Maksym Strikha

{{short description|Ukrainian translator and writer (born 1961)}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| name = Maksym Strikha

| native_name = {{nobold|Макси́м Стрі́ха}}

| native_name_lang = uk

| image = Максим Стріха — Вікізустріч-35.jpg

| caption = Strikha in 2011

| office = Deputy Ministry of Education and Science

| president = Petro Poroshenko
Volodymyr Zelenskyy

| primeminister = Arseniy Yatsenyuk
Volodymyr Groysman
Oleksiy Honcharuk

| minister = Serhiy Kvit
Liliya Hrynevych
Hanna Novosad

| term_start = September 2014

| term_end = September 2019

| president1 = Viktor Yushchenko

| primeminister1 = Yulia Tymoshenko

| minister1 = Ivan Vakarchuk

| term_start1 = February 2008

| term_end1 = 16 June 2010

| birth_name = Maksym Vitaliyovych Strikha

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1961|06|24|df=yes}}

| birth_place = Kyiv, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union

| occupation = {{Flatlist|

Translator
writer}}

| alma_mater = {{Ubil|University of Kyiv|Ioffe Institute (PhD)}}

| father = {{Ill|Vitalii Strikha|lt=Vitalii Strikha|uk|Стріха Віталій Іларіонович}}

| mother = {{Ill|Gula Maksymivna|lt=Gula Maksymivna|uk|Гула Надія Максимівна}}

| spouse = {{Ill|Natalia Starchenko|lt=Natalia Starchenko|uk|Старченко Наталія Петрівна}}

| children = {{Ill|Iaroslava Strikha|lt=Iaroslava Strikha|uk|Стріха Ярослава Максимівна}}

| awards = Maksym Rylsky Prize

| party = NRU (1988–1989)
URP (2005–2010)

}}

Maksym Vitaliyovych Strikha ({{langx|uk|Макси́м Віта́лійович Стрі́ха}}; born 24 June 1961) is a Ukrainian physicist, writer, translator, publicist, and public figure.{{Cite web |last=Веклич |first=А. М. |date=2025-03-20 |title=Стріха Максим Віталійович |url=https://esu.com.ua/article-888363 |access-date=2025-04-23 |website=esu.com.ua |publisher=Encyclopedia of Modern Ukraine |language=uk}} He was the Deputy Ministry of Education and Science from 2008 to 2010 and from 2014 to 2019. He was also the president of Ukrainian Physical Society, member of PEN Ukraine and National Writers' Union of Ukraine (NSPU).{{Cite web |title=Maksym Strikha |url=https://astrolabium.com.ua/en/author/maksym_strikha?srsltid=AfmBOop5MVhhcpGALQzYMtBsyXslFr9sUJ_m1QpaSr7o5rZlbVYmqBPM |access-date=2025-04-21 |website=astrolabium.com.ua |publisher=Astrolabe Publishing}}

Early life and education

Strikha was born on 24 June 1961 in Kyiv into a family of scientists.{{Cite news |last=Скрипін |first=Роман |date=2010-07-26 |title=Дії міністра Табачника – «крах освітянської галузі» |url=https://www.radiosvoboda.org/a/2109388.html |access-date=2025-04-23 |work=www.radiosvoboda.org |publisher=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |language=uk}} His parents were {{Ill|Vitalii Strikha|lt=Vitalii Strikha|uk|Стріха Віталій Іларіонович}} and {{Ill|Gula Maksymivna|lt=Gula Maksymivna|uk|Гула Надія Максимівна}}. He received his early education at Secondary School No. 58 in Kyiv.{{Cite web |title=Стріха Максим |url=https://duh-i-litera.com/strixa-maksim |access-date=2025-04-23 |website=duh-i-litera.com |publisher=Дух і літера |language=uk}} In 1983, he graduated from the Faculty of Radiophysics, Electronics and Computer Systems at the University of Kyiv (KNU). He later pursued postgraduate studies at the Ioffe Institute and completed his doctoral studies at the Lashkarev Institute of Semiconductor Physics of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine.

Career

Strikha has been employed at the V. E. Lashkarev Institute of Semiconductor Physics of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine since 1983, where he developed a coherent theory of photonic and recombination processes in real semiconductors affected by defects, deformations, and compositional inhomogeneities. Beyond his scientific career, he has been active in the political and public spheres since the late 1980s. He contributed to the founding of the Society of Ukrainian Language and the People's Movement of Ukraine (NRU) in 1988–89. He also served as a member of the original audit committee of the Taras Shevchenko Ukrainian Language Society, elected in 1989, and was a deputy of the first democratic convocation of the Kyiv City Council from 1990 to 1994.

