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Vasyl Andriyovych Symonenko was born on January 8, 1935 in the village of Biyivtsi, Lubny district, Poltava region. His parents were collective farmers, and he spent his entire childhood in the village during the difficult war and post-war times. In 1952, he graduated from high school in Tarandyntsy and entered the Faculty of Journalism of Kyiv University. Five years later, he graduated and married Lyudmila Pivtoradnya, a native of Cherkasy. He worked in Cherkasyskaya Pravda, Molodya Cherkasychyny, and Robitnychaya Gazeta. He began writing poetry during his student years, but was reluctant to publish it under the conditions of meticulous Soviet censorship. The first collection, Silence and Thunder, published in 1962, was the result of the heart of a pure and trusting young man, captivated by the whims of the Khrushchev thaw. The collection was well received by critics and readers.