Historian who wrote Ukraine as a distinct historical subject, and chairman of the Central Rada
A pupil of Antonovych at Kyiv University and from 1894 professor at Lemberg (Lviv), he wrote the ten-volume History of Ukraine-Rus, which built a separate historical lineage from Kievan Rus to Ukraine against the Russia-centred account and became the intellectual foundation of the Ukrainian national movement. Elected chairman of the Central Rada in March 1917, he presided over the Universals that led from autonomy to independence, and lost power on 29 April 1918, the day the Rada adopted the constitution of the Ukrainian People's Republic, in the German-backed Hetman coup. After exile in Vienna he returned to Soviet Ukraine in 1924 to lead historical research at the Academy of Sciences, but was arrested in 1931, moved to Moscow and kept under surveillance, and died after surgery at Kislovodsk in 1934. His school was destroyed in the purges of the 1930s.
Related historical events
- 1917.12–1918.11Brest-Litovsk and Germany’s eastern occupationUkrainian Central Rada leaderAs chairman of the Central Rada he accepted the separate peace at Brest and the entry of German troops, and lost power in the Hetman coup of 29 April 1918.
- 1917–1921Ukraine’s revolution and warsHistorian and chairman of Ukraine’s Central RadaChairman of the Central Rada from March 1917, he presided over the Universals from autonomy to independence and was removed by the Hetman coup of April 1918.
- 1918–1922The Civil War and Foreign InterventionHistorian and chairman of Ukraine’s Central RadaA historian who framed Ukraine’s past as a distinct history, he chaired the Central Rada in 1917–1918 as it moved from autonomy to independence. Returning to Soviet Ukraine after exile, he faced repression and surveillance.
Revolution and independence wars
A historian who framed Ukraine’s past as a distinct history, he chaired the Central Rada in 1917–1918 as it moved from autonomy to independence. Returning to Soviet Ukraine after exile, he faced repression and surveillance.