History of the Ruthenians

History of the Ruthenians, or Little Russia[a], or more briefly History of the Ruthenians,[1] is an anonymous historico-political treatise, most likely written at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries. It had a great influence on the formation of the Ukrainian national identity and was even named "the most prominent historical work in Ukraine".[2][3] It was written and originally published in Russian and describes the history of the Ruthenians and their state, Little Russia (Russian: Малоросія, in the terminology of the book), from antiquity to 1769. It mostly focuses on the history of the Zaporizhian Sich and the Cossack Hetmanate.

Authorship and dating

The book was written as a political essay by an unknown author at the end of the 18th or early 19th century. It could not have been written before 1792, since it mentions the Tmutarkan stone, which was not discovered until 1792. According to Zenon Kohut, the author of the manuscript was strongly influenced by the events that had taken place after the Third Partition of Poland. The History circulated in manuscript form for a long time before it was finally published in print in 1846, by Osyp Bodianski at Moscow University.

The title page ascribed the work to "Georgy Konissky, Belarusian Archbishop". Subsequently, his authorship was seriously questioned, but the true author has not been established.[3] One of the proposed authors is Hryhoriy Poletyka (1725–1784).[1] The ideas and style of the History are similar to the Historical Reference, which Poletyka submitted to Empress Catherine II. Another candidate (among others) is her Grand Chancellor Alexander Bezborodko.[4]

Publications

  • (in Russian) «Исторія Русовъ, или Малой Россіи». Moscow: Moscow University press, 1846. (editio princeps). Edited by Osip Bodyansky. Ascribed to Georgy Konissky (Г. Конискій).
  • (in Ukrainian) «Історія Русів». Kyiv: Veselka (Веселка), 2003. Ukrainian translation by Ivan Drach.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Pre-1918 reform orthography Russian: Исторія Русовъ, или Малой Россіи, romanized: Istoriya Rusovû, ili Maloy Rossiy. Modern Russian: История русов или Малой России, romanized: Istoriya rusov ili Maloy Rossii. Modern Ukrainian: Історія Русів чи Малої Росії, romanized: Istorija Rusiv chi Maloji Rosiji, or Istoriya Rusiv.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c Mirchuk, Ivan (1983). "History of Ukrainian Culture. Part 6: Ukrainian Philosophical Thought" (PDF). The Ukrainian Review. 31 (1). Association of Ukrainians in Great Britain: 48, 53.
  2. ^ Istoriya Rusiv Archived 2009-09-25 at the Wayback Machine at the Handbook on History of Ukraine
  3. ^ a b Kohut, Zenon (2003). "The Khmelnytsky Uprising, the image of Jews, and the". Jewish History. 17 (2): 141–163. doi:10.1023/A:1022300121820. S2CID 159708538.
  4. ^ Наталія Яковенко "Нарис історії України з найдавніших часів до кінця ХVІІІ ст." Archived 2020-11-11 at the Wayback Machine, p. 366

Bibliography

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