Mikhail Sergeevich Grushevsky, born September 29, 1866 in Kholm, Kingdom of Poland, died November 24, 1934 in Kislovodsk, . Ukrainian historian, Head of the Central Rada of the Ukrainian People's Republic (UNR).
Two exploits of Mikhail Grushevsky.
In the UPR there was no position called “president,” but it was “the first president of Ukraine” that many people called Mykhailo Grushevsky then and now, wrote bibliographer Dmitry Doroshenko (1882-1951). Officially, Grushevsky’s position was the head of the National Assembly.
Grushevsky was the developer of the Constitution of the UPR and a number of other important documents of the Ukrainian state, most of which remained only on paper, since:
A month later, in February 1918, the troops of Soviet Russia captured, the Central Rada moved to Zhitomir;
Another 2 months later, on April 29, 1918, the Central Rada was liquidated as a result of a coup d'etat by Hetman P. P. Skoropadsky. The occupation forces and Austria-Hungary needed not a liberal and democrat, Mikhail Grushevsky, at the head of Ukraine, but a tough dictator, General Skoropadsky;
After 7 months, in November 1918, the regime of Hetman Skoropadsky fell (a revolution took place in Germany, German troops lost in the First World War and returned to their homeland). The work of Mikhail Grushevsky was continued by the Directorate of the UPR, headed by Vinichenko, then Simon Petlyura.
He was an active member of the Czech Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Sciences, and also a member of the USSR Academy of Sciences, long-term head of the Scientific Community named after. Shevchenko, head of the department of history at Lviv University, author of more than 2000 scientific works.
He is the author of Ukrainian historiography. He developed his own concept, which boils down to the fact that it is an indigenous population that has existed since the times of the ancient Antes and, possibly, are descendants of even more ancient Trypillian people (the so-called Trypillian culture). Ukrainians in Kievan Rus were the main population from which they descend - the descendants of the wild peoples of the northeast cultivated by Ukrainians. The heir to the statehood of Kievan Rus is not, but the Principality of Galicia-Volyn, and through it the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
Biography of Mikhail Grushevsky.
1885 - the first publications of Grushevsky’s works “Bekh-al-Jugur” and “Poor Girl”;
July 1886 - writes an appeal addressed to the rector of the Kyiv University named after St. Vladimir with a request to enroll him in the history department of the Faculty of History and Philology;
1890-1894 - professorial fellow at the University of St. Vladimir. At this time, Grushevsky goes on scientific trips to Moscow and Warsaw to work in local archives;
May 1894 - defends his master's thesis. At the end of his studies he joins the Ukrainian movement. Appointed to the position of ordinary professor at the department of “world history with a separate generalization of the history of Eastern Europe” at Lviv University;
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MIKHAIL GRUSHEVSKY
Historian, organizer of historical science, literary critic, sociologist, publicist, writer, political, public and statesman - few of his contemporaries could boast of such a track record. But Mikhail Sergeevich Grushevsky, possessing colossal efficiency and remarkable talent, managed to leave a significant mark on the history of Ukraine.
Mikhail Grushevsky was born on September 17, 1866 in the city of Kholm (now the territory of Poland) in the family of a teacher of Russian language and literature at the Russian-Greek-Uniate gymnasium. As the scientist wrote in his autobiography, their family has been known since the 18th century. and came from Chigirinsky district. Father, Sergei Fedorovich, was an energetic and good-natured man, he graduated from the Kyiv Theological Academy, but refused to take monastic vows and devoted himself to teaching. In Kyiv, he met the priest’s daughter Glafira Opokova, who later became his wife and assistant in all his endeavors. The couple moved to Kholm, then to Stavropol, and then to the Caucasus, where Sergei Fedorovich served as inspector of public schools in the Stavropol Territory and director of all public schools in the Terek Region. For his work, he was awarded the rank of actual state councilor, giving the right to hereditary nobility. In addition, S. Grushevsky created one of the best textbooks of the Church Slavonic language, which was republished more than once and provided the author with decent capital. This gave his children - Mikhail, Alexander and Anna - the opportunity to do what they loved. It was from his father that Grushevsky adopted his love and affection for everything Ukrainian - the language, songs, traditions.
Mikhail spent his childhood in the Caucasus. The boy began to read early, gradually mastering the home library, and through fiction and folklore he discovered the land of his ancestors - Ukraine. However, in the period 1869-1876. three times he stayed for quite a long time in Ukraine, in his mother’s homeland in the village of Sestrinovka in the Kiev region.
His passion for history came after enrolling in the 1st Tiflis Classical Gymnasium, where he studied in 1880-1886: Here Mikhail read a lot, became acquainted with the works of Ukrainian historians, folklorists, ethnographers - M. Kostomarov, M. Maksimovich, P. Kulish and etc. The young man spent so much time in the library that his superiors appointed him librarian of the student book depository.
At first, Mikhail Grushevsky saw his future in fiction, and began writing poetry and prose in Russian, and then in Ukrainian. The path to literature was opened for him by I. Nechuy-Levitsky, to whom the young author sent his poems and the story “Mute Witness” (in Ukrainian) with a request to publish them under the pseudonym Mikhail Zavoloka. Later, Grushevsky realized his weakness in versification and sent Nechui-Levitsky mainly stories. One of them, “Bekh-al-Jugur”, saw the world in the Lvov newspaper “Delo” in 1885.
But Mikhail Sergeevich never became a writer: in a difficult struggle, history, which the young man became interested in at the age of 14, prevailed. The magazine “Kiev Antiquity,” which he called his real school, played a huge role in Grushevsky’s development as a historian. In addition, while still at the gymnasium, the young man began to study languages - Czech, Polish, Bulgarian, Serbian, and became interested in the history of Rus', the Cossacks, and archeology.
The desire for a deeper study of history led him to Kiev University, where he spent 1886-1890. On the way to the university, Grushevsky had to overcome obstacles: his father, frightened by recent student protests in Kyiv and afraid of his son’s Ukrainian passion, hesitated for a long time. Calming him down, Mikhail promised not to take part in student unrest.
On July 30, 1886, Grushevsky was enrolled in the historical department of the historical and philological faculty of the Kyiv University of St. Vladimir. But the young man, who dreamed of real science, was disappointed: classical philology was in the foreground, and everything else was pushed into the background and limited to general courses - these subjects could not give anything beyond what an educated and well-read high school student knew. Despite these circumstances, he continued to study and took his first steps in science under the guidance of Professor V. Antonovich - “the eminence grise of Ukrainian historical science.” The interests of the young scientist covered many topics. Already in his third year, he wrote the work “The History of the Kyiv Land from the Death of Yaroslav to the End of the XIV Century,” for which he was awarded a gold medal. In 1890-1894. Mikhail worked at Kiev University as a professorial fellow, and in May 1894, not without difficulties in searching for documentary materials, he defended his master’s thesis “Manorial eldership. Historical essays".
