Ukraine attempts to de-communise it’s town and street names.

Posted on March 10, 2016 by bill

L’Ukraine change les noms trop “soviétiques” de ses rues et de ses villes

En direct du monde par Alexis Morel, Damien Triomphe jeudi 10 mars 2016
En Ukraine, la décommunisation passe aussi par le changement de nom des rues [Image d\\\'illustration : à Kiev, des passants traversent la rue près d\\\'une statue de Lénine]

En Ukraine, la décommunisation passe aussi par le changement de nom des rues [Image d’illustration : à Kiev, des passants traversent la rue près d’une statue de Lénine] © REUTERS/Marko Djurica

Dans un village de l’ouest du pays, la rue “Lénine” vient d’être rebaptisée “rue John Lennon”. Et c’est loin d’être anecdotique.

In a village in the west of the country, the street “Lenin” has come to be rebaptised “John Lennon Street”. And this is far from being anecdotal.

La loi a été promulguée l’année dernière. Elle prévoit la “décommunisation” progressive des noms de villes, villages et rues ukrainiennes. Près de 25 ans après l’éclatement de l’URSS, l’Ukraine veut en finir définitivement avec son passé soviétique. Et ce n’est pas un hasard si ce processus intervient en plein conflit dans l’est du pays contre les séparatistes pro-russes. The law was promulgated last year.

It visualised the progressive “decommunisation” of the names of Ukrainian towns, villages and streets. 25 years after the the implosion of the USSR, Ukraine wants to definitively end it’s soviet past. And it is no co-incidence that this intervention is in full conflict with the separatist and pro-russian eastern countries.   

Mais sur le terrain, l’application de cette loi est assez lente et difficile notamment parce que des municipalités font de la résistance pour des raisons purement politiques. C’est le cas dans des villes importantes, comme Odessa, Poltava, Zaporijia. En tout, 987 localités sont concernées en Ukraine. Il y a par exemple des rues “Lénine” dans 90% des communes ukrainiennes.

But on the ground, the application of this law is proving slow and difficult notably because the municipal councils are resisting for purely political reasons. This is the case in the big towns, like Odessa, Poltava and Zaporijia. In all, 987 localities are affected in Ukraine. For example there are “Lenin” street names in 90% of Ukrainian communities.

About bill

Worked in the technical / engineering area as a Science Laboratory Technician and as an Aeronautics Engineer. The artistic side involves writing under the nom de plume of Billy Olsenn, his recently written play 'A Case of Wine' was staged by the players group Straight Make-Up at the 2012 Birr one act drama festival. It's next staging was in the one act circuit is in Cavan, at Maudebawn on Sat 10 Nov 2012. Then it was performed in the Bray, Co.Wicklow at the very popular one act festival in January 2013. Next play is FEAR. A dark tale about revenge on the cruel death of two pensioners by young thugs. Neighbours hatch a devious and dangerous plan to exact old-style revenge. Bill is a member of the Drama League of Ireland and his plays have been critically vetted and certified as original pieces of work by the DLI. Another literary project is that of commemoration of an aircraft crash on Djouce mountain in Wicklow in 1946. Bill wrote articles for the 50th, 60th and most recently the 70th anniversary, (12 Aug 2016) all were published in the Wicklow Times and ensured the survivors of the crash, all French Girl Guides, were not forgotten. Articles reproduced on this website. But mostly this site gives a more general European and specific French slant on popular and not so popular articles of French news, translated to English by the author. Each article is translated on a paragraph by paragraph basis so easy to read in either language and even possible to improve either language by comparison of the short English and French paragraphs. Amusez vous bien. The author is currently writing an easy to read technical aviation book centered around the Fokker 50. Another interest is that dealt with in another of Bill's websites www.realnamara.net, a Statue of the mother of God, Mary. It was erected in 1972 in Dublin, at the end of the Bull Wall near Clontarf, and my grandfather William Nelson, was the main instigator of that project. I give talks on the history of the statue and my grandfather's adventurous and dangerous life at sea. Technical assistance with each website is by J O'N.
This entry was posted in Uncategorized. Bookmark the permalink.