Kost Levytsky
Encyclopedia
Kost Levytsky was a Ukrainian
politician. He was a founder of the Ukrainian National Democratic movement
and the leader of the State Representative Body of the Ukrainian government declared on June 30, 1941
of today’s Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast
into the family of a Greek Catholic priest
Antin Levytsky. After finishing the Stanislaviv gymnasium he studied at Law faculties of Lviv
and Vienna
Universities. In 1884 he was awarded the Doctor’s degree in law, and in 1890 opened the barrister’s office in Lviv.
Kost Levytsky took active part in public and political life in his student years, he was one of the leaders of Academic Fraternity, the Circle of Law. From the first years of his barrister’s practice K. Levytsky was a practical advocate of the rights and freedoms of people. He united his professional activity with that in the sphere of Ukrainian enterprises, he was a co-founder and leading figure in the economic associations Zorya, People’s trade, Dniester, Province Credit Union. At the same time he was a well-known scientist in law, translated foreign laws into Ukrainian, worked with Ukrainian law terminology; he had published German-Ukrainian Law Dictionary, a series of popular works in law for the broad circles of Galician people, founded such professional editions as Chasopys pravnycha (Law periodical) and Zhyttia i pravo (Life and Law) and was their editor.
Kost Levytsky was a patriarch of Ukrainian political life, leader of the land's first political organization Narodna Rada (People’s Council, 1885), a cofounder and a head of Ukrainian National Democratic Party
. In 1907 he was elected an ambassador of the Austrian parliament, in 1908, that of Galician Sejm, headed the ambassador’s clubs. He fought for the national aspirations of Ukrainian people. K. Levytsky was the author of the conception of the national movement development through evolution, organic work and broad political work in masses; he was the adherent of the strategic course for Galicia autonomy as the first step to ward statehood. He favoured development of the mass Ukrainian societies, units of intellectuals, peasants, youths, the Sokol-Sitch movement.
At the onset of the World War I he headed the Supreme Ukrainian Council (1914) in Vienna, which defined Tsarist Russia as the main enemy of the nation, and called Ukrainians to the struggle against it for the restoration of a united Ukrainian state.
In 1916, as a prosecutor for the Austro-Hungarian Empire
, he played a role in the sentencing to death of Ukrainian Russophiles, and sent others to imprisonment in Talerhof
.
In autumn 1918, in the course of disintegration of the Austro-Hungarian empire K. Levytsky became a member of the Ukrainian National Council
, which announced formation of the Ukrainian state on October 19, and on November 1 the Council headed a victorious armed rebellion in Lviv, Galicia and Bukovyna, which resulted in formation of the West Ukrainian People’s Republic (ZUNR). Being an experienced public and political figure, K. Levytsky headed the first government – State Secretariate – which developed under the war the state and army formation activity for independence against Poland.
After K. Levytsky’s resignation in December 1918 he was a head of the commission on elaboration of the election reform, a representative in the affairs of press and propaganda, in foreign affairs; he also headed diplomatic missions of ZUNR which were sent to Riga
(1920), Geneva
(1921), he was a member of the ZUNR delegation in Genoa
(1922), headed a Committee of political emigration. In 1923 he came back to Lviv after liquidation of the exile government.
In the years between wars he was a member of the Central Committee of the Ukrainian National Democratic Association (1925–1939), was a director of Centrobank, head of the Union of Ukrainian Barristers, author of fundamental scientific works including The History of the Liberation Struggles of the Galician Ukrainians Since the War of 1914–1918 (Parts I–III. – Lviv, 1929–1930), The Great Derangment: On the History of Ukrainian State in March-November 1918 on the Basis of Recollections and Documents (Lviv, 1931).
After the Soviet Army entered Western Ukraine, in September 1939, he was arrested by the People’s Commissariate of Internal Affairs and incarcerated in Lubyanka prison in Moscow. Joseph Stalin
, Nikita Khrushchev
, Vyacheslav Molotov
, and Lavrentiy Beria
were involved in the proceedings concerning his case. In the spring of 1941, he was released and returned to Lviv. After the start of the Soviet-German War
, an independent Ukrainian State was proclaimed on June 30, 1941. K. Levytsky headed the State Representative Body – a Council of Seniors (Ukrainian National Council), and defended the interests of Ukrainians. He worked to curb the excesses of the occupational regime, carried on negotiations with the administration of the district of Galicia, petitioned to end groundless repressions, and pleaded for the release of prisoners, often with positive results.