Strikha went on to serve as an advisor to Ivan Dziuba, then Minister of Culture, and in 1994 became a member of the NSPU, later acting as coordinator of its Kyiv branch. From 1995 to 2008, he also headed the laboratory for methodological problems of cultural policy at the Ukrainian Center for Cultural Research. In 1997, he joined PEN Ukraine and was awarded the degree of Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences on 1 January that year, specialising in the physics of semiconductors and dielectrics.{{Cite web |title=Стріха Максим Віталійович |url=https://old.nas.gov.ua/UA//PersonalSite/Statuses/Pages/default.aspx?PersonID=0000027430 |access-date=2025-04-23 |website=www.old.nas.gov.ua |language=uk-UA}} In 1999, he began leading scientific programmes at the Institute of Open Politics.{{Cite web |date=2008 |title=Максим Віталійович Стріха |url=https://www.mao.kiev.ua/biblio/jscans/svitogliad/svit-2008-09-1/svit-2008-09-1-78-striha.pdf |access-date=2025-04-24 |website=www.mao.kiev.ua |publisher=Головна астрономічна обсерваторія |page=78 |language=uk}}

From 2005 to 2010, Strikha served as deputy head of the Ukrainian Republican Party (URP). On 9 January 2007, he commented on the Russia–Belarus energy dispute, suggesting that the crisis might push Belarus toward closer ties with Ukraine. He proposed that this could revive the idea of the "Mezhmorye Union" as an alternative to Belarus becoming a subordinate region of Russia.{{Cite web |date=2007-01-09 |title=Experts predict rapprochement between Ukraine, Belarus |url=https://www.unian.info/world/28935-experts-predict-rapprochement-between-ukraine-belarus.html |access-date=2025-04-21 |website=www.unian.info |publisher=Ukrainian Independent Information Agency |language=en}} In early February 2008, Strikha was appointed deputy minister of education and science of Ukraine. Later that year, he also became a professor at the Department of Physical Electronics at the KNU.

File:9 years of Ukrainian Wikipedia conference 020.jpg in 2017]]

From 1 January 2010 to 1 January 2014, Strikha served as chief research fellow in the department of theoretical physics. Between 2010 and 2021, he held the position of first vice-president of the Academy of Sciences of Higher Education of Ukraine. Earlier, from 2005 to 2007, he was chief research fellow at the Institute of Encyclopaedic Research of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine on a part-time basis, as well as head of the translation department at Borys Grinchenko Kyiv Metropolitan University from 2010 to 2012, later becoming a professor there from 2012 to 2014, also part-time. From 2013 to 2016, he was president of the Ukrainian Physical Society. He led the working group responsible for drafting the Law of Ukraine "On Scientific and Scientific-Technical Activity" in 2015 and, in the same year, became a full member of the Shevchenko Scientific Society. Between 2015 and 2019, he co-chaired the National Commission on Orthography, whose work culminated in the approval of a new edition of the Ukrainian orthography.

Strikha has been actively addressing the challenges faced by scientists and students displaced by the war in Donbas. He noted that while most have found refuge within Ukraine, they are often in temporary positions and unable to continue their research due to limited resources. Strikha emphasised that the Ukrainian government, constrained by financial difficulties, can offer little support. He identified the greatest current need as equipping laboratories and refurbishing university facilities overwhelmed by the influx of displaced researchers. Despite the difficulties in June 2015, Strikha remains cautiously optimistic, saying, "The good news is we're holding on."{{Cite journal |last=Stone |first=Richard |date=2015-06-03 |title=U.S. nonprofit hopes to throw lifeline to Ukrainian scientists |url=https://www.science.org/content/article/us-nonprofit-hopes-throw-lifeline-ukrainian-scientists |access-date=2025-04-21 |journal=Science |publisher=Science |language=en |doi=10.1126/science.aac6778|url-access=subscription }}

