Why the Renowned Director Was Not Buried in Kyiv
Film historian Serhiy Trymbach has detailed the reasons why the remains of the celebrated director Alexander Dovzhenko were never repatriated to Ukraine for burial in Kyiv. He also referenced the denunciations Dovzhenko faced during the Soviet era. Dovzhenko was laid to rest in Moscow, where his final journey concluded. His wife, Yuliya Solntseva, who died in 1989, is buried beside him. Dovzhenko is considered a foundational figure of Ukrainian poetic cinema, making the location of his grave a sensitive cultural issue.
Serhiy Trymbach, who served as acting director of the Dovzhenko Film Studios Museum in Kyiv, was also secretary of the committee for the centenary of Alexander Dovzhenko, established in 1993. He chaired the National Union of Cinematographers of Ukraine from 2009 to 2017 and is a recipient of several prestigious awards, including:
- The Oleksandr Dovzhenko State Prize of Ukraine (2008)
- The James Mace Prize (2016)
- The Taras Shevchenko National Prize of Ukraine (2026)
Trymbach has worked extensively with the archives of Alexander Dovzhenko and Yuliya Solntseva, granting him unique insight for commenting on their legacy.
The Debate Over Reburial
In his remarks, Trymbach recalled that Mykola Vinhranovskyi, a student of Dovzhenko, first proposed the idea of reburying the director in Kyiv. This, however, raised the delicate question of what to do with the ashes of Yuliya Solntseva. 'Is it right to separate them?' he noted.
Trymbach also referenced Solntseva's memoirs, in which she recounted that after Dovzhenko's death, she tried to contact Mykola Bazhan, head of the Writers' Union of Ukraine, to petition for her husband's burial in Kyiv. Bazhan was not at home, and his absence contributed to the subsequent course of events.
“It seems they were afraid of Dovzhenko even in death. His grave in Kyiv could have become a unifying symbol for Ukrainians.”
Serhiy Trymbach
Trymbach suggested that had the information from Solntseva's memoirs been known in 1994, it might have been possible to transfer Dovzhenko's remains to Ukraine. The circumstances surrounding Alexander Dovzhenko's burial remain a significant topic within discussions of Ukrainian cultural history. The ongoing debate over why his ashes have not been returned underscores his enduring importance as a symbol of national identity and cultural heritage, a relevance that has only grown in contemporary Ukraine.
Understanding Dovzhenko's legacy involves not only recognizing his cinematic contributions but also exploring his complicated interactions with Soviet authority. For a deeper insight into this multifaceted relationship and the challenges he faced during his lifetime, you can read more about it here.