Пізнавальна хвилинка: «Famous Ukrainians»

11 Figures in History Every Ukrainian Knows

Ukrainian history is abundant with outstanding figures that locals grow up learning about and are proud of. Those great people have contributed to the formation of the modern state, made the culture rich and diverse, and have introduced to the world a range of incredible inventions. Read our guide and meet the figures every Ukrainian knows and loves.

Vladimir the Great

Vladimir the Great is definitely a Ukrainian figure that everybody is proud of. He is known as The Baptizer, Red Sun and The Saint and was the ruler of the Kievan Rus. He opened a new page for the history of the state. Because of his efforts, the Kievan Rus was Christianized in the waters of the Dnieper in 988. Vladimir the Great was the first to mint his own coins on which he put his mark, the trident. Nowadays, that sign is the coat of arms of Ukraine.

Mykola Leontovych

All Ukrainians are truly proud of Mykola Leontovych (Nikolai Leontovich 1877-1921), who introduced the Christmas song “Shchedrik” (the English-speaking version is known as “Carol of the Bells”), to the whole world. It took the Ukrainian composer’s entire adult life to create the five lines of the song, the melody of which has become a classic around the world.

Bohdan Khmelnytsky

It was Bohdan Khmelnytsky, the first hetman (ruler) of the Cossack state, who headed the first successful uprising for Ukrainian independence. In 1694, during the Pereyaslav Council, he organized an agreement and was able to gain freedom for Ukraine from the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

Mykhailo Drahomanov

Mykhailo Drahomanov was a leader in Ukrainian social thought in the nineteenth century. He made known to the world the oppression of the Ukrainian language and culture by the Russian Empire (the Ems Ukaz was a secret decree enacted in 1876 to prohibit the printing and publishing of Ukrainian texts). He organized a scientific and literary collective, Hromada, and addressed the issue at the Paris literary congress of 1878.

Stepan Bandera

Stepan Bandera is one of the main ideologists of the movement for Ukrainian independence of the first half of the twentieth century. He lived during a time when western Ukraine belonged to Poland. Oppression of the rights of Ukrainians provoked in the young nationalist a desire to protest. As a result, Bandera’s life was filled with a series of terrible events: concentration camps, murders, imprisonment, and consequences with working alongside rebels to name a few. Although many facts of his biography are still covered with a mysterious haze, he remains a symbol of the struggle for sovereignty.

Igor Sikorsky

Notwithstanding that many nations consider Igor Sikorsky to be their native, the inventor was born in Kiev and for several years he studied at the Polytechnic Institute (now the Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute), where he first began designing the first helicopter. It was Sikorsky, who designed the world’s first helicopter and multi-engine aircrafts called Grand and Ilya Muromets. His designs later became the blueprints for the development of all passenger, military and cargo aircrafts.

Mikhail Grushevsky

Mikhail Grushevsky had a lot of merits – he was a historian, scholar, literary critic, sociologist, publicist, writer, public figure, and political figure. He earned his fame for his fundamental research on local history, which he published in his work, History of Ukraine-Rus, which took him three decades to complete. Moreover, during these years the scientist was the head of the first national parliament (Central Rada) of the Ukrainian Independent Republic. In relation to these events, many citizens believe Grushevsky was the first president of the sovereign state.

Nestor Makhno

Nestor Makhno (1888 – 1934) was the father of anarchism and the main revolutionary in Ukrainian history. He became quite famous during his life as he was a politician, who took into account the vital interests of the peasantry (then the majority of the Ukrainian population). His followers called him “Father” (Bat’ko in Ukrainian) as a sign of the extraordinary respect they had for him. He was revered as a defender, teacher and savior of the people.