The moral authority of the nation

I would `d [Contractions are common in speech but should be avoided in any kind of formal writing] like to tell you some words [telling involves words so no need to put this here] about one of the most prominent Ukrainian writers of the 20th century[xx is not incorrect per se but looks horrible in the text]Oles Honchar.
He was born in a small village in Ukraine in 1918. In his first novels, which he wrote at school, he demonstrated a huge literary talent. During his studies at the linguistics department at the university the World War II [the second world war but the world war II] began. He could not stay apart remain indifferent to from the suffering(s) of his nation from nazism, so he fought at in the war as a volunteer. He was wounded twice, but fought till the end of the war. At that time he mostly wrote poems about national heroes.
After the war he graduated from the university and continued his literary activity. He wrote some big [Are you referring to the size of the novels or are you trying to express their importance as written works?] novels about wartime, one of them brought him the worldwide recognition and was has been translated into many languages.
But the most important of his works is a novel called Cathedral, which was prohibited by communist authorities during for 20 years. In this novel the author puts the blame on the communist regime for demolishing national historical monuments and memory legacies ['memory' doesn't fit here, I believe legacy fits better]. Honchar was convinced that without historical roots a nation cannot exist and a person who destroys the "Cathedral" in his/her soul cannot live a full life and be happy.
Honchar was a moral authority and conscience of the nation for many Ukrainian gengerations.