Mikita Vladimir Vasilievich

Soviet Ukrainian painter. People’s Artist of Ukraine. Member of the USSR Academy of Arts. Born on February 1, 1931 in the village of Rakoshino, Mukacheve District, Zakarpattia Region (formerly Podkarpatskaia Rus as part of Czechoslovakia) in the family of farmers. After finishing primary school, he entered the Mukachevo gymnasium, where he studied before joining the Transcarpathian Soviet troops. In 1947, after the 9th grade, he passed examinations at the Uzhhorod College of Applied Arts and was accepted for the third year. His teachers were A. Erdeli, I. Bokshay, F. Manaylo, E. Kontratovich. After graduating from the Uzhgorod School in 1950, passed the exams at the Lviv Institute of Applied Arts, but was not enlisted for political reasons. Returning home, he went to work in the regional house of folk art as a methodologist, where he worked before conscription. From 1951 to 1954 he was in the ranks of the Soviet Army on the island of Sakhalin. After demobilization, he was recruited to the Art and Production Workshops of the Art Foundation of Transcarpathia, where he worked until his retirement in 2001.