Mykhailo Serhiyovych Hrushevsky is a Ukrainain politician, historian and important member of the exiled Ukrainian Republicans in Lemberg, Austrian Galicia. He plays a crucial part in the left-wing of the USDRP, as he was the first Ukrainian President between 1917 and 1918, and is considered by many to be the most essential member of the Ukrainian national revival of the early 20th century.
History[]
Early Life[]
Hrushevsky was born on 29 September 1866 to a Ukrainian noble family in Chełm in Russian Poland, but grew up in Tiflis, where he attended local school. His spiritual native land however became Podillia in Ukraine, where his mother had been born and met his father. Mykhailo's grandfather, Fedir Hrushevsky, was a graduate of the History Department of the Saint Volodymyr University in Kiev and later personally blessed his grandson while he was enrolling to the same university.
Career[]
After his studies, Hrushevsky became professor of Eastern European history in Kiev and professor of Ukrainian history in Lemberg. His literary works primarily focused on the history of Scythia, the Cossacks, early Russian history and the Kievan Rus, which he considered the first true Ukrainian state. Throughout his career, he published around 2000 books and magazine articles.
As an organiser of scholarship, Hrushevsky also oversaw the transformation of the Shevchenko Literary Society in Galicia-Lodomeria into a new Shevchenko Scientific Society, which published hundreds of volumes of scholarly literature before the and quickly grew to serve as an unofficial Academy of Sciences for Ukrainian on both sides of the border with Russia. After the Russian Revolution of 1905, Hrushevsky also organised the Ukrainian Scientific Society in Kyiv.
Politics[]
Hrushevsky already began to engage in politics during his time in Galicia, which was a hotbed for Ukrainian nationalist ideas as those were heavily repressed in the Russian Empire. Hrushevsky spoke out against Polish political predominance and Ruthenian particularism in Galicia and supported a national Ukrainian identity that would unite both eastern and western parts of the country; A difficult endeavour, as Ukrainians from the Russian parts of Ukraine often mistrusted the Austrian Ukrainians, of which they thought of westernized, pro-Viennese semi-Poles. In 1899, he was a cofounder of the Galician-based National Democratic Party. After 1905, Hrushevsky advised the Ukrainian Club in the Russian State Duma in St. Petersburg.
Ukrainian Revolution[]
In 1917, after the February Revolution, Hrushevsky was elected head of the revolutionary parliament, the Ukrainian Central Rada, in Kyiv and gradually guided it from Ukrainian national autonomy within a democratic Russia through to complete independence. During this time, Hrushevsky was clearly revealed to be a radical democrat and a socialist. Head of Government during his reign was Volodymyr Vynnychenko.
His political career would soon come to a quick end after the German and Austro-Hungarian occupation of Ukraine in early 1918. Hrushevsky and the Rada turned out to be quite incompetent in organizing the country, and state control outside of Kiev was sparse. The Germans became angry as the Rada was not able to supply the Germans with enough wheat; In April of 1918, they backed the coup of former Tsarist military officer Pavlo Skoropadsky. The Rada was disbanded, important members like Symon Petliura were arrested. Hrushevsky however managed to go into hiding. He felt that Skoropadsky had perverted the cause of Ukrainian statehood by associating it with social conservatism.
Galician Exile[]
A few months after his coup, Skoropadsky tried to gain the support of the Ukrainian left-leaning elements and released Petliura, but negotiations failed. Eventually, the Republicans left Ukraine for Austrian Galicia.
Austria-Hungary was very displeased with the Skoropadsky regime, as it was vehemently pro-German and denied Austria-Hungary political influence in Ukraine, which had been a primary goal when occupying the country in 1918. Because of that, the Habsburg authorities happily supported the Republican exiles and and allowed them to set up their government in exile in Lemberg to undermine German influence in the region. Ever since, Hrushevsky, Vynnychenko and Petliura are waiting in Galicia for the right point to topple Skoropadsky's Hetmanate to finally lead Ukraine into a democratic and republican future.
Hrushevsky used most of his time in exile continuing his academic work, among them his magnum opus History of Ukraine-Rus', a 10-volume monographic series which was published in 1933 and covers the Ukrainian history from ancient times to the second half of the 17th century.
Hrushevsky has grown ill over time and had to go through a professional surgery in Vienna in 1934, which ultimately saved his life. However, his conditions still seem to worsen, and many of his comrades are already preparing for a time without their great and honored mentor Hrushevsky...
Works[]
- History of Ukraine-Rus, 1933