File:The World classics in Ukrainian contest (2017) 45.jpg

On 1 January 2018, Strikha was awarded the academic title of professor. Later that year, on 23 August, he announced that new language regulations would be introduced with the aim of restoring Ukrainian spelling to its pre-1919 form, before Soviet-era "Russification" policies took effect. He argued that these changes would enhance the quality of the language and better reflect Ukrainian traditions. The reforms, which sought to reverse Soviet transliteration practices, were to be implemented through schools and media channels. The initiative, part of a broader effort to reinforce Ukrainian linguistic identity, drew criticism from commentators in Moscow.{{Cite web |last=Goble |first=Paul A. |author-link=Paul A. Goble |date=2018-08-24 |title=Kyiv moves to restore pre-Soviet Ukrainian spellings, infuriating Moscow |url=https://euromaidanpress.com/2018/08/24/kyiv-moves-to-restore-pre-soviet-ukrainian-spellings-infuriating-moscow/ |access-date=2025-04-21 |website=euromaidanpress.com |publisher=Euromaidan Press |language=en-US}} That same year, he joined other prominent figures in signing an appeal for a political boycott of the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, condemning the persecution of Ukrainian political prisoners, including film director Oleh Sentsov, who had launched a hunger strike to demand their release.{{Cite web |date=2018-06-06 |title=An appeal to the representatives of countries who are expected to travel to the World Cup football games in Russia |url=https://www.opendemocracy.net/od-russia/open-letter-in-support-of-ukrainian-political-prisoners |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180622084417/https://www.opendemocracy.net/od-russia/open-letter-in-support-of-ukrainian-political-prisoners |archive-date=2018-06-22 |access-date=2025-04-23 |website=www.opendemocracy.net |publisher=openDemocracy}}

In February 2019, Strikha and Ivan Malkovych resigned from PEN Ukraine in protest against a unilateral statement made by its new leadership. The statement supported a student from the National Academy of Visual Arts and Architecture who had mocked a veteran instructor from the Anti-Terrorist Operation (ATO), prompting outrage among some members.{{Cite web |date=2019-02-05 |title="Чому ми виходимо з Українського ПЕН-центру" |url=https://www.radiosvoboda.org/a/29753067.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190207020032/https://www.radiosvoboda.org/a/29753067.html |archive-date=2019-02-07 |access-date=2025-04-23 |website=www.radiosvoboda.org |publisher=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |language=uk |last1=Свобода |first1=Радіо }}{{Cite web |date=2019-02-05 |title=Іван Малкович вийшов з ПЕН-клубу через "антиукраїнський" скандал у |url=https://www.ukrinform.ua/rubric-culture/2634396-ivan-malkovic-vijsov-z-penklubu-cerez-antiukrainskij-skandal-u-naoma.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190207015557/https://www.ukrinform.ua/rubric-culture/2634396-ivan-malkovic-vijsov-z-penklubu-cerez-antiukrainskij-skandal-u-naoma.html |archive-date=2019-02-07 |access-date=2025-04-23 |website=www.ukrinform.ua |publisher=Ukrinform}} Later that year, on 17 October, Strikha had written another open letter to Maksym Tymoshenko, criticising the Ukrainian National Tchaikovsky Academy of Music's decision to ban Ukrainian-language performances in favour of original-language-only productions.{{Cite web |date=2019-10-17 |title=Відкритий лист ректору Національної музичної академії України імені П. І. Чайковського, професору М. О. Тимошенку |url=http://slovoprosvity.org/2019/10/17/vidkrytyy-lyst-rektoru-natsional-noi/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191215222512/http://slovoprosvity.org/2019/10/17/vidkrytyy-lyst-rektoru-natsional-noi/ |archive-date=2019-12-15 |access-date=2025-04-23 |website=slovoprosvity.org |publisher=Слово Просвіти |language=uk}} On 25 November, Strikha joined a group of prominent Ukrainian scientists, writers, linguists, and cultural figures in sending an open letter to Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports Volodymyr Borodiansky. The letter voiced strong concern over the growing marginalisation of the Ukrainian language in national opera houses and music education.{{Cite web |date=2019-11-25 |title=Українські діячі та науковці звернулися до Бородянського з приводу мови опери (текст звернення) |url=https://language-policy.info/2019/11/ukrajinski-diyachi-ta-naukovtsi-zvernulysya-do-borodyanskoho-z-pryvodu-movy-opery-tekst-zvernennya/ |access-date=2025-04-23 |website=language-policy.info |language=uk}}

Literacy career

Strikha has been actively involved in literary translation since the early 1980s. His contributions include two literary monographs, a book of poems titled Sonnets and Octaves (1991), and numerous essays on literature and literary criticism. He developed and advocated for the concept of the nation-building role of translating Ukrainian literature within the field of translation studies.