From this moment a new stage in the life of M. Grushevsky begins. In 1894, the 27-year-old master moved to Lviv, where, on the recommendation of Antonovich, he headed the department of “world history with a special review of the history of Eastern Europe.”
It was with Lviv University, the scientific and socio-political life of Galicia that the subsequent years of the historian’s life were connected. The main task was to prepare and teach a course of university lectures on the history of Ukraine, which later became the basis for the fundamental work “History of Ukraine-Rus”. In 1897, Grushevsky officially headed the Scientific Society named after. T. Shevchenko, while remaining the head of the historical section and the archaeographic commission until 1914. Moreover, the Lvov period of his life was marked by his entry into “big politics”: in 1899 he became one of the organizers of the Ukrainian National Democratic Party - the leading party in Galicia.
This was a period of active scientific and organizational activity. Thanks to Grushevsky’s efforts, the society’s library funds were replenished, the first books began to be published, a museum was founded, scientific commissions of various directions were created, and most importantly, “Notes of the Scientific Society” began to be published, a universal scientific publication where the works of historians, literary scholars, folklorists, and public figures were published. Edited by Grushevsky in 1895-1913. More than 100 volumes of “notes” were published. The creative tandem of Grushevsky and I. Franko (1856-1916) also played a huge role in this, without whose help the scientist would hardly have been able to complete such a titanic work. They united young scientists around themselves, and thus, by the beginning of the 20th century. Lviv became one of the scientific centers not only of the Ukrainian lands, but also of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
An important step towards the popularization of Ukrainian historical science in Europe was Hrushevsky’s trip to Paris, where he gave a course of lectures on the history of Ukraine at the Russian Higher School of Social Sciences in Paris in the spring of 1903. In order to expand scientific contacts, the scientist visited London, Berlin, Leipzig , and upon his return decided to establish courses for Ukrainian youth in Lvov, inaugurated in 1904. It was at these courses that lectures on history were given, which later formed the basis of the “Essays on the History of the Ukrainian People” in Russian. Thus, the scientist returned to his long-standing idea of writing a book on the history of Ukraine, which he imagined to be “short and accessible to everyone.” Fascinated by art, Mikhail Sergeevich also prepared an illustrated history of Ukraine: the first edition of 1911 in 6 thousand copies. sold out within six months - but by the standards of that time it was a serious success.
After the revolution of 1905, a period of some thaw began - in the Russian Empire, restrictions on the use of the Ukrainian language were partially lifted, the Ukrainian-language press became more active, and Grushevsky, having visited Kiev, Kharkov, Odessa, decides to return to Kyiv, maintaining close ties with Lvov and Nauchny society named after T. Shevchenko. In fact, in the period 1906-1914. he lived between Lvov and Kyiv. In Kyiv, back in 1909, a luxurious 6-story mansion was purchased on the street. Pankovskaya with antique furniture and a rich collection of Ukrainian antiquities - books, glass, porcelain, portraits of K. Razumovsky, I. Mazepa, paintings by V. Krichevsky; in addition, Grushevsky had a large collection of personal correspondence of Ukrainian elders, acts of the old Kyiv magistrate, several dozen old printed books of the 17th-18th centuries. Mikhail Sergeevich used his collection of art objects for a practical purpose - he illustrated numerous publications on the history of Ukraine, and in addition he was going to write a fundamental history of Ukrainian culture. The revolution of 1905 actualized the Ukrainian issue in the Russian Empire and opened the possibility for the founding of the Ukrainian Scientific Society (UNS). The need for a Ukrainian scientific center in Russian-speaking Kyiv was felt quite acutely. Many Ukrainian scientists took part in the organization of the society, and at the first meeting on April 21, 1907, M. Grushevsky was elected head. The society united almost all national creative forces, published the magazines “Ukraine”, “Notes of the UNO”, “Ukrainian Scientific Collection”, and dealt with issues of archeology, ethnography, and art history. While directing the work of the society, Grushevsky himself continued to engage in scientific activities.
He did not stop political activity. In 1908, an illegal inter-party socio-political organization was created in Kyiv - the Society of Ukrainian Activists, and M. Grushevsky became a member of its governing body - the Council. And although the Society was not a political party, in essence, it set itself the task of achieving the creation of national-territorial autonomy in Ukraine as part of federal Russia.
In 1914, Mikhail Sergeevich was already a famous historian, at the zenith of his fame - he himself calculated that over 25 years of activity he created more than 25 volumes of works. The professor had political work in parties and ideological leadership of the Ukrainian faction in the 1st and 2nd State Dumas. In addition, already during this period, Grushevsky became the leader of the Ukrainian nation, a popular politician, and publicist. It is clear that such active activity could not leave both the Austro-Hungarian and Russian police indifferent.
The First World War began. In one of his articles, Grushevsky criticized the policies of the murdered Archduke Franz Ferdinand, and the Austrian police opened an administrative case against him. At that time, Grushevsky was with his family in the Carpathians, in the village of Krivorovnya, and in this situation he decided to return to Kyiv. But from August 1914, surveillance of him was also organized by the Kyiv gendarmerie department. On November 22, Grushevsky arrived in Kyiv through Vienna, Italy and Romania, and on November 28 he was arrested and taken to Lukyanovskaya prison. After 3 months of interrogation, he was exiled to Simbirsk, and from September 1915 - to Kazan. Here Grushevsky continued to engage in scientific activities, teaching at the university - a kind of shelter for many disgraced St. Petersburg, Moscow and Ukrainian dissident scientists. Together with the scientist in exile were his wife Maria Silvestrovna and daughter Katerina. In the fall of 1916, they were allowed to move to Moscow, where Grushevsky was under covert surveillance. In addition, he was prohibited from visiting Ukraine under any pretext.
Together with the Ukrainian community in Moscow - S. Petliura, V. Vinnychenko, D. Doroshenko, E. Chykalenko, he worked in the Moscow branch of the Society of Ukrainian Activists, and was engaged in organizational and scientific work. After the February Revolution of 1917, the scientist received his long-awaited, hard-won freedom. He was released from supervision and his passport was returned. And immediately Grushevsky intensified his political activity - he was elected in absentia as head of the Central Rada. As he himself wrote, “in Kyiv, Ukrainians began to organize a political center called the Central Rada, elected me as head and began calling me to come immediately.”
This period was the peak of M. Grushevsky’s political and state activities. He became the ideologist of the Ukrainian revolution and, together with the Central Rada, went from national-territorial autonomy to the idea of independence of Ukraine. He outlined his ideas about the future of Ukraine in numerous journalistic articles published in 1917-1918 - “What kind of autonomy do we want?”, “Who are the Ukrainians and what do they want”, “Ukrainian independence and its historical necessity” and etc. In these works, Grushevsky outlined his own understanding of national-territorial autonomy, which he considered as a real step towards the independence of Ukraine.
