| Vsevolod Nestaiko | |
| Native Name: | Всеволод Зіновійович Нестайко |
| Native Name Lang: | uk |
| Birth Name: | Vsevolod Zinoviiovych Nestaiko |
| Birth Date: | 1930 1, df=yes |
| Birth Place: | Berdychiv, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union |
| Death Place: | Kyiv, Ukraine |
| Occupation: | Author of children's books |
| Nationality: | Ukrainian |
Vsevolod Zinoviiovych Nestaiko or Nestayko (Ukrainian: Всеволод Зіновійович Нестайко; 30 January 1930[1] – 16 August 2014[2]) was a modern Ukrainian children's writer.[3] In Ukraine he is considered the country's best-known and best loved Ukrainian children’s literature writer.[3] [1] [2]
During World War I Nestayko's parents were on opposite sides of the front.[3] His father was a Sich Riflemen (of the former Austro-Hungarian army) and later a member of the Ukrainian Galician Army; his mother was a teacher of Russian literature and nurse in the Russian Imperial Army.[3] In 1933 his father was killed by the NKVD.[3] To escape the Holodomor famine Nestayko and his mother moved to Kyiv to her sister.[3] Nestayko lived and worked since in Kyiv.[3]
In 1947 he started and in 1952 Nestayko graduated from the Faculty of Philology of the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv.[3] He then worked in the magazine "Dnipro", "Periwinkle" and "Youth".[3] And from 1956 to 1987 Nestayko was the editor in charge of children's literature magazine "Rainbow".[3] Nestayko's first book “Shurka & Shurko” was published in 1956.[4] From then till his death circa 30 of his stories, fairy tales, novels and plays were published.[4] His books have been translated into twenty languages throughout the world, including English, German, French, Spanish, Russian, Arabic, Bengali, Hungarian, Romanian, Bulgarian, and Slovak.[4] The adaptation of Nestayko's Toreadors from Vasyukivka won a Grand-prix at the International Festival in Munich (in 1968) and the main prize in Sydney (in 1969).[4] The Fraud ”F” adaptation was awarded at the All-Soviet Union Film Festival in Kyiv (in 1984) and at the Gabrovo Film Festival (in Bulgaria in 1985).[4] Nestayko's works are included in school curricula in Ukraine.[3]
In 2010 Viktor Yushchenko awarded him an order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise of fifth class.[5]
On January 30, 2015, Google celebrated his 85th birthday with a Google Doodle.[6]