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. in the village of Medukha in

Galicia Galicia may refer to: Geographic regions * Galicia (Spain), a region and autonomous community of northwestern Spain ** Gallaecia, a Roman province ** The post-Roman Kingdom of the Suebi, also called the Kingdom of Gallaecia ** The medieval King ...

(today in Ivano-Frankivsk Raion). He graduated from the Stanislau gymnasium and later was a student activist at the law school of Lviv University. Later Vitovsky joined the Ukrainian Radical Party and was an active organizer of a number of Ukrainian educational and scouting ''Sich'' groups near

Stanislau Ivano-Frankivsk ( uk, Іва́но-Франкі́вськ, translit=Iváno-Frankívśk ), formerly Stanyslaviv ( pl, Stanisławów ; german: Stanislau), is a city located in Western Ukraine. It is the administrative centre of Ivano-Frankivsk Obl ...

, which later became part of the regular Galician Army. Vitovsky started his active military career in 1914 participating in mountain battles in the Carpathians, and was an ideologist of Ukrainian military political thought. In 1916–1917 he was a Ukrainian military commissar in Volhynia, 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 du ...

, ''Shliakhy'' ('The Pathways'). He became a company commander of the Legion of Sich Riflemen and carried out special assignments (guerrilla warfare). Towards the end of World War I Vitovsky was appointed the chairman of Ukrainian Military Committee that organized the takeover of Lviv. He became the first commander of the Ukrainian Galician Army (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 Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

to colonel. As a deputy of the Ukrainian National Rada (February–April 1919), Vitovsky was chosen to attend the

Paris Peace Conference Agreements and declarations resulting from meetings in Paris include: Listed by name Paris Accords may refer to: * Paris Accords, the agreements reached at the end of the London and Paris Conferences in 1954 concerning the post-war status of Germ ...

as a member of the Western Ukrainian delegation in May 1919. Vitovsky was killed in an aircraft crash during the flight from Paris to

Kamyanets-Podilsky Kamianets-Podilskyi ( uk, Ка́м'яне́ць-Поді́льський, russian: Каменец-Подольский, Kamenets-Podolskiy, pl, Kamieniec Podolski, ro, Camenița, yi, קאַמענעץ־פּאָדאָלסק / קאַמעניץ, ...

on 2 August 1919 (according to older sources, Vitovsky died on 4 August 1919) and was buried in Berlin. 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