Soon the Central Rada refused to recognize the executive committee of the Provisional Government in Kyiv and issued a declaration granting Ukraine full autonomy. Grushevsky's attempts to find a common language with the Provisional Government were unsuccessful. Returning to Kiev, at a meeting of the Rada, he insisted on convening the All-Ukrainian National Congress, which took place on April 6-8, 1917 and united more than 600 representatives of many parties, scientific societies, cooperative organizations not only in Ukraine, but also in Kuban, Bessarabia, Moscow and Dr. Grushevsky played a decisive role in consolidating the congress around the idea of complete autonomy for Ukraine and on April 8 he was re-elected head of the UCR. This was the peak of M. Grushevsky’s political activity. The deputy heads were S. Efremov and V. Vinnichenko. Grushevsky central council
On May 18, 700 soldier delegates who gathered in Kyiv from the active army also elected their representatives to the Central Rada; a month later, about 1000 delegates of the Ukrainian Peasant Congress, and then the Workers' Congress, followed their example. In fact, the Central Rada has turned into the parliament of Ukraine. At the 2nd Military Congress on June 10, 1917, she proclaimed her First Universal, which declared the autonomy of Ukraine with the following words: “Let Ukraine be free. Without separating from all of Russia, without breaking with the Russian state...” In accordance with this document, the General Secretariat was created, headed by V. Vinnichenko. If the secretariat concentrated all executive power in its hands, then Grushevsky remained the uncontested leader of the Ukrainian movement.
The decisive activity of the Central Rada alarmed the Provisional Government. On June 19, ministers arrived in Kyiv and, after negotiations, agreed to the autonomy of Ukraine, but with the condition of its postponement until the All-Russian Constituent Assembly. For their part, the Radovites agreed to provide several seats in the UCR to non-Ukrainian revolutionary democratic forces. The parties' concessions were recorded in special declarations. The Provisional Government also recognized the General Secretariat. The response to this step was the adoption of Universal II on July 3, 1917, which stated that issues of Ukrainian autonomy should be resolved by the All-Russian Constituent Assembly. In fact, Universal II changed little in the process of creating the Ukrainian state: without denying the independence of Ukraine, it became a step towards its implementation.
On September 21-28, 1917, the Congress of Peoples took place in Kyiv, which was attended by representatives of 12 nationalities. M. Grushevsky was elected honorary head of the Congress and in his report insisted on the need for a federal restructuring of Russia, the subsequent federalization of all European peoples and their possible unification into a single world federation. To implement the ideas of the congress, a Council was formed, the head of which was elected Mikhail Sergeevich. But the Bolshevik coup in Petrograd on October 25, 1917 nullified all these plans.
The Provisional Government was arrested, Russia was proclaimed a Republic of Soviets of Workers', Peasants' and Soldiers' Deputies, and a government headed by V. Lenin was formed. In Ukraine, three forces opposed: the Central Rada, supporters of the Provisional Government represented by the Kyiv Military District and the Bolsheviks. Grushevsky and the UCR spoke out strongly against the uprising in Petrograd and declared their readiness to fight “all attempts to support the uprising in Ukraine.” November 7, 1917 b. The UCR proclaimed the III Universal, according to which Ukraine became part of the federal Russian Republic called the Ukrainian People's Republic (UNR), private land ownership was abolished, an 8-hour working day was established, and national-territorial autonomy was guaranteed to Jews and Poles. December 27 was proclaimed the day of elections to the Ukrainian Constituent Assembly, and January 9, 1918 - the day of its convocation. The Universal was solemnly read out on Sophia Square in Kyiv in the presence of troops, foreign missions, and a prayer service. This document became the most important historical act: after 250 years of captivity, the Ukrainian people officially declared the revival of their statehood.
In addition, the UCR began to disarm Bolshevik detachments and send them to Russia. Such actions could not fail to cause a proper reaction, and on December 4, 1917, the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR passed an ultimatum, according to which it revealed its readiness to cooperate with the UPR, but presented a number of demands that it was forced to fulfill under the threat of civil war. The ultimatum was not just an intervention in the internal affairs of the UPR, but also made it completely dependent on the Council of People's Commissars. Slogans about the independence of Ukraine were heard more and more often, and on January 9, 1918, the IV Universal was proclaimed, which declared Ukraine an independent and independent state. Most likely, the author of this document was M. Grushevsky.
Meanwhile, the confrontation with the Central Executive Committee of the Soviets of Ukraine continued. Gradually, Rivne, Sevastopol, Yekaterinoslav, Mariupol, Sumy, and Krivoy Rog came under Soviet rule. The ring around Kyiv was narrowing; The existing army was not enough, and the heroic death of 300 cadets and students near Kruty did not save Kyiv. On January 25, 1918, members of the Small Rada, led by Grushevsky, left for Zhitomir. The encirclement of Kyiv also had personal consequences for Grushevsky: his house on the street. Pankovskaya was mercilessly shot from an armored car by the Bolsheviks, and a unique collection of antiquities was destroyed. At the end of January, Grushevsky suffered another loss - his mother died, the scientist could not even say goodbye to her.
At this time, the Central Rada adopted a number of important laws - on the state emblem of the UPR (trident) and the monetary unit (hryvnia). And in April, with the help of German and Austro-Hungarian units, Grushevsky and the CR managed to return to Kyiv.
The final chord of M. Grushevsky’s political activity was the adoption of the Constitution of the UPR on April 29, 1918, which proclaimed Ukraine a sovereign parliamentary state, guaranteed the rights of all peoples, and divided power into judicial, executive and legislative. According to the constitution, the supreme body of the UPR was the Supreme Assembly and M. Grushevsky was to become its elected head, but in conditions of political instability, when the Germans’ intentions to disperse the Central Rada became obvious, it was necessary to act decisively and Grushevsky was offered to declare a dictatorship and proclaim himself a dictator. The scientist refused, and on April 29, 1918, the Central Rada ceased to exist. M. Grushevsky left the political arena, giving way to a new generation of politicians raised during the times of the Central Rada.
While Hetman P. Skoropadsky was in power, the scientist took part in the creation of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, which, however, existed until the beginning of 1919. When the Directory came to power, there was no place for Grushevsky in its plans and he decided to leave with his family to Galicia. Having agreed to act as a representative of the Foreign Delegation of the UPSR, in April 1919 he went to Prague through Stanislav (now Ivano-Frankivsk). Thus began his emigration. The years of exile became a test for Mikhail Sergeevich, not only because of material difficulties, but also because his ideas were a fiasco. In Prague, he contacted Czech socialists, met with Tomas Masaryk, in Paris he met with British and American diplomats, trying to no avail to draw their attention to the Ukrainian issue. At the conference of the Second International in Lucerne (Switzerland), a declaration was approved on the right to state sovereignty of Ukraine and other Eastern European states that found themselves on the territory of Russia. Grushevsky also took part in a number of European conferences in Prague, Vienna, and Berlin. His activities at that time were active: he initiated the organization of the “Committee of Independent Ukraine”, the publication of the magazine “Eastern Europe” in French and English, which he even partially financed.
