentary (it is still the best unparalelled piece amongst all the ones about Shevchenko over all years of Ukraine's independence!), in Kazakhstan, in the middle of the Kos-Aral desert that's half a day drive in a rattly old Soviet bus from any settlement, Olena was bitten by a snake on her leg. The crew had to choose, Makarov said, between leaving the shooting and rushing to the closest hospital, or finishing the shooting by the end of the light day and then leave. That would mean losing several hours that could have been crucial to Olena's health, even life (nobody knew what kind of snake it was). Hers was the final choice. Extremely pale, with her leg squeezed by a tourniquet, she was conscious enough to decide. And she said: “Keep shooting!”

They stayed and finished the shooting. Eventually, when they got to the hospital, the doctors wondered how Olena survived. The snake had actually been a venomous one. Shocked by the story, I called Olena and asked for details: she only laughed, in her beautiful manner, albeit maybe a bit more nervous than normally. She said she thought of this as a miracle, the result of Shevchenko's protection of her. She also said that she sensed this protection the entire time they worked on the film. Later, they all had to leave the TV channel. They were replaced by completely different people who started shooting completely different films. Meanwhile, the space for culture journalism where Olena had worked began to shrink rapidly since the early 2000s. Very few publications were still in Ukrainian, and even fewer offered the quality that fit Olena's publications. I don't know what one feels when the system squeezes him or her into the sidelines of profession, drives him or her into a hole like a billiard ball and all this person can do is watch helplessly indifferent cynical and semi-literate ignoramuses taking over his or her air time, pages in magazines, and number of characters. I assume Ukrainian intelligentsia experienced something similar back in the stifling 1970s: in the generation of my parents, the most widespread disease was cancer. The body was destroying itself under the pressure of long-lasting stress. I didn't follow her for a while. Then I found out that she had cancer... In terms of Ukrainian journalism, I will always remember her as a model of what that journalism had been in the brief happy time, and what it could be today. If it hadn't been for the war which we left unnoticed for 15 years. Olena was the victim of that war – nobody registered her as that, but, without a doubt, similar to a wide range of brilliant Ukrainian journalists of the 1990s, she was simply prevented from revealing her talent to the fullest extent. It would be a great idea to publish her most interesting pieces in a separate book. For the future journalists of the new Ukraine.«