Alexander Vasilyevich Dukhnovych (24 April 1803 – 30 March 1865) was an Transcarpathian Ruthenian priest, poet, writer,

pedagogue Pedagogy (), most commonly understood as the approach to teaching, is the theory and practice of learning, and how this process influences, and is influenced by, the social, political, and psychological development of learners. Pedagogy, taken ...

, and

social activist Activism consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make Social change, changes in society toward a perceived common good. Forms of activism range from ...

of the Russophile orientation. He is considered as the awakener (Rusyn: Будитиль, ''Budytyl’'') of the

Rusyns Rusyns, also known as Carpatho-Rusyns, Carpatho-Russians, Ruthenians, or Rusnaks, are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group from the Carpathian Rus', Eastern Carpathians in Central Europe. They speak Rusyn language, Rusyn, an East Slavic lan ...

Life

Alexander Dukhnovych was born in the village of Topolya,

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from 1000 to 1946 and was a key part of the Habsburg monarchy from 1526-1918. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the Coro ...

(now

Topoľa Topoľa (, ) is a village and municipality in Snina District in the Prešov Region of north-eastern Slovakia. Geography The municipality is located in Snina District in the Prešov Region of north-eastern Slovakia. It lies at an altitude of 384 m ...

in Eastern

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

). The son of a

Greek Catholic Greek Catholic Church or Byzantine-Catholic Church may refer to: * The Catholic Church in Greece * The Eastern Catholic Churches The Eastern Catholic Churches or Oriental Catholic Churches, also known as the Eastern-Rite Catholic Churches, Ea ...

priest, he went to a Hungarian school in Ungvár (now

Uzhhorod Uzhhorod (, ; , ; , ) is a List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality on the Uzh, Uzh River in western Ukraine, at the border with Slovakia and near the border with Hungary. The city is approximately equidistan ...

) (1816 to 1821). Later Alexander studied philosophy at an academy in Kassa (now

Košice Košice is the largest city in eastern Slovakia. It is situated on the river Hornád at the eastern reaches of the Slovak Ore Mountains, near the border with Hungary. With a population of approximately 230,000, Košice is the second-largest cit ...

) (1821–1823), and theology at the Theological Seminary in Ungvár (

) (1824–1827). In (1827–1830 and 1832), Dukhnovych worked as an archivist and a teacher. Later, in 1833-1838, he worked as a

priest in remote villages of

Carpathian Ruthenia Transcarpathia (, ) is a historical region on the border between Central and Eastern Europe, mostly located in western Ukraine's Zakarpattia Oblast. From the Hungarian Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin, conquest of the Carpathian Basin ...

(present-day

Zakarpattia oblast Zakarpattia Oblast (Ukrainian language, Ukrainian: Закарпатська область), also referred to as simply Zakarpattia (Ukrainian language, Ukrainian: Закарпаття; Hungarian language, Hungarian: ''Kárpátalja'') or Transcar ...

of Ukraine) and as a

notary A notary is a person authorised to perform acts in legal affairs, in particular witnessing signatures on documents. The form that the notarial profession takes varies with local legal systems. A notary, while a legal professional, is distin ...

in Ungvár (Uzhhorod) (1838–1844). Dukhnovych started to write poems in his early years. He wrote in the Ruthenian,

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

, and Hungarian languages. His early works are said to have been influenced by Hungarian

Romanticism Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century. The purpose of the movement was to advocate for the importance of subjec ...

. Dukhnovych supported education and cultural revival of Carpathian Ruthenians. He saw his role as a defender of Ruthenian culture against

Magyarization Magyarization ( , also Hungarianization; ), after "Magyar"—the Hungarian autonym—was an assimilation or acculturation process by which non-Hungarian nationals living in the Kingdom of Hungary, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, adop ...