In November 1919, Grushevsky settled with his family in Geneva (Switzerland), planning to live there and publish the magazine “Eastern Europe”, but soon returned to Prague, and then to Vienna, where he lived until returning to Ukraine. At this time, he received offers from the universities of Oxford and Princeton, negotiated with Lvov University, and representatives of intellectual emigration from Ukraine came to Baden near Vienna. Grushevsky founded the Ukrainian Sociological Institute in Vienna (1919-1922), which, along with scientific ones, was supposed to perform political functions. The Institute published the magazine “Fight, Overcome,” where numerous articles by the scientist were published, was engaged in publishing and lecturing activities, among others, “History of Ukraine” by M. Grushevsky was published in French.
Over time, the scientist began to think about returning to Ukraine: the Soviet government gave permission for “prof. Grushevsky,” and on December 31, 1923, he was elected in absentia as a member of the VUAN. In March 1924, he and his family returned to Kyiv. The return was a compromise solution; he still hoped for the degeneration of the communist regime. Formally, the Grushevskys’ place of residence was house 9 on the street. Pankovskaya, but it was badly damaged, and an outbuilding in the courtyard became a shelter for the professor’s family.
Members of the VUAN at that time were outstanding scientists - A. Krymsky,
S. Efremov, D. Bagaliy, M. Belyashevsky and others, they were wary of Grushevsky’s return. The scientist headed the department of history of Ukraine and the historical section of the VUAN, which at the end of the 20s consisted of the academic department of the history of the Ukrainian people (at first it had two full-time employees - Grushevsky’s daughter Ekaterina and his nephew S. Shamray) and a number of commissions. Grushevsky completely focused on scientific and organizational activities: under his leadership, archaeographic and folklore-ethnographic expeditions operated, a research department of the history of Ukraine was founded, a Cabinet of Primitive Culture was opened at the Department of History of Ukraine, numerous materials were published, including in the journal “Ukraine”, which, thanks to the efforts of Grushevsky, became a royalty publication. But the activities of Mikhail Sergeevich were perceived ambiguously: there was no unity in the VUAN, and many scientists (S. Efremov, A. Krymsky) opposed the venerable scientist, reproaching him for flirting with the Soviet regime. Neither Grushevsky nor his opponents at the Academy accepted the Bolshevik regime, but Mikhail Sergeevich wanted to implement his own model of the Academy and become at its helm. It can be said with confidence that the communist regime “fuelled” the conflict in VUAN in order to use it for its own purposes. The conflict reached its climax in 1927. The Central Committee of the Communist Party (b)U supported Grushevsky as president of the VUAN, since he was actually weakening the influence of the more radical wing of the Ukrainian academic intelligentsia. In 1929, he was also elected a member of the All-Union Academy of Sciences, which his contemporaries regarded as “a piece of meat thrown by the regime to Ukraine.” But the scientist’s position did not suit the Soviet government either - he criticized its policy towards scientists and cultural figures, accusing them of pressure. And soon the regime stopped hiding that it wanted to get even with Grushevsky for his political past.
The end of the 20s and the beginning of the 30s were terrible times for the Ukrainian intelligentsia - numerous arrests of scientists and cultural figures caused panic in Ukrainian circles. It became obvious that the policy of “Ukrainization” would be curtailed and all those disliked by the regime would be punished. Thus, S. Efremov, I. Mandzyuk and others were arrested, and those who remained free were forced to submit to ideological demands. The historical and philological department of the Academy of Sciences was reorganized, commissions were closed, and “purges” were carried out in the historical sectors of the VUAN. In 1930, the research department of the history of Ukraine was liquidated, and at the same time they stopped publishing the magazine “Ukraine”. Grushevsky headed the department of history of Ukraine during the period of feudalism, but only formally, since back in March 1931 he and his daughter went to Moscow. In the documents of the special services, he was already openly called “the leader of the counter-revolutionaries”; he was credited with founding the Ukrainian National Center - an all-Ukrainian counter-revolutionary organization. On March 23, 1931, Grushevsky was arrested. After interrogations, the scientist, already an elderly and sick man, signed all the papers, admitted all the charges brought against him and was released. He was allowed to continue to live in Moscow. In the last years of his life, Mikhail Sergeevich was engaged in scientific work - he worked on the continuation of the “History of Ukrainian Literature”, published articles, but due to poor health he no longer carried out active public activities, and did not even speak at meetings of the USSR Academy of Sciences.
In Moscow, he continued to be under the hood of the OGPU, then the NKVD. They were interested not only in the academician, but also in his daughter, who was also under surveillance in 1932. Meanwhile, another attack was being prepared in Ukraine. In September 1934, Grushevsky arrived in Kislovodsk with his wife and daughter, at the resort he communicated with many representatives of science and culture, and the security officers did not stop working out versions of the scientist’s intention to flee abroad. But on November 13, Mikhail Sergeevich was admitted to the Kislovodsk city hospital with a diagnosis of “Malignant carbuncle of the back, sepsis”; he underwent several operations. The scientist’s condition worsened, and blood transfusions did not help. On November 24, 1934, doctors stated “death due to increasing cardiac weakness.” Mikhail Sergeevich was buried in Kyiv, at the Baikovo cemetery on November 29. Immediately after the death of the scientist, rumors arose about her violent nature and poisoning. But to this day they have not been able to prove anything.
After the death of M. Grushevsky, V. Vernadsky wrote: “I believed and still believe that Grushevsky did a great job for the revival of the Ukrainian people. A great personality, no matter what they say, who left a mark on the national identity of Ukraine. How will things turn out in the future? The main thing is not political, but the enormous historical and factual that remains in the published monuments and materials. I think the depth of his influence will become clearer after his death."
Over time, these words were confirmed.
Mikhail Grushevsky was born in Kholm, (Poland, now Chełm, Polish Chełm). His father was a teacher at a Greek-Uniate gymnasium. He spent his youth in the Caucasus, where he studied at the Tiflis gymnasium.
In 1886-1890 he studied at the Faculty of Philology of Kyiv University. For his student work “Essay on the history of the Kyiv land from the death of Yaroslav to the end of the 14th century.” received a gold medal and was retained at the university.
After graduating from the university, Grushevsky published articles in “Kyiv Antiquity”, “Notes of the Shevchenko Scientific Society”, and published two volumes of materials in the “Archive of Southwestern Russia” (part VIII, vols. I and II). The preface to these materials was Grushevsky’s master’s thesis, entitled “The Lord’s Starostvo” (Kyiv, 1894).
Theory of ethnogenesis of the Ukrainian people
In his works, Grushevsky developed his theory of the origin and development of statehood of Kievan Rus and its people.
Grushevsky and Russophiles
In 1894, the Department of General History was opened at Lvov University with a special review of the history of Eastern Europe, which Grushevsky occupied.
In Lvov, Grushevsky wrote and published his historical works “Vimki from zherel to the history of Ukraine-Rus” (1895), “Inventory of royalty in the lands of the Russians of the 16th century.” (1895-1903, 4 vols.), “Explorations and materials before the history of Ukraine-Rus” (1896-1904, 5 vols.) and began working on his main work - the eight-volume “History of Ukraine-Rus”.
