Iryna Farion

People's Deputy of UkraineIn office
12 December 2012^[1] – 27 November 2014^[2]Preceded byConstituency establishedSucceeded byIryna PodoliakConstituencyLviv Oblast, No. 116 Personal detailsBorn (1964-04-29) 29 April 1964 (age 59)
Lviv, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet UnionPolitical partySvobodaChildrenSofia, SemchyshynAlma materLviv UniversityOccupationprofessor, politician, philologistAwardsOleksa Hirnyk Prize
Borys Hrinchenko PrizeWebsiteOfficial website

Iryna Dmytrivna Farion (Ukrainian: Ірина Дмитрівна Фаріон; born 29 April 1964) is a Ukrainian linguist and far-right nationalist politician. She is a Doctor of Philological Sciences and a former^[3] professor of the Department of Ukrainian Language at the Lviv Polytechnic (Institute of Humanitarian and Social Sciences).

Biography

Farion graduated from the Philology School of the Lviv University in 1987 with honors^{[citation needed]}, while her name was entered in the book "Toiling glory of University"^{[citation needed]}. During the college years she was a member of a Communist Party of the Soviet Union (the only student being in the Communist Party^[4]).

In 1996 she defended her candidate dissertation. Since 2006 Farion became politically active balloting for People's Deputy of Ukraine mandate from the All-Ukrainian Union "Svoboda", of which she was a member since 2005. In 2006 Farion also successfully balloted to the regional council, while in 2010 she won in a majoritarian electoral district of Lviv.

Among her scientific works are four monographs and 200 articles^{[citation needed]}. During 1998–2004 Farion headed language commission of Prosvita. Since 1998 she initiated and organized the annual competition among students "Language is a foundation of your life". In 2004 Farion became a laureate of Oleksa Hirnyk Prize (Oleksa Hirnyk). Farion publicly advocates the memory of Stepan Bandera,^[5] unity of the Ukrainian West and East based on a statist thinking.

In the 2012 parliamentary election Farion was elected into parliament after winning a constituency in Lviv Oblast.^[6]

In the 2014 parliamentary election Farion again tried to win a constituency seat in Lviv, but failed this time having finished third in her constituency with approximately 16% of votes.^[7]

In the July 2019 Ukrainian parliamentary election Farion again failed to return to parliament after finishing fifth with 10.35% of the vote in electoral district 116 in Lviv Oblast.^[8]

In November 2023, she had a clash with Maksym Zhorin [uk] and Bohdan Krotevych after claiming that she cannot call the Russian-speaking fighters of the Azov Brigade Ukrainians.^[9] During this time, she also failed, and later refused, to blur the name of her supporter from Russian-occupied Crimea on a screenshot of his letter of gratitude, causing him to be arrested by Russian authorities.^[10] This caused public outrage, including protests of students of the Lviv Polytechnic Institute, but the institute refused to fire her.^[3] On 15 November 2023, the Security Service of Ukraine has opened an investigation against her on the counts of discrimination, insulting the dignity of a serviceman, violation of confidentiality of correspondence, and breach of inviolability of private life,^[11] and she was relieved of her position in the Lviv Polytechnic.^[3]

Public opinion

On 19 February 2010, as part of the action "Affirm the state language!" (on the International Mother Language Day) Farion held a class devoted to the problem of national identity in the Kindergarten #67 (Lviv). During the classes in sharp form she condemned Russification of Ukrainian names.^[12][13] The same day unknown people posted online video of Farion on YouTube. The event became publicized in mass media and has caused mixed reviews. In particular, a People's Deputy of Ukraine from the Party of Regions Vadym Kolesnichenko appealed to the Prosecutor General of Ukraine to bring Iryna Farion criminally liable under Article 161 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (concerning discrimination against children based on language and ethnicity), while the Ukrainian People's Party condemned the speech of Farion as a provocation against the Ukrainian language. On the other hand, the head of the party "Svoboda" Oleh Tyahnybok defended his colleague.^[14]

Awards

• Oleksa Hirnyk Prize (2004)
• Borys Hrinchenko Prize (2008)
• Diploma of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyivan Patriarchate (2010) for book "Father Markiyan Shashkevych - the Ukrainian linguist"

Scientific publications

• Ukrainian family names of the Carpathian Lviv Region at the end of 18th – beginning of 19th centuries (with etymological dictionary). National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Institute of folklore studies. "Litopys". Lviv, 2001.^[15]
• Antroponymy system of the Upper Dniester region at the end of 18th – beginning of 19th centuries (family names). Franko State University. Lviv, 1996.^[16]

References

External links