Turning the pages back...

September 29, 1866

September 29 marks the 135th anniversary of the birth of Mykhailo Hrushevsky, one of Ukraine's most distinguished historians, publicists, scholars and writers. Hrushevsky, born in Kholm in 1866, was a member of the Shevchenko Scientific Society, the USSR Academy of Sciences and the All-Ukrainian Academy of Sciences.

In 1907 Hrushevsky co-founded the Ukrainian Scientific Society, was one of the founding members of the Society of Ukrainian Progressives, a political party formed in 1908, and was arrested in the fall of 1914 and later exiled to northeastern Russia for stirring Ukrainian nationalism. He was released on March 17, after the February Revolution, and was then elected the chairman of the Central Rada which later became the revolutionary parliament of Ukraine.

On April 29, 1918, Hrushevsky was elected the first president of the newly formed Ukrainian National Republic. Shortly thereafter, a coup d'état led by Pavlo Skoropadsky overthrew Hrushevsky's government. Returning to his scholarly activities Hrushevsky completed over 1,800 works and is regarded as one of Ukraine's leading academic scholars who, according to the Encyclopedia of Ukraine, "realized the principal task of Ukrainian historiography (i.e., the synthesis of the entire Ukrainian historical process), as the organizer of Ukrainian national scholarship, and as a civic and political activist and one of the most prominent figures of the period of the liberation struggle."

Hrushevsky's scholarly activity included work in the history of literature and archeology and he was also highly regarded for writing various tales, dramas and short stories. As a publicist, Hrushevsky founded and published various Ukrainian newspapers, prominent among them were Ukrainskii Vestnik, Selo and Zasiv.

Hrushevsky is most widely known for his landmark work "History of Ukraine-Rus' " which was first published in 1898. His historical scheme was rejected by Soviet authorities as "nationalistic" but is regarded by historians as an accurate assessment of Ukrainian history. Hrushevsky died in Kislovodsk in 1934 and was buried in Kyiv's Baikove cemetery.

Source: "Hrushevsky, Mykhailo," Encyclopedia of Ukraine, Volume II, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1988.

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, September 23, 2001, No. 38, Vol. LXIX

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