Gradually, Grushevsky became the leader of the entire scientific and cultural life of Galicia: from 1895 he worked as editor of the “Notes of the Shevchenko Scientific Partnership”, and in 1897 he was elected chairman of this society. He hired the leaders of the national movement of Galicia - Franko and Pavlik - into the society. In 1899, Grushevsky actively participated in the creation of the Ukrainian National Democratic Party in Galicia.
In 1906, Kharkov University awarded Grushevsky an honorary doctorate in Russian history. In 1908, while continuing to remain a professor at Lvov University and chairman of the Scientific Partnership, Grushevsky nominated himself for a department at Kiev University, but was refused.
In 1914, after 20 years of work at Lvov University, he moved to live in Kyiv, where he led the activities of the “Scientific Partnership in Kiev” and moved the publication of the “Literary and Scientific Bulletin” here. Arrested in December 1914 on charges of espionage for Austria-Hungary, and after several months in prison, he was exiled by order of the head of the Kiev Military District to Simbirsk, as stated in the order, “for the duration of the state of the localities from which he was expelled, under martial law.” In exile, he wrote the historical drama “Khmelnytsky in Pereyaslav” and “Yaroslav Osmomysl”, the plot of which was the entry in the Ipatiev Chronicle about the expulsion of Prince Yaroslav Osmomysl by the Galicians in 1173 for marrying the daughter of a “smerda” while the princess was alive.
At the end of 1915, Grushevsky managed to obtain permission (with the help of Academician A. A. Shakhmatov) to move to Kazan, and a year later to Moscow, where he lived until the February Revolution.
The period after the February Revolution of 1917
After the February Revolution on March 4, 1917, representatives of the largest parties in Ukraine created the Central Rada in Kyiv. Grushevsky was elected in absentia as its chairman and arrived in Kyiv on March 14.
At the beginning of April 1917, the Founding Congress of the Ukrainian Party of Socialist Revolutionaries (UPSR) took place, one of the founders of which was Grushevsky (together with N. Kovalevsky, P. Khristyuk, V. Golubovich, N. Shrag, N. Shapoval, etc.)
As Chairman of the Central Rada, Grushevsky negotiated with the Russian Provisional Government on granting autonomy to Ukraine.
On November 25, 1917, according to the results of the general elections, Grushevsky was elected to the All-Russian Constituent Assembly in Kyiv District No. 1 - Ukrainian Socialist Revolutionaries, Selyanskaya Spilka, Ukrainian Social Democrats.
At the end of March 1919 he left for Austria and created the Ukrainian Sociological Institute in Vienna - the ideological center of the Ukrainian nationalist counter-revolution. After several appeals by Grushevsky to the Ukrainian Soviet government, in which he condemned his counter-revolutionary activities, the All-Russian Central Executive Committee in 1924 allowed him to return to his homeland for scientific work. He was a professor of history at Kiev State University, elected academician of the All-Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, and head of the historical and philological department. He headed the archaeographic commission of the VUAN, the purpose of which was to create a scientific description of publications printed on the territory of ethnographic Ukraine in the 16th-18th centuries. Under this commission, on the occasion of the 350th anniversary of printing in Ukraine, a committee was created, the secretary of which was V. Barvinok.
Beginning in 1930, Grushevsky was subjected to repression and persecution by security forces. He was accused of “counter-revolutionary activities” and was accused of participating in the anti-Soviet Ukrainian National Center, including demanding that he confess to organizing terrorist acts and assassination attempts on leading party figures. Repression also affected most of his students and employees who worked with him during the 1920s. Almost all of Grushevsky’s employees were repressed. From 1930 he worked in Moscow under the close control of the OGPU.
One of Grushevsky’s most irreconcilable opponents was the famous orientalist A.E. Krymsky; among the more tolerant opponents, who partially shared his ideas, one can name A.P. Ogloblin. In 1929 Grushevsky was elected a full member of the USSR Academy of Sciences.
He died in 1934 from blood poisoning in Kislovodsk and was buried with honors.
The fate of the family
“Repressed posthumously” - at the end of the 1930s, all his works were banned, many relatives (among them his daughter, also a famous historian) were repressed and died. When prosecuting members of Grushevsky’s family, the testimony of his former student (and at the same time an NKVD informant, and later a Ukrainian collaborator) K. F. Shteppa was used.
Memory
In Lviv, on the territory of the estate where he lived until 1914, today there is a Grushevsky Museum. Monuments to him were erected in Lvov and Kyiv.
Grushevsky Mikhail Sergeevich
(1866 - 1934), Ukrainian historian, philologist and social and political figure. Academician of the Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, USSR Academy of Sciences.
Born on September 17, 1866 in the city of Kholm in the family of a teacher. Soon the family moved to the Caucasus, where the future historian spent his childhood and adolescence in Stavropol, Vladikavkaz and Tiflis. According to Grushevsky’s recollections, his interest in Ukrainian history and culture arose in his childhood. As a high school student, he independently learned the Ukrainian language. When the historical and artistic magazine “Kiev Antiquity” began to be published in Kyiv in 1887, Mikhail’s father subscribed to this publication. On the pages of “Kyiv Antiquity” Grushevsky first became acquainted with the works of V.B. Antonovich. Then, during his gymnasium years, his acquaintance with the historical works of N. I. Kostomarov and M. A. Maksimovich began. Thus, by the time he graduated from high school, Grushevsky was imbued with the concepts of the founders and ideologists of the Kyiv school of historians. Therefore, his path to the Kiev University of St. was natural. Vladimir, where V.B. taught. Antonovich.
Antonovich played a decisive role in the development of Grushevsky as a historian. Under the leadership of Antonovich, he wrote his first works: “South Russian Gospodar castles in the half of the 16th century.” and an essay on the history of the Kyiv land. By this time, books by P.V. had already been published. Golubovsky and D.I. Bagaleya about the Seversk land, N.V. Molchanovsky about Podolskaya, A.M. Andriyasheva about Volynskaya. Then, in the 1890s and 1900s, studies by M.V. Dovnar-Zapolsky about the Krivichs and Dregovichs, Golubovsky about the Smolensk land and others. Grushevsky’s essay, written according to the general plan of work of the Antonovich school (first a geographical sketch, then a historical one), was distinguished by the scale of the research and the conclusions drawn on its basis. Arguing for his awarding a gold medal, Antonovich especially noted the author’s conclusions about the presence of zemstvo boyars in Kyiv and the assumption of the absence of princes in Southern Rus' after the Mongol conquest. It should be noted that assumptions, often completely hypothetical, occupied an unreasonably large place in the book for scientific research.
