Serhiy Ostapenko
Encyclopedia
Serhiy Ostapenko was economist, statesman, and political activist of Ukraine. In the beginning of 1919 he directed the Council of People's Ministers of Ukrainian People's Republic
(prime-minister).
in November 1881. Today it is a village of Zhytomyr Raion
, Zhytomyr Oblast
. Ostapenko was born into family of a poor peasants and his father had another job as a freight transporter. From 1893 to 1897 Ostapenko attended the local elementary school after which he enrolled into an agrarian middle school in Bilokrynytsia of Kremenets uyezd (today Kremenets Raion of Ternopil Oblast
).
In 1904 he started to work as a teacher in a two-grade school of Turiysk of Kovel uyezd. In 1905 Ostapenko was arrested being a member of the Ukrainian Socialist Revolutionary Party. He spent the next three years in jail for political reasons as he claimed. After his release, Ostapenko had some trouble of finding employment. He graduated from the Vladimir cadet corps by taken final tests in 1909 and the same year enrolled into the Economic school of Kiev Commercial Institute. Upon his graduation in 1913 Ostapenko was sent to Germany
for the extending studies in economics.
In 1913 he returned to Ukraine where he found the job as a head of the Bureau of Statistics in Balta uyezd of Podolia Governorate
. In 1914 Ostapenko was transferred to Kharkov where he headed the Bureau of Statistics for the Mining Industry of Sloboda Ukraine
. Later he returned to Kiev
where he worked as a private-docent in the Kiev Commercial Institute until 1917.
for the negotiations in Brest-Litovsk
(see Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (Ukraine – Central Powers)). On March 14, 1918 Ostapenko was included to the trade commission of Mykola Porsh for the goods exchange with the Central Powers
and responsible to the Council of People's Ministers.
During the times of the Ukrainian State Ostapenko was included to the Serhiy Shelukhin's economic commission of the Ukrainian peace delegation during the negotiations with the delegation of the Soviet Russia in Kiev. These negotiations were taken place from May 23 through October 7, 1918. Concurrently with it Ostapenko read lectures of political economy, economical geography, and others for various schools in the city of Kiev.
forced Pavlo Skoropadsky
to emigrate, Ostapenko, being the member of the Ukrainian SR party, was elected to the socialist government of Volodymyr Chekhivsky as the minister of trade and industry. In February 1919 when the government of Ukraine had to relocate out of Kiev to Vinnytsia
with the advancing Bolshevik
forces, Ostapenko discontinued his membership with the Ukrainian SRs. After the resignation of several ministers from the government he was performing the duties of the minister of political agitation and propaganda. On February 6, 1919 Ostapenko participated as the representative of the Ukrainian government in the negotiations with the Chief of staff of the French military forces Colonel Freidenberg (see Entente intervention) at the railroad station of Birzula
, near Odessa
. The Ukrainians were requesting from the representatives of the Entente
a recognition of the sovereignty of Ukraine, allowing to participate at the Paris peace conference
, and several other important factors. After the negotiations brought no results the government of Chekhivsky resigned.
The Directorate of Ukraine
requested Ostapenko who was inclined to find the understanding with the members of the Entente
to form another government. His government was composed mostly out of more liberal-democratic representatives, but as the government did not bring any real results in the short period of time in couple of months it was replaced by the government of more socially oriented Borys Martos. No place for Ostapenko in the new government was found and he moved for couple of months to Galicia.
, he moved to Kamyanets-Podilsky that since June 1919 served as the temporary administrative center of the Ukrainian People's Republic
until the end of 1919. Still unable to find a job Ostapenko applied to the Kamyanets-Podilsky State University that was hiring numerous professors and private-docents in various fields.
