Mykola Stepanovych Riabovil (; ; 17 December 1883,

Dinskaya Dinskaya () is a large rural locality (a ''stanitsa'') and the administrative center of Dinskoy District in Krasnodar Krai, Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of co ...

, Kuban Oblast of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

– 13 June 1919, at

Rostov-on-Don Rostov-on-Don is a port city and the administrative centre of Rostov Oblast and the Southern Federal District of Russia. It lies in the southeastern part of the East European Plain on the Don River, from the Sea of Azov, directly north of t ...

) was a Ukrainian political figure in the

Kuban Kuban ( Russian and Ukrainian: Кубань; ) is a historical and geographical region in the North Caucasus region of southern Russia surrounding the Kuban River, on the Black Sea between the Don Steppe, the Volga Delta and separated fr ...

. During 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 ...

he was the chairman of the Kuban Legislative Council and the chairman of the Kuban Military Council.

Early years

Riabovil's Family is originally from the village of Dinska in the Kuban. Mykola Riabovil's grandfather was the foreman of the town for a long time, and his father worked as a town clerk for more than 35 years. After graduating from the one-class school, Mykola entered the Katerynodar military school. At the end of the year, he taught in his native village. He organized the first

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk horror ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Fo ...

performances in it. Already in those years, Mykola came under the influence of the prominent public and political figure Stepan Erastov, the initiator of the creation of Ukrainian public, cooperative, educational and economic societies in the Kuban and the Ukrainian poet

Mykola Voronyi Mykola Kindratovych Voronyi (, ; December 6, 1871, – June 7, 1938) was a Ukrainian writer, poet, actor, director, and political activist. Born in Rostov-on-Don and growing up in the Yekaterinoslav Governorate, he acted in the troupes of Marko ...

, who moved to the Kuban, which made Mykola became a conscious Ukrainian. From 1902, he got close to Poltava seminarians Simon Petliura, Prokop Poniatenko and others, who launched a wide anti-government work in the Kuban.

Public career

In 1905-1907 he, studied at the Kyiv Polytechnic Institute, but due to participation in student performances, he stopped studying in the third year. This did not prevent him from making a quick career. Since his father founded a credit cooperative in 1907, Mykola had to help him. In 1909, the young Riabovil was elected to the organizing committee for the construction of the Kuban-Black Sea Railway. In 1912, the railroad charter was approved, and Riabovil was elected one of its directors. In the autumn of 1912, together with another railway director, Colonel Orekhov, he visited London to organize a bond loan. According to the canons of English business, they were charged a commission of 160,000 rubles for their work — a huge amount at that time. Both refused the fee and gave the money to the railroad. In 1912, he organized the Kuban Union of Small Credit Institutions, which soon became a powerful organization, was elected chairman of the Union Council. At the same time, he headed the Kuban Cooperative Union.

Head of the Kuban Rada

: ''Read more:

Kuban People's Republic The Kuban People's Republic or Kuban National Republic (; , abbreviated as KPR or KNR, Cyrillic: КНР) was an anti-Bolshevik state during the Russian Civil War, comprising the territory of the Kuban region in Russia. The republic was proclaim ...

'' In 1915, he was mobilized into the Russian army and sent to study at a military engineering school, which he successfully graduated with the rank of ensign. He continued his service in the

sapper A sapper, also called a combat engineer, is a combatant or soldier who performs a variety of military engineering duties, such as breaching fortifications, demolitions, bridge-building, laying or clearing minefields, preparing field defenses ...

unit in

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

, where he experienced the

February Revolution The February Revolution (), known in Soviet historiography as the February Bourgeois Democratic Revolution and sometimes as the March Revolution or February Coup was the first of Russian Revolution, two revolutions which took place in Russia ...

