Serhiy Oleksandrovych Yefremov (; October 18, 1876 – March 31, 1939) was a Ukrainian literary journalist, historian, critic, political activist, statesman, and academician. He was a member of the Ukrainian Academy of Science (1919) and Shevchenko Scientific Society in

Lviv Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...

Early years

The family of Serhii Oleksandrovich Yefremov belonged to the clergy. One of the ancestors of the family, after the destruction of the autonomy of the

Cossack Hetmanate The Cossack Hetmanate (; Cossack Hetmanate#Name, see other names), officially the Zaporozhian Host (; ), was a Ukrainian Cossacks, Cossack state. Its territory was located mostly in central Ukraine, as well as in parts of Belarus and southwest ...

in 1764, to receive a parish, had to change his original Ukrainian surname Okhrimenko to the Russian Yefremov (Okhrim – Yefrem). Serhiy Yefremov was born in the village of Palchik, Petrykivka Volost Zvenigorodka uezd of the Kyiv Governorate. Today the village still stands, but in

Cherkasy Raion Cherkasy Raion () is a Raions of Ukraine, raion (district) of Cherkasy Oblast. It is located in the central part of Cherkasy oblast, and the center of the raion is the city of Cherkasy. The population is On 18 July 2020, as part of the administr ...

of the

Cherkasy Oblast Cherkasy Oblast (, ), also referred to as Cherkashchyna (, ) is an administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast (province) in central Ukraine located along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. The Capital city, administrative center of the oblast is the cit ...

, in central

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

. He was born in an

Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodoxy, otherwise known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity or Byzantine Christianity, is one of the three main Branches of Christianity, branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholic Church, Catholicism and Protestantism ...

priest family. He studied from 1891–1896 at the Kyiv Theological Academy. Later he graduated from the Faculty of Law at Saint Vladimir Imperial University of Kyiv.

Political start

Political activity started during student years becoming the member of the Ukrainian Universal non-Party Democratic Organization. In 1904 became co-founder of the Ukrainian Radical Party, which in 1905 out of his initiative united together with the Ukrainian Democratic Party and establishing the Ukrainian Democratic Radical Party. In 1905 became the leader of the Ukrainian Social Union (USU) ''Peasant Union''. In 1908 became the co-founder of the Society of Ukrainian Progressionists. He worked in the variety of Ukrainian periodicals such as ''Zoria'', ''Pravda'', '' Kyivan Past'', ''Ukraina'' etc. In 1885–1918 he was the head of publishing ''Vik''.

Secretariat

He was arrested numerous times by the

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

n authorities for pressing public speeches in defense of national culture and political freedoms in pre-revolutionary period. In March 1917 Yefremov entered the staff of the Central Rada. In April 1917, at the Ukrainian National Congress was elected as the deputy of the Head of the

Rada The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, also known by its abbreviation RADA (), is a drama school in London, England, which provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in Bloomsbury, Central Lond ...

and the member of the Mala Rada. On June 15, 1917 became the general secretary of the International Affairs in the newly formed Ukrainian government,

General Secretary Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, Power (social and political), power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the org ...

of the

Ukrainian People's Republic The Ukrainian People's Republic (UPR) was a short-lived state in Eastern Europe. Prior to its proclamation, the Central Council of Ukraine was elected in March 1917 Ukraine after the Russian Revolution, as a result of the February Revolution, ...

. On July 17, 1917 he was replaced by Oleksandr Shulhyn from the same political party. From September 1917 heads the Ukrainian Party of Socialists-Federalists. From April 1918 and until 1920 he did not hold any official positions.

Soviet Ukraine

With the installation of Soviet power in Ukraine he was forced to go into hiding. In spring 1919, at the request of the Ukrainian Academy of Science, he was amnestied. From 1922 until 1928, he was one of the leaders of the Ukrainian Academy of Science. He was the chief defendant in the 1929 public

show trial A show trial is a public trial in which the guilt (law), guilt or innocence of the defendant has already been determined. The purpose of holding a show trial is to present both accusation and verdict to the public, serving as an example and a d ...

of the leaders of the supposed Union for the Liberation of Ukraine. In 1930, he was sentenced to death, but the sentence was later commuted to ten years in prison. He died in 1939 while in Vladimir Central Prison.

References

External links

at the

Encyclopedia of Ukraine The ''Encyclopedia of Ukraine'' (), published from 1984 to 2001, is a fundamental work of Ukrainian Studies. Development The work was created under the auspices of the Shevchenko Scientific Society in Europe (Sarcelles, near Paris). As the ...