On July 18, 1919 the minister of education Anton Krushelnytsky accepted his application by the reference of the University's first rector
Ivan Ohienko
. Ostapenko became a private-docent at the Department of Statistics of the University's Jurisprudential School and started his work in October 1919. On November 5, 1919 the council of the University's professors asked him to lecture the political economy beside his classes of statistics. On February 25, 1920 Ostapenko was confirmed as the permanent docent
of the Department of Political Economy and Statistics. In May 1920 the guberniya
administration published his books The course of statistics and demographics of 3,500 releases and The important characteristics of the Ukrainian ethnicity in comparison to other ethnics of 1,500.
. In May 1921 the Supreme Extraordinary Tribunal began the hearing of the affair of Ukrainian SRs on which Ostapenko was invited as a witness. However by the proposition of Dmitry Manuilsky
he was placed amongst the ones under trail. Ostapenko plead not guilty and was given five years of correctional labor camps. Later unexpectedly the sentence was changed and he was forced to work by specialty instead of katorga
, due to his value as a scientific force. Further his fate is not known. There are speculations that 1931 he was arrested by the NKVD
and perished in the labor camps (according to the Encyclopedia of Ukraine) sometime in 1937.
Ukrainian People's Republic
The Ukrainian People's Republic or Ukrainian National Republic was a republic that was declared in part of the territory of modern Ukraine after the Russian Revolution, eventually headed by Symon Petliura.-Revolutionary Wave:...
(prime-minister).
Early years
Ostapenko was born in the town of Troyaniv near ZhytomyrZhytomyr
Zhytomyr is a city in the North of the western half of Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Zhytomyr Oblast , as well as the administrative center of the surrounding Zhytomyr Raion...
in November 1881. Today it is a village of Zhytomyr Raion
Zhytomyr Raion
Zhytomyr Raion is a raion of Zhytomyr Oblast, northern Ukraine. Its administrative centre is located at Zhytomyr. The raion covers an area of 1441 square kilometres and as of 2011 it had a population of 69,819 people....
, Zhytomyr Oblast
Zhytomyr Oblast
Zhytomyr Oblast is an oblast of northern Ukraine. The administrative center of the oblast is the city of Zhytomyr.-History:The oblast was created as part of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic on September 22, 1937....
. Ostapenko was born into family of a poor peasants and his father had another job as a freight transporter. From 1893 to 1897 Ostapenko attended the local elementary school after which he enrolled into an agrarian middle school in Bilokrynytsia of Kremenets uyezd (today Kremenets Raion of Ternopil Oblast
Ternopil Oblast
Ternopil Oblast is an oblast' of Ukraine. Its administrative center is Ternopil, through which flows the Seret River, a tributary of the Dnister.-Geography:...
).
In 1904 he started to work as a teacher in a two-grade school of Turiysk of Kovel uyezd. In 1905 Ostapenko was arrested being a member of the Ukrainian Socialist Revolutionary Party. He spent the next three years in jail for political reasons as he claimed. After his release, Ostapenko had some trouble of finding employment. He graduated from the Vladimir cadet corps by taken final tests in 1909 and the same year enrolled into the Economic school of Kiev Commercial Institute. Upon his graduation in 1913 Ostapenko was sent to Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
for the extending studies in economics.
In 1913 he returned to Ukraine where he found the job as a head of the Bureau of Statistics in Balta uyezd of Podolia Governorate
Podolia Governorate
The Podolia Governorate or Government of Podolia, set up after the Second Partition of Poland, comprised a governorate of the Russian Empire from 1793 to 1917, of the Ukrainian People's Republic from 1917 to 1921, and of the Ukrainian SSR from 1921 to 1925.-Location:The Podolian Governorate...
. In 1914 Ostapenko was transferred to Kharkov where he headed the Bureau of Statistics for the Mining Industry of Sloboda Ukraine
Sloboda Ukraine
Sloboda Ukraine was a historical region which developed and flourished in the 17th and 18th centuries on the southwestern frontier of the Tsardom of Russia....
. Later he returned to Kiev
Kiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
where he worked as a private-docent in the Kiev Commercial Institute until 1917.