. He was also a popular figure in the army, he was elected to the " Council of Soldiers' and Officers' Deputies." After returning home, he took an active part in politics (in the Military Council) and public and political life (in the Regional Food Committee). He was elected the head of the Military Council . The Military Council, led by Riabovil, renamed itself the Kuban Regional Council, proclaimed

republic A republic, based on the Latin phrase ''res publica'' ('public affair' or 'people's affair'), is a State (polity), state in which Power (social and political), political power rests with the public (people), typically through their Representat ...

under the name "Kuban Region" in September 1917. The first Kuban constitution was also adopted at this session ("Temporary Provisions on the Highest Authorities in the Kuban Territory"). According to it, the Legislative Council became the highest legislative body, and the Kuban regional government and the military chieftain, who had presidential powers and the right to veto the adopted laws, became the executive power. Riabovil was elected as the head of the Kuban Legislative Council. He pursued a policy of the unity of the Kuban lands, the complete independence of the Kuban in the close relations to

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 a supporter of the idea of the unity of Ukraine and the union of Ukrainian lands, he became one of the most popular Cossack politicians in the Kuban during the period of national liberation struggles 1917-1921. The idea of Kuban independence and the union of Kuban with Ukraine had two external opponents: the

Bolsheviks The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, were a radical Faction (political), faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with the Mensheviks at the 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, ...

, who stood for the world socialist revolution and considered Kuban to be a part of the

RSFSR The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Russian SFSR or RSFSR), previously known as the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and the Russian Soviet Republic, and unofficially as Soviet Russia,Declaration of Rights of the labo ...

, and the forces that advocated the restoration of the

(in particular, the

Volunteer Army The Volunteer Army (; ), abbreviated to (), also known as the Southern White Army was a White Army active in South Russia during the Russian Civil War from 1917 to 1920. The Volunteer Army fought against Bolsheviks and the Makhnovists on the ...

led by General Anton Denikin). In addition, there was an internal struggle in the Kuban - the idea of the independence of the Cossack nation and the state self-determination of all Cossack lands, not marked by a persistent Ukrainian color, had a significant impact. Riabovil actively supported the latter idea, when Ukrainian-Kuban ties were impossible, because it had general democratic features of development and unlike

Denikin Anton Ivanovich Denikin (, ; – 7 August 1947) was a Russian military leader who served as the acting supreme ruler of the Russian State and the commander-in-chief of the White movement–aligned armed forces of South Russia during the Ru ...

's pro-anarchic ideas. In the first periods of activity in the Council, Mykola Riabovil had close relations with Kuban

Ukrainophiles Ukrainophilia is the feeling or expression of interest in, respect for, and appreciation of Ukrainians on the part of a non-Ukrainian. More specifically, a Ukrainophile is someone who has a strongly positive predisposition or sympathy towards Ukra ...

Kindrat Bardizh, Fedor Shcherbina, Luka Bych and Stepan Manzhula. In May 1918, he led a delegation of the Legislative Council to Kyiv for negotiations with Hetman Pavlo Skoropadskyi on the establishment of interstate relations and cooperation in the fight against the Bolsheviks. The delegation in

Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

was received kindly. Some of the representatives of the

Ukrainian government The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine (), commonly referred to as the Government of Ukraine (), is the highest body of state executive power in Ukraine. As the Cabinet of Ministers of the Ukrainian SSR, it was formed on 18 April 1991, by the Law ...

spoke about the autonomy of the Kuban as part of Ukraine, others saw it in a federation with Ukraine. The Kuban representatives insisted on a federal connection. With the liberation of the

from the

sought to establish his

dictatorship A dictatorship is an autocratic form of government which is characterized by a leader, or a group of leaders, who hold governmental powers with few to no Limited government, limitations. Politics in a dictatorship are controlled by a dictator, ...

there. Having failed to agree with the Council and the government on the changes he needed to the Kuban Constitution, he decided to become a

dictator A dictator is a political leader who possesses absolute Power (social and political), power. A dictatorship is a state ruled by one dictator or by a polity. The word originated as the title of a Roman dictator elected by the Roman Senate to r ...

by convening the Extraordinary Kuban Council, at which he planned to get his protégé elected to the post of Council chairman. Therefore, Cossacks of Russian origin and "

volunteers Volunteering is an elective and freely chosen act of an individual or group giving their time and labor, often for community service. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as medicine, education, or emergenc ...