Grushevsky graduated from Kiev University in 1890. In 1891, Antonovich announced the imminent prospect of opening a department of general history at Lvov University with a special review of the history of Eastern Europe and began to prepare Grushevsky to occupy this department. In 1892, Mikhail Sergeevich passed his master's exams. The topic of his master's thesis was suggested to him by Antonovich and is devoted to the history of the Barsky eldership - an administrative-territorial unit of Poland in the 15th - 18th centuries. with a predominantly Ukrainian population. Having discovered a lack of literature on this issue, Grushevsky processed a lot of material from several archives. Built according to the scheme of other “regional” monographs of Antonovich’s school, the book “Manorial eldership. Historical Sketches” (Kyiv, 1894) went beyond the school’s scheme: chronologically it belonged to a later time, “territorially” it went far to the west. The author paid special attention to the urban community; Much was said in the work about Magdeburg law. In 1894, the dissertation was successfully defended, and Grushevsky became a master of Russian history. After his defense, the scientist went to Lviv, where he took the waiting department, which actually became the department of history of Ukraine.
In Lvov, Grushevsky launched a vigorous activity. Having headed the Scientific Society named after. Taras Shevchenko, he turned it into something like the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences. The society organized its work into three sections: historical, philological and natural-mathematical. The society established a museum, a library, a large printing house and a bookstore. At the same time, Grushevsky became the editor of the “Notes” of the society, transformed from a yearbook into a bimonthly. Until 1913, more than 100 volumes of this publication were published. Along with “Notes,” Grushevsky headed another magazine, “Literary and Scientific Bulletin.” The scientist also gave public lectures in Lviv, expanding the horizons of Galician Ukrainians. Soon after arriving in Lvov, the scientist became involved in political activities, joining the Galician National Democrats party. In his scientific work, Grushnitsky directed his main efforts towards creating a generalizing (“synthetic”) history of Ukraine. At first, he intended to publish a relatively small three-volume work, but as research progressed, the work grew and in the final version it was an unfinished ten-volume work (the author intended to complete the presentation until the end of the 18th century, but only completed it until 1658). The scientist’s views on the history of Ukraine in the second half of the 17th century - the beginning of the 20th century are set out in his other works - “Essay on the history of the Ukrainian people” and “Illustrated history of Ukraine”).
Unlike Grushevsky’s early works, in which he was a supporter of the federalist theory of N.I. Kostomarov and V.B. Antonovich, “History of Ukraine-Rus” was based on a different concept. The author developed the views of his predecessors to their logical conclusion. He believed that the ancestors of the Ukrainians were the ancient Ant tribes, in other words, the independent history of the people began with them in the 4th century. According to Grushevsky's concept, the first independent Ukrainian power was Kievan Rus, which reached its peak under Vladimir the Holy, who united various Slavic lands. The scientist identified several reasons for the collapse of the unified Kyiv state into separate lands: here was the formation of new princely centers, and the economic and colonization processes that captured the Dnieper region. Unlike most representatives of Russian science, Grushevsky considered the successor of Kievan Rus not to the Vladimir-Suzdal land, but to the Galicia-Volyn region. As the scientist emphasized, this state “continued... for another whole century after the decline of the Kyiv land in the full force of the tradition of great power politics, the princely squad regime, the socio-political forms and culture developed by the Kyiv state.” The main content of the late (13th century) history of Galician-Volyn Rus, in his opinion, was its gradual incorporation by neighboring states: Lithuania, Poland and Hungary.
The most important element of Grushevsky’s concept was the idea of the continuous development of the Ukrainian nation. Many Russian historians believed that the Tatar invasion led to the desolation of the Dnieper region and the departure of the population to the North-East. Grushevsky's predecessors: M.A. Maksimovich, V.B. Antonovich and M.F. Vladimirsky-Budanov - showed that the desolation was not absolute, some population remained. Grushevsky, joining this point of view, emphasized that the main role in the settlement of the Dnieper region belonged “not to the newcomers, but to the local population, which never completely disappeared.”
Grushevsky gave a relatively detailed description of the community. He called a community “a self-governing social group in different forms (rural community, city, veche district, self-governing land). The princely-squad element was opposed to the communal one.
When presenting the history of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Grushevsky was in line with the traditions of the Kievan school, considering this state to be one of the two centers of unification of ancient Russian lands, along with the Moscow state, a successor to the traditions of Kievan Rus. The historian emphasized the great importance of the East Slavic population in the political and social structure and life of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. However, with the Catholicization and Polonization of the region, previously barely noticeable contradictions between the Eastern Slavs and Lithuanians begin to intensify and ultimately lead to the reorientation of the former to Muscovite Rus'. Grushevsky observed such trends starting from 1385. By the beginning of the 16th century, they were already fully formed, and active Polonization after the Lublin Union of Lithuania with Poland in 1569 completed the process of reorientation.
In the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Muscovite Rus', and the Russian Empire, Ukrainians were either a simple passive object of government or were in sharp opposition to the state system. According to Grushevsky, Ukrainians did not have any influence on the political life of the country. The only content of their history was only cultural and economic processes.
Speaking about the origin of the Cossacks, Grushevsky distinguished the Cossacks as an everyday phenomenon, a social system and a term. The main mistake of the authors of the mid-19th century (Kostomarov, Antonovich, Maksimovich), in his opinion, was the spread of the late structure of the Cossacks (early 17th century) to the early period of its history (late 15th - early 16th century). Grushevsky rightly noted that in the 15th – 16th centuries “the Cossacks were more an occupation than a social position... The Cossacks as a social class, like any “communities”, do not see any trace in our documentary material for a long, long time, almost until the very end of the 17th century " The historian believed that the original Cossacks united: the population of the Dnieper region, which lost state power due to the raids of nomads; “industrialists” from more distant regions, attracted by the freedom and natural resources of the region, and, finally, fugitive peasants and townspeople fleeing oppression.
Following Antonovich, Grushevsky noted the broad democracy of the Ukrainians, expressed in the creation of the Cossack state. This feature of Ukrainian statehood came into conflict with the predominance of the monarchical principle in Russia, which ultimately led to the liquidation of the autonomy of Ukraine in the second half of the 18th century. All manifestations of anti-Russian protests were described sympathetically by Grushevsky, although he was far from idealizing the leaders of these movements, for example I.S. Mazepa. When presenting the history of the 19th century, the scientist focused on the facts of the Russian-Ukrainian confrontation (prohibitions of the Ukrainian language, persecution of representatives of the intelligentsia), while practically nothing was said about the economy of Ukraine and its social development.
In its most concentrated form, Grushevsky’s concept was presented in the article “The usual scheme of “Russian” history and the matter of rational presentation of the history of the Eastern Slavs,” published in 1904 and which became widely known, prepared in connection with the intention of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences to publish an encyclopedia of Slavic studies. Grushevsky’s concept, with rare exceptions (A.A. Shakhmatov, A.E. Presnyakov), met with rejection and condemnation in Russian historiography. In addition, having become the political basis of Ukrainian nationalism, this theory and Grushevsky himself became persona non grata in the socio-political life of the Russian Empire. At the same time, everyone, including the historian’s opponents, recognized the significant factual value of the “History of Ukraine-Rus.”