The reavolution
In January 1918 Ostapenko was included as a economic adviser to the Ukrainian economic commission of Vsevolod HolubovychVsevolod Holubovych
Vsevolod Oleksandrovych Holubovych was born in the village of Poltavka, Balta uyezd, Podolie Governorate. Holubovych was the Prime Minister of the Ukrainian People's Republic from January to March.-Early period:...
for the negotiations in Brest-Litovsk
Brest, Belarus
Brest , formerly also Brest-on-the-Bug and Brest-Litovsk , is a city in Belarus at the border with Poland opposite the city of Terespol, where the Bug River and Mukhavets rivers meet...
(see Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (Ukraine – Central Powers)). On March 14, 1918 Ostapenko was included to the trade commission of Mykola Porsh for the goods exchange with the Central Powers
Central Powers
The Central Powers were one of the two warring factions in World War I , composed of the German Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Bulgaria...
and responsible to the Council of People's Ministers.
During the times of the Ukrainian State Ostapenko was included to the Serhiy Shelukhin's economic commission of the Ukrainian peace delegation during the negotiations with the delegation of the Soviet Russia in Kiev. These negotiations were taken place from May 23 through October 7, 1918. Concurrently with it Ostapenko read lectures of political economy, economical geography, and others for various schools in the city of Kiev.
Statesman career
After the Directorate of UkraineDirectorate of Ukraine
The Directorate, or Directory was a provisional revolutionary state committee of the Ukrainian National Republic, formed in 1918 by the Ukrainian National Union in rebellion against Skoropadsky's regime....
forced Pavlo Skoropadsky
Pavlo Skoropadsky
Pavlo Petrovych Skoropadskyi 3 May 1873, Wiesbaden, Germany – 26 April 1945, Metten monastery clinic, Bavaria, Germany) was a Ukrainian politician, earlier an aristocrat and decorated Imperial Russian Army general...
to emigrate, Ostapenko, being the member of the Ukrainian SR party, was elected to the socialist government of Volodymyr Chekhivsky as the minister of trade and industry. In February 1919 when the government of Ukraine had to relocate out of Kiev to Vinnytsia
Vinnytsia
Vinnytsia is a city located on the banks of the Southern Bug, in central Ukraine. It is the administrative center of Vinnytsia Oblast.-Names:...
with the advancing Bolshevik
Bolshevik
The Bolsheviks, originally also Bolshevists , derived from bol'shinstvo, "majority") were a faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party which split apart from the Menshevik faction at the Second Party Congress in 1903....
forces, Ostapenko discontinued his membership with the Ukrainian SRs. After the resignation of several ministers from the government he was performing the duties of the minister of political agitation and propaganda. On February 6, 1919 Ostapenko participated as the representative of the Ukrainian government in the negotiations with the Chief of staff of the French military forces Colonel Freidenberg (see Entente intervention) at the railroad station of Birzula
Kotovsk, Ukraine
thumb|Kotovsky Memorial in KotovskKotovsk is a city in Odessa Oblast, Ukraine, the administrative center of Kotovskyi Raion. Population is 40,718 ....
, near Odessa
Odessa
Odessa or Odesa is the administrative center of the Odessa Oblast located in southern Ukraine. The city is a major seaport located on the northwest shore of the Black Sea and the fourth largest city in Ukraine with a population of 1,029,000 .The predecessor of Odessa, a small Tatar settlement,...
. The Ukrainians were requesting from the representatives of the Entente
Triple Entente
The Triple Entente was the name given to the alliance among Britain, France and Russia after the signing of the Anglo-Russian Entente in 1907....
a recognition of the sovereignty of Ukraine, allowing to participate at the Paris peace conference
Paris Peace Conference, 1919
The Paris Peace Conference was the meeting of the Allied victors following the end of World War I to set the peace terms for the defeated Central Powers following the armistices of 1918. It took place in Paris in 1919 and involved diplomats from more than 32 countries and nationalities...
, and several other important factors. After the negotiations brought no results the government of Chekhivsky resigned.
