Dmitriy Vergun (, Dmitriy Nikolayevich Vergun, , Dmytro Mykolayovych Vergun; 1871–1951) was a publicist, journalist,
Russian-language poet, and literary historian from
Galicia.
Biography
Born in a town of
Horodok,
Galicia and Lodomeria,
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...
, in 1899 Vergun defended his doctoral dissertation "
Meletius Smotrytsky as western-Ruthenian writer and grammarian" in
Vienna University
The University of Vienna (, ) is a public university, public research university in Vienna, Austria. Founded by Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria, Duke Rudolph IV in 1365, it is the oldest university in the German-speaking world and among the largest ...
. Vergun learned his "Russian" (Kyivan recension of
Church Slavonic
Church Slavonic is the conservative Slavic liturgical language used by the Eastern Orthodox Church in Belarus, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Poland, Russia, Ukraine, Serbia, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, Slovenia and Croatia. The ...
) in the Galician-Ruthenian Elementary also known as "Halytsko-Ruska Matytsia" located in Lemberg (today
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 ...
). In 1900-1905 he was publishing in
Vienna
Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...
a neo-Slavophillic magazine "Slavianskiy vek". The
neo-Slavism in
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...
were sponsored by Russian aristocracy, particularly Count
Vladimir Bobrinskiy who was financing the magazine "Slavianskiy vek". Vergun also was a member of
Galician-Russian Charitable Society (1902-1914) that was financed by the
Russian Orthodox Church
The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC; ;), also officially known as the Moscow Patriarchate (), is an autocephaly, autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox Christian church. It has 194 dioceses inside Russia. The Primate (bishop), p ...
.
Being a subject of
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...
, yet sympathizing the All-Russian Empire, in 1897 he was arrested. In 1901 in Lemberg Vergun published a collection of poetry in Russian "Red-Ruthenian (Red-Russian) echoes". The Muscovite magazine "Russkaya mysl" (Russian thought) was very a critical of his work and him personally:
''The poetry of Mr. Vergun prove nothing of him except lack of talent and knowledge of the "All-Russian literary language" depsite that already in 1865 Mr. Dielitskiy demonstrated for a Little-Russian to learn Russian in a single moment. For his “sins of youth,” fate really did not “fall in love” with Mr. Vergun and did not “light a fire to write poetry” ...
----
''Стихи г. Вергуна ничего не доказываютъ, кромъ его бездарности и плохого знания «общерусскаго литературнаго языка», несмотря на то, что еще въ 1865 г. Дѣлицкій показалъ «въ одинъ часъ научится малороссу по русски…». За «грѣхи юности» судьба дѣствительно не «влюбила» г. Вергуна и не «подожгла огня, чтобы писать стихи»…''[Русская мысль, — №12, — 1901. Библіографическій Отдѣлъ. — С. 380-382.][Вільхівський �олодимир Гнатюк «Москалї» про «москалефила» // ''Лїтературно-Науковий Вістник'', т. 17, — кн. 3. — Львів 1902, — С. 184.]
During the ongoing
World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, in 1915 in Petrograd (today
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...
) the Aleksey Suvorin association typography (
Novoye Vremya) published his book "What is Galicia".
In 1918-1919 Vergun was teaching Slavic philology in
Moscow University
Moscow State University (MSU), officially M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University,. is a public research university in Moscow, Russia. The university includes 15 research institutes, 43 faculties, more than 300 departments, and six branches. Al ...
and
Irkutsk University.
Along with Pyotr Gatalak and Dmitriy Markov promoted the idea of Carpathian Russians (Karpatorossy).
Due to the
Russian Civil War
The Russian Civil War () was a multi-party civil war in the former Russian Empire sparked by the 1917 overthrowing of the Russian Provisional Government in the October Revolution, as many factions vied to determine Russia's political future. I ...
, 1922-1945 he was teaching Russian language and Slavic Studies in the Prague Higher School. Since 1945 Vergun was a professor at the
Houston University.
He died in
Houston
Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...
Texas in 1951.
Works

Poetry
* Slavic bells
* Red Russian echoes. Lemberg, 1901, 1907
* Carpathian echoes. 1920
* Cantata for Gogol
Among his poems used to be successful his "Slavic bells" (). Many of his poems converted into songs ("Russian Sokol march" by
Vojtěch Hlaváč, "Cantata to Gogol" by Arkhangelskiy, "Go ahead, people of the Red Russia!" by
Ludmilla Schollar)
Literary History
* Religious persecutions of Carpathian Russians. Saint Petersburg, 1913
* Yevgeniy A. Fentsik and his place in Russian literature. Uzhhorod, 1926
* Measures of Minister Bachak in suppression of 1849 Carpathian Russian revival with memorandums by
Adolf Dobrjanský. Prague, 1938
* Slavic conversations. "Slavic Age", 1900, No. 1, 2, 4
* AI Herzen and the Slavic question. Ibid., 1901, No. 19
* At the crossroads of two cultures: Slavdom from Gdańsk to Trieste. Ibid., 1901, No. 23/24
* Autobiography. In the book: Vergun DN Poems. Lviv, 1901
* Panslavism and pan-Germanism. "Slavic Age", 1903, No. 67, 69, 72
* German "Drang nach Osten" in numbers and facts. Vienna, 1905
* What you need to know about the Slavs. Saint Petersburg, 1908
* Austro-Slavicism and Russo-Slavicism. In the book: Lado. Saint Petersburg, 1911
* Russia and Turkey. Saint Petersburg, 1911
* What is Galicia. Saint Petersburg, 1915
* The latest Carpatho-Russian bibliography. New York, 1920
* Introduction to Slavonic studies. Prague, 1924
* Eight lectures on Subcarpathian Russia. Prague, 1925
* Review of Carpatho-Russian literature. Prague, 1925
* The legend of Fyodor Kuzmich. "Notes of the Russian Historical Society", 1927, vol. 1
* To the historiography of neo-Slavism. In: Proceedings of the IV Congress of Russian Academic Organizations Abroad, Part 1. Belgrade, 1929
* In memory of YA Yavorsky. In: Timeline of the Stauropean Institute for 1938. Lviv, 1938.
References
External links
* Yas, O.V.
Vergun Dmitriy Nikolayevich (ВЕРГУН Дмитро Миколайович)'. Encyclopedia of History of Ukraine
1871 births
1951 deaths
People from Horodok, Lviv Oblast
People from the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria
Russophiles of Galicia
University of Houston
Russian propagandists
{{Ukraine-bio-stub