During the years of the first Russian revolution, Grushevsky transferred to Kyiv the publication of the “Notes” of the Scientific Society named after. T. Shevchenko and “Literary and Scientific Bulletin”. At the same time, he traveled to St. Petersburg, where he took part in the work of the Ukrainian faction of the first State Duma. At this time, his numerous journalistic works “Ukrainianism in Russia, its demands and needs”, “The Ukrainian Question”, “Unity or Disintegration of Russia”, “Autonomy and the National Question”, etc. were published. In them, the historian advocated the autonomy of Ukraine in within the framework of a unified Russian state, called on the government to pursue a policy of stimulating the languages and culture of national minorities, including Ukrainians. Grushevsky's name is becoming popular, but his activities are causing growing discontent among the authorities. Therefore, Grushevsky, even after receiving the degree of Doctor of Russian History honoris causa from Kharkov University in 1907, was unable to fill the vacant position declared after the death of Professor P.V. Golubovsky Department of Russian History in Kiev
university.
In 1904 – 1914 “Essay on the history of the Ukrainian people” intended for Russian readers was published (based on a course of lectures given by Grushevsky at the invitation of M.M. Kovalevsky at the Russian Free School in Paris) and Russian translations of the popular “Illustrated History of Ukraine”, as well as three volumes “History of Ukraine-Rus”, dedicated to Kievan Rus and the history of the Cossacks. At the same time, the editor of the historical department of the New Brockhaus Encyclopedic Dictionary - Efron N.I. Kareev suggested that Grushevsky write a general outline of the history of Ukraine. The prepared text of the essay almost exceeded the volume of an entire volume of the dictionary, and publication did not take place. In general, Grushevsky’s participation in the scientific life of Russia was quite wide - he corresponded with many Russian scientists, published reviews of Russian books, his works were known in Russia.
Meanwhile, the scientist became the recognized head of Galician historians. His students were: E. Terletsky, M. Korduba, S. Tomashevsky, I. Dzhidzhora, I. Kripyakevich and others. In September 1914, Grushevsky intended to resign, move to Kyiv and focus exclusively on scientific work. This was also facilitated by contradictions within the Ukrainian national liberation movement in Galicia. Some of its participants agreed to cooperate with the Poles, which Grushevsky categorically objected to. In 1913, during the election of the new leadership of the Scientific Society named after. T. Shevchenko, all supporters of Grushevsky were defeated in the vote. Under these conditions, he did not want to remain as chairman and, having edited the 116th volume of notes, resigned. However, his plans were not destined to come true - the First World War began.
Military operations found the Grushevsky family in the Carpathians, where they had their own house. The scientist was forced to leave first to Hungary, then to Vienna. Due to persecution by the police, who saw him as an agent of the Russians, Grushevsky moved to neutral Italy, and then through Romania to Russia. In mid-November 1914, the historian arrived in Kyiv, where he soon went to prison on charges of collaboration with the Austrians and anti-Russian propaganda. Grushevsky's imprisonment lasted until February 1915. The authorities intended to deport him to Siberia, and only the active requests of Russian historians (in particular, Academician A. A. Shakhmatov) and the petition of the President of the Academy of Sciences, Grand Duke K. K. Romanov, led to the change of Siberia to Simbirsk . After living in Simbirsk for several months, the scientist received permission to move to university Kazan. Grushevsky did not stop scientific work, preparing the next volume of “History of Ukraine-Rus”. In the fall of 1916, he was allowed to move to Moscow.
After the February Revolution on March 11, 1917, he left Moscow and went to Ukraine. In Kyiv, he immediately became involved in political activities. He is elected head of the Central Rada of Ukraine. It should be emphasized that before the October Revolution, Grushevsky spoke from the position of the federalist republican structure of Russia, for the autonomy of Ukraine within this state. At the same time, he saw federal Russia as a democratic republic as a stage towards the political restructuring of Europe into a European federation.
During the attack of the Bolshevik troops on Kyiv, Grushevsky’s house burned down, and numerous books and manuscripts were lost in the fire. Together with other members of the Central Rada, Grushevsky moved to Volyn and returned to Kyiv again with German troops who occupied Ukraine. His political attitudes are changing: he has moved away from focusing on Russia. The fourth universal of the Central Rada, compiled by Grushevsky, proclaimed the independence of Ukraine on January 11, 1918. At the same time, Grushevsky still adhered to federalist ideas, but called for an alliance with new states that arose from the ruins of the Russian Empire, within the framework of the Black Sea Federation he was projecting.
The policies of the Central Rada soon began to cause discontent among various segments of the population. On April 29, at the congress of the Union of Land Owners, a new head of state was elected - former general of the tsarist army P.P., proclaimed hetman. Skoropadsky. Grushevsky was forced to go underground. At the end of 1918, after the Hetman was overthrown and the Directory came to power, Grushevsky came out of hiding and tried to revive the ideas of the Central Rada, but, having encountered opposition from the new authorities, he left Kyiv.
At the beginning of 1919, he lived briefly in Kamenets-Podolsky, where he edited the newspaper “Life of Podolia”, the organ of the Ukrainian Socialist Party. In March, Grushevsky left for Galicia and then to Prague. In 1922, he left the Ukrainian Socialist Revolutionary Party and concentrated on scientific work. The lack of necessary sources did not allow him to continue working on his main work, so there is a temporary reorientation of his scientific interests. Back in 1919, he organized the Ukrainian Sociological Institute in Vienna with money from the Ukrainian diaspora. As part of the scientific theme of the institute’s classes, Grushevsky prepared an important theoretical work, “The Origin of Society (Genetic Sociology).” Using available literary sources, as well as materials from new volumes of the “History of Ukraine-Rus,” the scientist began work on the multi-volume “History of Ukrainian Literature.” During the author's lifetime, five volumes were published, brought to the beginning of the 17th century. The sixth volume, prepared for publication, was released only in 1995. In fact, this book by Grushevsky is a study of Ukrainian spirituality.
The impossibility of continuing full-time work as a historian abroad led to Grushevsky offering his services to Kharkov (then the capital of Ukraine). He was sympathetic to the formation of the USSR on a federal basis and, after receiving permission from the authorities, returned to Kyiv in March 1924. By this time, he had already been elected academician of the All-Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, where he became the head of the historical and philological department. Numerous commissions and dozens of employees worked under his leadership. The department's press organ, the magazine "Ukraine", published both articles by Grushevsky himself and other employees. Archaeographic activity, traditional for the Kyiv school, has resumed: many previously unknown documents of Ukrainian history are published in the department’s publications.
In 1926, Grushevsky’s 60th anniversary was widely celebrated in the USSR. By this date, a collection of essays dedicated to him was published. Volumes of “History of Ukraine-Rus” began to be published again. He did not stop his teaching activities and supervised graduate students. His closest assistant was his only daughter Catherine, a talented historian and sociologist (she was later repressed and died in a camp). Recognition of the merits of Grushevsky the scientist was his election in 1929 as an academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences. But this success was the last. The “great turning point” of 1929–1931 came.
