Dokiya Humenna was born on 10 March 1904 in the village of ZhashkivKiev Oblast. She was born to a peasant family. Mother, Dariya Kravchenko, came from an impoverished noble family. Humenna studied in Zvenygorodska gymnasium. In 1920 she entered a teachers' college in Stavyshche. Finally, she studied literature at the University of Kiev, graduating in 1926. Her first literary essay "U Stepu" secured her a place in the major Soviet Ukrainianliterary magazines, and she joined the union of rural writers «Pluh». Humenna's cycles of essays and novels Lysty z Stepovoyi Ukrainy, Strelka kolebletsja, Kampanija were published in the magazines Pluh and Chervonyi shlyah, and described the decline of Ukrainian life and culture. These works provoked harsh censure from the Soviet regime, and Humenna was not admitted to the newly created Union of the Writers of Ukraine and she was silenced, although she escaped more dire punishment. She had to work as a stenographer in Kiev. In 1937 she participated in the during excavations of Tripolie culture settlements in Kiev. In 1940 she published a short story, "Virus," which led to another round of harsh criticism. During World War II, she was forced to emigrate in 1943, traveling on foot to Lviv, where she contributed to the local journals. After the war, she emigrated to Austria and Germany. During her stay in displaced persons' camps in 1946–1949, she joined the artistic-literary organization Mystetsky Ukrainsky Rukh. Humenna published the collection "Kurkulska Viliya" and embarked on her major four-volume work, Dity Chumatskoho Shliakhu, which she completed after moving to the United States for permanent residence in 1950. She became a U.S. citizen in 1959. She was active in Ukrainian American organizations, and started to publish the literary works which she had not been able to publish in Ukraine. H She is the author of more than 20 books that put her among the most fruitful writers of the Ukrainian diaspora. She was interested in the history and archeology of Ukraine and ancient art. She was also interested in discovering the origin of spiritual life of her ancestors. Her abiding interest in feminism, prehistoric life, mythology and archaeology are evident in works such as "Mana", "Velyke Tsabe", "Zolotyi Pluh" and others. Her travels are reflected in the collection of essays "Bahato Neba" and "Vichni Vohni Alberty", and in the short stories in "Sered Khmarosiahiv". Humenna was directly involved in the creation of the Association of Ukrainian writers "Slovo". Dokiya Humenna died on April 4. 1996 in her apartment in Manhattan, New York City. She was buried at the St. Andrew Ukrainian Orthodox Cemetery in South Bound Brook, New Jersey.
