Dmytro Vitovsky ( uk, Дмитро Вітовський) (8 November 1887 – 2 or 4 August 1919) was a Ukrainian politician and military leader. Vitovsky was born into a family of

gentry Gentry (from Old French ''genterie'', from ''gentil'', "high-born, noble") are "well-born, genteel and well-bred people" of high social class, especially in the past. Word similar to gentle imple and decentfamilies ''Gentry'', in its widest c ...

. in the village of Medukha in Galicia (today in

Ivano-Frankivsk Raion Ivano-Frankivsk Raion ( uk, Івано-Франківський район, translit=Ivano-Frankiwśkyj rajon) is a raion (district) of Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast, Ukraine. It was created in July 2020 as part of the reform of administrative divisions ...

). He graduated from the Stanislau gymnasium and later was a student activist at the law school of

Lviv University The University of Lviv ( uk, Львівський університет, Lvivskyi universytet; pl, Uniwersytet Lwowski; german: Universität Lemberg, briefly known as the ''Theresianum'' in the early 19th century), presently the Ivan Franko Na ...

. Later Vitovsky joined the

Ukrainian Radical Party The Ukrainian Radical Party, (URP), ( uk, Українська радикальна партія, УPП, ''Ukrajinśka Radykaľna Partija'') founded in October 1890 as Ruthenian-Ukrainian Radical Party and based on the radical movement in wester ...

and was an active organizer of a number of Ukrainian educational and scouting ''Sich'' groups near Stanislau, which later became part of the regular Galician Army. Vitovsky started his active military career in 1914 participating in mountain battles in the

Carpathians The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians () are a range of mountains forming an arc across Central Europe. Roughly long, it is the third-longest European mountain range after the Urals at and the Scandinavian Mountains at . The range stretches ...

, and was an ideologist of Ukrainian military political thought. In 1916–1917 he was a Ukrainian military commissar in

Volhynia Volhynia (also spelled Volynia) ( ; uk, Воли́нь, Volyn' pl, Wołyń, russian: Волы́нь, Volýnʹ, ), is a historic region in Central and Eastern Europe, between south-eastern Poland, south-western Belarus, and western Ukraine. The ...

, and organized Ukrainian schools there. Vitovsky also was co-founder of the Striletsky Found, and published the official newspaper of the

Ukrainian Sich Riflemen Legion of Ukrainian Sich Riflemen (german: Ukrainische Sitschower Schützen; uk, Українські cічові стрільці (УСС), translit=Ukraïnski sichovi stril’tsi (USS)) was a Ukrainian unit within the Austro-Hungarian Army d ...

, ''Shliakhy'' ('The Pathways'). He became a company commander of the Legion of

Sich Riflemen The Sich Riflemen Halych-Bukovyna Kurin ( uk, Січові Cтрільці з Галичини та Буковини) were one of the first regular military units of the Ukrainian People's Army. The unit operated from 1917 to 1919 and was for ...

and carried out special assignments (guerrilla warfare). Towards the end of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Vitovsky was appointed the chairman of Ukrainian Military Committee that organized the takeover of

Lviv Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in western Ukraine, and the seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is one of the main cultural centres of Ukrain ...

. He became the first commander of the

Ukrainian Galician Army Ukrainian Galician Army ( uk, Українська Галицька Армія, translit=Ukrayins’ka Halyts’ka Armiya, UHA), was the Ukrainian military of the West Ukrainian National Republic during and after the Polish-Ukrainian War. It w ...

(1–5 November 1918). A week later after being commissioned as the first commander of the Galician Army Vitovsky was appointed as the State Secretary of Armed Forces in Levytsky's government. On 1 January 1919 he was promoted from major to

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge o ...

. As a deputy of the Ukrainian National Rada (February–April 1919), Vitovsky was chosen to attend the Paris Peace Conference as a member of the Western Ukrainian delegation in May 1919. Vitovsky was killed in an aircraft crash during the flight from

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

to Kamyanets-Podilsky on 2 August 1919 (according to older sources, Vitovsky died on 4 August 1919) and was buried in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

. On 1 November 2002, the remains of Dmytro Vitovsky were reburied at the Lviv Lychakiv Cemetery on the initiative of Pamjatnyk Vitovskomu

References

Гай-Нижник П. Доставка для уряду Директорії українських грошей з Німеччини і загибель Д.Вітовського (1919 р.) // Гуржіївські історичні читання: Збірник наукових праць. – Черкаси, 2009. – С.290–294

Sources

* Lviv Study. Handbook. / Compiler group manager N.Vynnytska.- Lviv: AHIL, 2003.- 52 p.

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vitovsky, Dmytro 1887 births 1919 deaths People from Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast People from the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria Ukrainian nobility Ukrainian Austro-Hungarians Ukrainian Radical Party politicians West Ukrainian People's Republic people Ukrainian diplomats University of Lviv alumni Ukrainian people of World War I Austro-Hungarian military personnel of World War I Ukrainian Galician Army people Ukrainian people of the Polish–Ukrainian War