Under the pretext of reorganization, the magazine “Ukraine” is actually closed. Reforms in the structure of the Academy of Sciences of Ukraine lead to the removal of Grushevsky from the leadership of the department. On March 23, 1931, on the way to Leningrad for a session of the USSR Academy of Sciences, he was arrested in Moscow. By this time, one of his employees, Professor F. Savchenko, was forced during interrogation to confirm false information: allegedly Grushevsky returned to Ukraine to continue the political struggle and unite nationalist forces; he pinned his main hopes on the intervention of Western countries and kulak uprisings; He headed the Ukrainian Nationalist Center. The academician was transported to Kharkov, where from March 28 to April 3 he was interrogated and forced to plead guilty to all charges. On April 4, Grushevsky was again transported to Moscow, where he was interrogated by the deputy chairman of the OGPU, Ya.S. Agranov. It seemed that the scientist’s fate was predetermined. But on April 14, he was received by Agranov and renounced his testimony: “It’s hard for me to talk about this,” Grushevsky said, “but I do not belong to the breed of heroes and could not stand the 9-hour night interrogation. I am an old man, my strength has long been undermined. Before prison I had the flu. I couldn’t withstand the investigator’s harsh pressure.”
Grushevsky was released. As it became known later, the decisive role in his release was played by the petition of his cousin, in 1931 the deputy chairman of the State Planning Committee, G. Lomov-Oppokov. After his release, Grushevsky lived in Moscow, but the criminal case was not dropped and the scientist lived under the threat of a new arrest. Probably, on the advice of the same Lomov, in August 1933 Grushevsky sent a letter to the Chairman of the State Planning Committee V.V. Kuibysheva. In the letter, Grushevsky emphasized: “As a result of this cruel and hasty reprisal, I became a scarecrow. Everyone is afraid of touching me in any way. Ideological, political, criminal accusations are flying around me.” In conclusion, the historian asked that the materials left in Kyiv be returned to him and thus the opportunity for full-fledged scientific work. In the accompanying note to the letter, Lomov noted: “With Hitler’s bet on Ukraine, we need to keep some names of the national liberation movement at the ready. Grushevsky is a big name. It is unlikely that it should be completely driven into the ground; it will certainly come in handy at the right moment. It seems to me that Grushevsky should be supported financially and reassured a little. I am convinced that he will agree to make any protest against Hitler-Rosenberg, etc.” Soon the criminal case was dropped.
However, the persecution of Grushevsky in Ukraine did not stop. In May 1934, the People's Commissar of Education of Ukraine V.P. Zatonsky turned to the head of the republic S.V. Kosioru and P.V. Postyshev with a proposal to expel Grushevsky from the Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. Grushevsky's views and past activities were subject to fierce criticism at all levels. But they didn’t have time to expel Grushevsky. On November 25, 1934, he died in Kislovodsk, where he was on vacation, during an unsuccessful operation for a carbuncle. By government decree, he was buried in Kyiv, at the Baikovo cemetery.
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Biography, life story of Mikhail Sergeevich Grushevsky
Mikhail Sergeevich Grushevsky is a Ukrainian historian, revolutionary, public and political figure.
Childhood and adolescence. Education
Mikhail Grushevsky was born on September 29, 1866 in Kholm, Kingdom of Poland (today Chelm, Poland), in the family of Sergei Fedorovich, a professor of Russian literature, and his wife Glafira Zakharovna.
Grushevsky received his primary and secondary education at the Tiflis gymnasium. Then, from 1886 to 1890, he studied at Kiev University at the Faculty of History and Philology. In 1894, Mikhail successfully defended his dissertation for a master’s degree “Manorial eldership. Historical essays".
Scientific, political and social activities
After graduating from Kyiv University, Mikhail Grushevsky began publishing his scientific articles in respected publications. In these works, Grushevsky presented and supported with facts his theory of the origin and development of statehood of Kievan Rus.
In 1894, master of history Mikhail Grushevsky became head of the department of general history with a special review of the history of Eastern Europe at Lviv University. It was there that Grushevsky began work on his fundamental work, “The History of Ukraine-Rus,” which eventually fit into eight volumes.
In 1895, Grushevsky became editor of the "Notes of the Scientific Society named after". After 2 years, Mikhail Sergeevich took the position of chairman of this society.
In 1906, Mikhail Grushevsky became a doctor of Russian history. This honorary degree was awarded to him by Kharkov University.
On December 11, 1914, Mikhail Grushevsky was arrested. The historian was accused of Austrophilism and participation in the process of creating the Legion of Ukrainian Sich Riflemen. Grushevsky spent several months in prison, after which he was exiled to Simbirsk. In 1905, police surveillance was established over Grushevsky. Soon, thanks to his connections in the professorship, Mikhail Sergeevich settled in Kazan, but only on the condition that he signed a written undertaking not to leave the city and the impossibility of changing his place of residence within Kazan. In 1916, Grushevsky moved to Moscow - this was facilitated by the “cream” of the liberal intelligentsia, whom Mikhail managed to convince that his stay in Kazan jeopardized his scientific work and the safety of his family.
CONTINUED BELOW
After the revolution of 1917, Mikhail Grushevsky, at a meeting of representatives of political, cultural and public organizations in Kyiv, was elected chairman of the newly created Central Rada. In his new position, Grushevsky began to form a national statehood, first providing for the national-territorial autonomy of Ukraine. In the spring of 1917, Mikhail Sergeevich acted as one of the founders of the Ukrainian Socialist Revolutionary Party.
In November 1917, after an armed uprising in Petrograd, the Central Rada announced the creation of the Ukrainian People's Republic. In January 1918, the UPR declared itself independent. Mikhail Grushevsky took over the responsibilities for developing the Constitution of Ukraine.
In the spring of 1919, after the abolition of the Central Rada, Mikhail Grushevsky left for Vienna. There he created the Ukrainian Sociological Institute. At the same time, Grushevsky began writing appeals to the Ukrainian Soviet government. In his letters, Mikhail Sergeevich passionately condemned his counter-revolutionary activities and admitted the error of his judgments. In 1924, the government allowed Grushevsky to return to his native land for scientific work. So Grushevsky became a professor of history at Kyiv State University, an academician of the All-Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, the head of the archaeological commission of the Academy and a full member of the USSR Academy of Sciences.
In 1931, Mikhail Sergeevich was arrested again. He was accused of counter-revolutionary activities and anti-Sovietism. After his release, he began working in Moscow.
Death
In 1934, Mikhail Grushevsky went to Kislovodsk in order to improve his own health. On November 24, after a minor surgical operation, the Ukrainian historian and revolutionary died suddenly. His body was buried at the Baikovo cemetery in Kyiv.
Family
The wife and faithful life partner of Mikhail Grushevsky was Maria Silvestrovna Voyakovskaya (1868-1948), a translator. In 1900, a daughter, Ekaterina, was born into the family (d. 1943).