The Directorate of Ukraine
Directorate of Ukraine
The Directorate, or Directory was a provisional revolutionary state committee of the Ukrainian National Republic, formed in 1918 by the Ukrainian National Union in rebellion against Skoropadsky's regime....
requested Ostapenko who was inclined to find the understanding with the members of the Entente
Triple Entente
The Triple Entente was the name given to the alliance among Britain, France and Russia after the signing of the Anglo-Russian Entente in 1907....
to form another government. His government was composed mostly out of more liberal-democratic representatives, but as the government did not bring any real results in the short period of time in couple of months it was replaced by the government of more socially oriented Borys Martos. No place for Ostapenko in the new government was found and he moved for couple of months to Galicia.
Professor's career
After some successes at the Bolshevik front and the liberation of PodoliaPodolia
The region of Podolia is an historical region in the west-central and south-west portions of present-day Ukraine, corresponding to Khmelnytskyi Oblast and Vinnytsia Oblast. Northern Transnistria, in Moldova, is also a part of Podolia...
, he moved to Kamyanets-Podilsky that since June 1919 served as the temporary administrative center of the Ukrainian People's Republic
Ukrainian People's Republic
The Ukrainian People's Republic or Ukrainian National Republic was a republic that was declared in part of the territory of modern Ukraine after the Russian Revolution, eventually headed by Symon Petliura.-Revolutionary Wave:...
until the end of 1919. Still unable to find a job Ostapenko applied to the Kamyanets-Podilsky State University that was hiring numerous professors and private-docents in various fields.
On July 18, 1919 the minister of education Anton Krushelnytsky accepted his application by the reference of the University's first rector
Rector
The word rector has a number of different meanings; it is widely used to refer to an academic, religious or political administrator...
Ivan Ohienko
Metropolitan Ilarion (Ivan Ohienko)
Metropolitan Ilarion was a Ukrainian Orthodox cleric, linguist, church historian, and historian of Ukrainian culture. In 1940 he was Archimandrite of the St...
. Ostapenko became a private-docent at the Department of Statistics of the University's Jurisprudential School and started his work in October 1919. On November 5, 1919 the council of the University's professors asked him to lecture the political economy beside his classes of statistics. On February 25, 1920 Ostapenko was confirmed as the permanent docent
Docent
Docent is a title at some European universities to denote a specific academic appointment within a set structure of academic ranks below professor . Docent is also used at some universities generically for a person who has the right to teach...
of the Department of Political Economy and Statistics. In May 1920 the guberniya
Guberniya
A guberniya was a major administrative subdivision of the Russian Empire usually translated as government, governorate, or province. Such administrative division was preserved for sometime upon the collapse of the empire in 1917. A guberniya was ruled by a governor , a word borrowed from Latin ,...
administration published his books The course of statistics and demographics of 3,500 releases and The important characteristics of the Ukrainian ethnicity in comparison to other ethnics of 1,500.
Life in the Soviet Ukraine
By the end of 1920 Ostapenko relocated to KievKiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
. In May 1921 the Supreme Extraordinary Tribunal began the hearing of the affair of Ukrainian SRs on which Ostapenko was invited as a witness. However by the proposition of Dmitry Manuilsky
Dmitry Manuilsky
Dmitriy Manuilsky, or Dmytro Zakharovych Manuilsky was an important Bolshevik. He was the son of an Orthodox priest from a Ukrainian village. After secondary school he enrolled in the University of St...
he was placed amongst the ones under trail. Ostapenko plead not guilty and was given five years of correctional labor camps. Later unexpectedly the sentence was changed and he was forced to work by specialty instead of katorga
Katorga
Katorga was a system of penal servitude of the prison farm type in Tsarist Russia...
, due to his value as a scientific force. Further his fate is not known. There are speculations that 1931 he was arrested by the NKVD
NKVD
The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs was the public and secret police organization of the Soviet Union that directly executed the rule of power of the Soviets, including political repression, during the era of Joseph Stalin....
and perished in the labor camps (according to the Encyclopedia of Ukraine) sometime in 1937.