. In 1850 Dukhnovych established the first Ruthenian cultural association, the Eperjes (now

Prešov Prešov () is a city in eastern Slovakia. It is the seat of administrative Prešov Region () and Šariš. With a population of approximately 85,000 for the city, and in total more than 100,000 with the urban area, it is the second-largest city i ...

) Literary Society. Under his guidance, the society published a series of books. His most famous patriotic poem ''Ia rusyn byl, ies'm i budu'' (I Was, Am, and Will Be a Ruthenian) was published as part of an anthology in 1851. This poem would later become a popular hymn of Carpatho-Ruthenians. Dukhnovych also published a number of pedagogical and religious books, elementary school textbook and a Grammar. His most famous scholarly works were ''The History of the Eparchy of Prjašev'' (1877), originally published in Latin and later translated in Russian and English, and a ''History of Carpathian Ruthenians'' (1853). His last years were devoted to development of education and schooling among local Ruthenians. In an effort to forestall the

of the Ruthenian population, Dukhnovych founded the St. John the Baptist Society in Eperjes (

) with

Adolf Dobryansky Adolf (also spelt Adolph or Adolphe, Adolfo, and when Latinised Adolphus) is a given name with German origins. The name is a compound derived from the Old High German ''Athalwolf'' (or ''Hadulf''), a composition of ''athal'', or ''adal'', meani ...

in 1862. Dukhnovych died in Eperjes (

) on 30 March 1865.

Assessment

Dukhnovych is regarded to be one of the outstanding Ruthenian humanists and educators. In the words of

Ivan Franko Ivan Yakovych Franko (, ; 27 August 1856 – 28 May 1916) was a Ukrainian poet, writer, social and literary critic, journalist, translator, economist, political activist, doctor of philosophy, ethnographer, and the author of the first d ...

"he made everything so that forgotten Ruthenians revived spiritually".litopys.org.ua
- Oleksandr Dukhnovych His views were based on Christian principles and idealism. Dukhnovych also actively participated in the

Russophile Russophilia is the identification or solidarity with, appreciation of, or support for the country, people, language, and history of Russia. One who espouses Russophilia is called a russophile. Its antonym is Russophobia. In the 19th century, ...

movement in the territory of today's

Western Ukraine Western Ukraine or West Ukraine (, ) refers to the western territories of Ukraine. There is no universally accepted definition of the territory's boundaries, but the contemporary Ukrainian administrative regions ( oblasts) of Chernivtsi, I ...

at the end of the 19th century. Even though Dukhnovych wrote in the local language, he did not believe it to be a separate language nor did he wish to contribute to a creation of a literary language of Carpathian Ruthenians. Instead Dukhnovych wrote his scholarly works in a peculiar dialect called

iazychie Iazychie (; ) was an artificial literary East Slavic language used in the 19th century and the early 20th century in Halychyna, Bukovina, and Zakarpattia in publishing, particularly by Ukrainian and Carpatho-Rusyn Russophiles (Moskvophiles).Z ...

made up of Church-Slavonic and local Lemko-Rusyn.

Notes

References

Dukhnovych, Aleksander
at th
World Academy of Rusyn Culture
*

Orest Subtelny Orest Subtelny (, 17 May 1941 – 24 July 2016) was a Ukrainian-Canadian historian. Born in Kraków, Poland, he received his doctorate from Harvard University in 1973. From 1982 to 2015, he was a Professor in the Departments of History and Polit ...

. ''Ukraine: A History''. University of Toronto Press. 1994. .
Oleksander Dukhnovych
at the

on-line In computer technology and telecommunications, online indicates a state of connectivity, and offline indicates a disconnected state. In modern terminology, this usually refers to an Internet connection, but (especially when expressed as "on li ...

br>Encyclopedia of Ukraine
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dukhnovych, Oleksandr 1803 births 1865 deaths People from Snina District Russophiles of Galicia Rusyn poets Ruthenian people Ukrainian people of Rusyn descent 19th-century poets

Life

Assessment

See also

Notes

References