Kost Levytsky died that same year on November 12, 1941, and was buried at Yanivsky cemetery in Lviv.
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
politician. He was a founder of the Ukrainian National Democratic movement
Ukrainian National Democratic Alliance
The Ukrainian National Democratic Alliance, was the largest Ukrainian political party in the Second Polish Republic, active in territory that is currently Western Ukraine. It dominated the mainstream political life of the Ukrainian minority in Poland, which with almost 14% of Poland's population...
and the leader of the State Representative Body of the Ukrainian government declared on June 30, 1941
Biography
Levytsky was born on November 18 1859 in the settlement of TysmenytsiaTysmenytsia
Tysmenytsia is a city, the administrative center of the Tysmenytsia Raion in the Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast of western Ukraine. In 1900 as part of the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, Tysmenytsia was in Tłumacz powiat.-Overview:...
of today’s Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast
Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast
Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast is an oblast in western Ukraine. Its administrative center is the city of Ivano-Frankivsk. As is the case with most other oblasts of Ukraine this region has the same name as its administrative center – which was renamed by the Soviets after the Ukrainian writer, nationalist...
into the family of a Greek Catholic priest
Western Ukrainian Clergy
The Western Ukrainian clergy of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church were a hereditary tight-knit social caste that dominated western Ukrainian society from the late eighteenth until the mid twentieth centuries, following the reforms instituted by Joseph II, Emperor of Austria...
Antin Levytsky. After finishing the Stanislaviv gymnasium he studied at Law faculties of Lviv
Lviv
Lviv is a city in western Ukraine. The city is regarded as one of the main cultural centres of today's Ukraine and historically has also been a major Polish and Jewish cultural center, as Poles and Jews were the two main ethnicities of the city until the outbreak of World War II and the following...
and Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
Universities. In 1884 he was awarded the Doctor’s degree in law, and in 1890 opened the barrister’s office in Lviv.
Kost Levytsky took active part in public and political life in his student years, he was one of the leaders of Academic Fraternity, the Circle of Law. From the first years of his barrister’s practice K. Levytsky was a practical advocate of the rights and freedoms of people. He united his professional activity with that in the sphere of Ukrainian enterprises, he was a co-founder and leading figure in the economic associations Zorya, People’s trade, Dniester, Province Credit Union. At the same time he was a well-known scientist in law, translated foreign laws into Ukrainian, worked with Ukrainian law terminology; he had published German-Ukrainian Law Dictionary, a series of popular works in law for the broad circles of Galician people, founded such professional editions as Chasopys pravnycha (Law periodical) and Zhyttia i pravo (Life and Law) and was their editor.
Kost Levytsky was a patriarch of Ukrainian political life, leader of the land's first political organization Narodna Rada (People’s Council, 1885), a cofounder and a head of Ukrainian National Democratic Party
Ukrainian National Democratic Alliance
The Ukrainian National Democratic Alliance, was the largest Ukrainian political party in the Second Polish Republic, active in territory that is currently Western Ukraine. It dominated the mainstream political life of the Ukrainian minority in Poland, which with almost 14% of Poland's population...
. In 1907 he was elected an ambassador of the Austrian parliament, in 1908, that of Galician Sejm, headed the ambassador’s clubs. He fought for the national aspirations of Ukrainian people. K. Levytsky was the author of the conception of the national movement development through evolution, organic work and broad political work in masses; he was the adherent of the strategic course for Galicia autonomy as the first step to ward statehood. He favoured development of the mass Ukrainian societies, units of intellectuals, peasants, youths, the Sokol-Sitch movement.
At the onset of the World War I he headed the Supreme Ukrainian Council (1914) in Vienna, which defined Tsarist Russia as the main enemy of the nation, and called Ukrainians to the struggle against it for the restoration of a united Ukrainian state.
In 1916, as a prosecutor for the Austro-Hungarian Empire
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...
