Historian who wrote Ukraine as a distinct historical subject, and chairman of the Central Rada
In March 1917 the Central Rada elected him chairman in absentia while he was still in exile in Moscow, and his return raised hope for uniting the democratic forces.
The historian whose History of Ukraine-Rus wrote Ukraine as a distinct historical subject, he chaired the Central Rada in 1917 and 1918. He returned to Soviet Ukraine in 1924 and died under surveillance in 1934.
Career timeline
- 1890Graduated Kyiv University, gold medal for graduation thesis
- 1894Professor of history at Lviv University
- 1897Chairman of the Shevchenko Scientific Society (1897–1913)
- 1917Chairman of the Central Rada (1917–1918), elected in absentia
- 1919Founded the Ukrainian Sociological Institute in Vienna
- 1924Returned to Soviet Ukraine, academician of VUAN
- 1929Full member of the USSR Academy of Sciences
- 1931Arrested on charges of counter-revolutionary activity
Ukrainian independence leader who headed the People's Republic but whose role in pogroms remains fiercely contested
Do not separate the fate of Ukraine from the fate of Russia. If Russia suffers defeat, the consequences of this catastrophe will also affect Ukraine.
A social-democratic journalist from Poltava who rose from military secretary of the Central Rada in 1917 to commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian People's Army and head of the Directorate of the Ukrainian People's Republic. He fought to defend Ukrainian independence against Bolsheviks, White armies, and Poland, but was forced into exile, first in Poland and then Paris, after defeat in 1920. An estimated 50,000 Jews were massacred by forces under his command, and whether he was unable or unwilling to stop the killings remains fiercely disputed. In 1926 he was assassinated in Paris by the Jewish anarchist Sholem Schwarzbard, who called it vengeance for the pogroms.
Career timeline
- 1900–1917Activist in the Revolutionary Ukrainian Party and USDRP; journalist leading the Ukrainian national movement
- 1917.05–12Secretary of Military Affairs, Central Rada; led organization of Ukrainian armed forces
- 1918.01–03Commander of Haydamaky Kish; suppressed Bolshevik Arsenal uprising in Kyiv
- 1918.11–1919.02Chief of Military Forces, Directorate of Ukraine
- 1919.02–1920.12Head of the Directorate and Supreme Commander, Ukrainian People's Army
- 1920.04Signed Warsaw Treaty with Poland, forming anti-Bolshevik alliance
- 1924–1926Published weekly Tryzub from exile in Paris
Ukrainian Social Democratic writer who led the Rada's General Secretariat and the Directory
Just as you created the dictatorship of workers and peasants in Russia, we must create a dictatorship of the Ukrainian language in Ukraine.
A Ukrainian Social Democratic writer, he led the Central Rada's General Secretariat in 1917 and retook Kyiv as first chairman of the Directory in 1918. Arguing for talks with the Soviets he broke with Petliura and resigned in 1919, dying in France in 1951.
Career timeline
- 1905Co-founder of the Ukrainian Social Democratic Workers' Party
- 1917Vice-president of the Central Rada and first head of its General Secretariat
- 1918.01Premier of the Ukrainian People's Republic, soon resigned
- 1918.12Retook Kyiv as chairman of the Directory
- 1919–1920Wrote the memoir Rebirth of a Nation
- 1920Deputy head of the Ukrainian SSR Sovnarkom; soon re-emigrated
Ukrainian otaman who took Odesa for the Reds, then turned to revolt and pogrom
Proclaiming revolt in his May 1919 Universaл, he cried: "Ukrainian people! Take power into your own hands. Let there be no dictatorship of any one man or any one party."
The Ukrainian otaman who took Odesa for the Soviets in the spring of 1919, he rose against them in May and his troops massacred Jews at Yelysavethrad and elsewhere. He was shot by Makhno's men in July.
Career timeline
- 1901–1907Volunteered for the imperial army, fought in the Russo-Japanese War, and won three Crosses of St George.
- 1914–1916Served as an officer on the Southwestern Front in World War I, rising to staff-captain.
- 1918Led peasant partisans in Kherson province against the Austro-German occupiers and the Hetmanate.
- 1918–1919Served as chief of the Kherson Division of the Ukrainian People's Republic (Directory).
- 1919.02Went over to the Red Army, commanding the 1st Zadniprovska Brigade and then the 6th Ukrainian Soviet Division, and took Odesa in April.
- 1919.05Led the Hryhoriv uprising against the Red Army in May.
- 1919.07Shot dead by Makhno's men in July.