Strikha’s translation of Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales into Ukrainian earned him the prestigious Hryhorii Kochur Award. This recognition highlighted the depth and quality of his work, which successfully captured the nuances, humour, and historical context of Chaucer's original. Strikha, who studied under Hryhorii Kochur and maintained a close relationship with him during the final decade of Kochur's life, frequently expressed his gratitude for the profound influence his mentor had on him. He has often praised Kochur, along with other prominent Ukrainian translators, for their vital role in shaping national identity through literature and preserving their intellectual legacy. Previously, Strikha was awarded the Maksym Rylsky Prize for his translation of Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy and is the author of the monograph Ukrainian Translation and Translators: Between Literature and Nation-Building.{{Cite web |last=Ostrolutska |first=Larysa |date=2021-12-28 |title="And if we are worth something, it's because Hryhoriy Kochur was in front of us…" |url=https://svit.kpi.ua/en/2021/12/28/and-if-we-are-worth-something-its-because-hryhoriy-kochur-was-in-front-of-us/ |access-date=2025-04-21 |website=svit.kpi.ua |publisher=Svit |language=en-GB}}

In addition to these works, Strikha has translated notable pieces such as Martin's Lie, the libretto of Gian Carlo Menotti's opera (2018),{{Cite web |last=Євсюкова |first=Оксана |date=2018-12-27 |title=Прем'єру опери "Мартінова брехня" в перекладі М. Стріхи здійснено в Києві |url=https://musicinukrainian.wordpress.com/2018/12/27/martins_lie/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190328225734/https://musicinukrainian.wordpress.com/2018/12/27/martins_lie/ |archive-date=2019-03-28 |access-date=2025-04-23 |website=musicinukrainian.wordpress.com |publisher=uk}} Francesca da Rimini, the libretto of Sergei Rachmaninoff's opera (2019),{{Cite web |date=2018-06-15 |title=Рахманінов. Франческа да Ріміні. Переклад М. Стріхи - сайт "Композитор" |url=https://composer.ucoz.ua/publ/perekladi_tekstiv/perekladi_tekstiv/rakhmaninov_francheska_da_rimini_pereklad_m_strikhi/21-1-0-294 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190924195151/https://composer.ucoz.ua/publ/perekladi_tekstiv/perekladi_tekstiv/rakhmaninov_francheska_da_rimini_pereklad_m_strikhi/21-1-0-294 |archive-date=2019-09-24 |access-date=2025-04-23 |website=composer.ucoz.ua |publisher=uk}} and Sophronia on the Fire (from Jerusalem Delivered), which became the basis for the libretto of Oksana Yevsyukova's opera (2023).{{Cite web |last=Перяславець |first=Михайло |date=2023-05-17 |title=Оперна реінкарнація Тассо: у Києві українською заспівали «Софронію на вогнищі» |url=https://umoloda.kyiv.ua/number/3855/164/175376 |access-date=2025-04-23 |website=umoloda.kyiv.ua |publisher=Ukraina Moloda |language=uk}}{{Cite web |last=Прокопенко |first=Ілля |date=2023-05-04 |title=Цікаві вихідні: куди піти в Києві 6-7 травня |url=https://tykyiv.com/afisha/tsikavi-vikhidni-kudi-piti-v-kiievi-6-7-travnia/ |access-date=2025-04-23 |website=tykyiv.com |publisher=ТиКиїв |language=uk}}

Personal life

Strikha is married to {{Ill|Natalia Starchenko|lt=Natalia Starchenko|uk|Старченко Наталія Петрівна}}, a senior researcher at the Institute of History of Ukraine.{{Cite web |date=2017-03-12 |title=Department of History, NaUKMA |url=http://history.ukma.edu.ua/faculty/natalia_starchenko |access-date=2025-04-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170312201716/http://history.ukma.edu.ua/faculty/natalia_starchenko |archive-date=2017-03-12}} They have a daughter, {{Ill|Iaroslava Strikha|lt=Iaroslava Strikha|uk|Стріха Ярослава Максимівна}}, who is a translator, literary critic, and a Doctor of Philosophy at Harvard University.{{Cite web |title=Iaroslava Strikha |url=https://slavic.fas.harvard.edu/people/iaroslava-strikha |access-date=2025-04-23 |website=slavic.fas.harvard.edu |publisher=Department of Slavic Languages & Literatures |language=en}} He is multilingual, speaking English, Italian, Polish, Russian, and French.