, he played a role in the sentencing to death of Ukrainian Russophiles, and sent others to imprisonment in Talerhof
Talerhof
Talerhof was a concentration camp created by the Austro-Hungarian authorities of Franz Joseph I of Austria in the first days of World War I, in a sandy valley in foothills of the Alps, near Graz, the main city of the province of Styria....
.
In autumn 1918, in the course of disintegration of the Austro-Hungarian empire K. Levytsky became a member of the Ukrainian National Council
National Council
-Conservation:* National Council for Science and the Environment, a US-based non-profit organization which has a mission to improve the scientific basis for environmental decisionmaking...
, which announced formation of the Ukrainian state on October 19, and on November 1 the Council headed a victorious armed rebellion in Lviv, Galicia and Bukovyna, which resulted in formation of the West Ukrainian People’s Republic (ZUNR). Being an experienced public and political figure, K. Levytsky headed the first government – State Secretariate – which developed under the war the state and army formation activity for independence against Poland.
After K. Levytsky’s resignation in December 1918 he was a head of the commission on elaboration of the election reform, a representative in the affairs of press and propaganda, in foreign affairs; he also headed diplomatic missions of ZUNR which were sent to Riga
Riga
Riga is the capital and largest city of Latvia. With 702,891 inhabitants Riga is the largest city of the Baltic states, one of the largest cities in Northern Europe and home to more than one third of Latvia's population. The city is an important seaport and a major industrial, commercial,...
(1920), Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
(1921), he was a member of the ZUNR delegation in Genoa
Genoa
Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....
(1922), headed a Committee of political emigration. In 1923 he came back to Lviv after liquidation of the exile government.
In the years between wars he was a member of the Central Committee of the Ukrainian National Democratic Association (1925–1939), was a director of Centrobank, head of the Union of Ukrainian Barristers, author of fundamental scientific works including The History of the Liberation Struggles of the Galician Ukrainians Since the War of 1914–1918 (Parts I–III. – Lviv, 1929–1930), The Great Derangment: On the History of Ukrainian State in March-November 1918 on the Basis of Recollections and Documents (Lviv, 1931).
After the Soviet Army entered Western Ukraine, in September 1939, he was arrested by the People’s Commissariate of Internal Affairs and incarcerated in Lubyanka prison in Moscow. Joseph Stalin
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
, Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev led the Soviet Union during part of the Cold War. He served as First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964, and as Chairman of the Council of Ministers, or Premier, from 1958 to 1964...
, Vyacheslav Molotov
Vyacheslav Molotov
Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Molotov was a Soviet politician and diplomat, an Old Bolshevik and a leading figure in the Soviet government from the 1920s, when he rose to power as a protégé of Joseph Stalin, to 1957, when he was dismissed from the Presidium of the Central Committee by Nikita Khrushchev...
, and Lavrentiy Beria
Lavrentiy Beria
Lavrentiy Pavlovich Beria was a Georgian Soviet politician and state security administrator, chief of the Soviet security and secret police apparatus under Joseph Stalin during World War II, and Deputy Premier in the postwar years ....
were involved in the proceedings concerning his case. In the spring of 1941, he was released and returned to Lviv. After the start of the Soviet-German War
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa was the code name for Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II that began on 22 June 1941. Over 4.5 million troops of the Axis powers invaded the USSR along a front., the largest invasion in the history of warfare...
, an independent Ukrainian State was proclaimed on June 30, 1941. K. Levytsky headed the State Representative Body – a Council of Seniors (Ukrainian National Council), and defended the interests of Ukrainians. He worked to curb the excesses of the occupational regime, carried on negotiations with the administration of the district of Galicia, petitioned to end groundless repressions, and pleaded for the release of prisoners, often with positive results.
Kost Levytsky died that same year on November 12, 1941, and was buried at Yanivsky cemetery in Lviv.
Sources
- Display Page at www.encyclopediaofukraine.com
- Ukraine at www.worldstatesmen.org
- Government portal :: Governments of the West Ukrainian People's Republic - Officials at www.kmu.gov.ua
- Struggle for Independence (1917â20) at www.encyclopediaofukraine.com
- Government portal :: Governments of the West Ukrainian People's Republic at www.kmu.gov.ua