Platon Mykytovych Voronko (; 1 December (O.S. 18 November) 1913, Chernechchyna, Akhtyrsky Uyezd, Kharkov Governorate â 10 August 1988, Kyiv, Ukrainian SSR) was a Ukrainian poet and member of the Soviet partisan movement. In Ukraine he is best known for his children's poems.
Born in Chernechchyna (now in Sumy Oblast), Voronko grew up in a children's commune in Okhtyrka.
He studied in the Kharkiv Transport Institut, He was employed as a construction worker in Tajikistan. Having served in the Red Army, between 1938 and 1941 Voronko studied at the Maxim Gorky Literature Institute in Moscow.
In 1939, he volunteered to the front of Winter War. During the Great Patriotic War Voronko commanded a partisan formation under the leadership of Sydir Kovpak. After the death of fellow commander Semyon Rudnev during the partisans' raid into the Carpathians, Voronko preserved his diary for publication. In 1943, he entered the Communist Party, and was later elected member of the Supreme Soviet of Ukrainian SSR.
In his works, Voronko frequently used the instruments of folk poetry combined with official Soviet patriotism and optimism. Many of his poems and songs were printed and distributed as leaflets in occupied areas of Ukraine during the war. Voronko's early verses depict the heroics of partisan struggle, meanwhile his postwar texts are dedicated to the topics of patriotic feats, Socialist labour, struggle for peace and friendship between peoples. Known for their wide genre spectrum, originality of rhythm and melody, lyricism, ideological content, realism, philosophic undertones, richness of emotions and conscise structure, his poems are inspired by Ukrainian people's deep spiritual traditions. Voronko also created numerous songs, poems, fairytales, ballads and poems for children. His works have been translated into numerous languages.
He died in 1988 in Kyiv.
In 1951, Voronko was awarded with the State Prize of Ukrainian SSR for his poem Glorious Peace. In 1960, received the Ostrovsky Komsomol Prize. In 1972, he received the Shevchenko State Prize for the poem Flood. For his children's verses, in 1976, Voronko became a laureate of Lesya Ukrainka Prize.