" campaigned against Riabovil, whom

considered a dangerous enemy of Russia. The council headed by Riabovil defended the sovereign rights of its republic. On December 4, 1918, at an extraordinary session of the Regional Council, a new Constitution was adopted, which changed the name of the

to "Kuban region".

The murder of Lukin

The struggle for the independence of the Kuban was not always conducted by legal methods. On October 1, 1919, the head of the Kuban Military District Court, Lukin, a veteran and supporter of the Volunteer Army was killed in Katerynodar. The murder took place a day after Lukin's return from

Rostov Rostov-on-Don is a port city and the administrative centre of Rostov Oblast and the Southern Federal District of Russia. It lies in the southeastern part of the East European Plain on the Don River, from the Sea of Azov, directly north of t ...

, where he came with a report on the growth of the Ukrainian separatist movement in the Kuban and the arrival of a secret delegation from

Petliura Symon Vasyliovych Petliura (; – 25 May 1926) was a Ukrainian politician and journalist. He was the Supreme Commander of the Ukrainian People's Army (UNA) and led the Ukrainian People's Republic during the Ukrainian War of Independence, a pa ...

in Katerynodar. Kuban investigative bodies did not find the perpetrators.

Death

In June 1919, Riabovil, as head of the Kuban Legislative Council, led the Kuban delegation to the conference in

on the creation of the South Russian Union (

Don Don, don or DON and variants may refer to: Places *Don (river), a river in European Russia *Don River (disambiguation), several other rivers with the name * Don, Benin, a town in Benin * Don, Dang, a village and hill station in Dang district, Gu ...

, Terek and

). On June 13, 1919, at the conference, Riabovil spoke about the need to unify the state entities of

, Terek,

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

on a democratic basis to fight against the Bolsheviks. He sharply criticized the ideology and politics of the

. On the same day (June 13, 1919), he was killed by agents of the Volunteer Army. General Viktor Leonidovych Pokrovsky describes this murder:

''Near the Palace Hotel, where Riabovil lived, there was a car with the engine running. Inside the hotel, under the room of M.S. Riabovil, three figures in military uniforms were milling about in the semi-darkness, caps were pulled over their eyes and collars were raised. When Mykola Riabovil entered the hotel, a fatal shot rang out - three military men, having committed a criminal act, ran out into the street, jumped into a car with headlights off and disappeared. The counter-intelligence agent Kovryzhkin from Captain Baranov's special assignment unit was put on the dock in the case of Riabovil's murder, and the murderous officers disappeared and were not traced.''

The murder of Riabovil had a great political resonance, various political organizations and parties protested, Kuban was engulfed in mourning, and

Kuban Cossacks Kuban Cossacks (; ), or Kubanians (, ''kubantsy''; , ''kubantsi''), are Cossacks who live in the Kuban region of Russia. Most of the Kuban Cossacks are descendants of different major groups of Cossacks who were re-settled to the western Norther ...

increased desertion from the Denikin army. This was the beginning of the breakdown of this army and its subsequent defeat by the

Memory of Mykola Riabovil

Although the name Ryabovol was banned in the Kuban under Soviet rule, the

preserved a

song A song is a musical composition performed by the human voice. The voice often carries the melody (a series of distinct and fixed pitches) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs have a structure, such as the common ABA form, and are usu ...

about him in the people's memory: On the death of Mykola Riabovil : (recorded by Dmytro Petrenko) : ''Mourn, Kuban, our dear homeland, Your poor son lies dead.'' : ''There are no words to say it all, Our beloved, our dear mother.'' : ''Why does fate punish and reprimand, Our beloved land, so grand?'' :''Why does our fierce enemy, Turn our paradise into a hell,'' :''A place where we cannot dwell, Where the hangman threatens daily?'' :''Why, dear land of ours, Do you lead us to despair?'' :''Could you, gentle Kuban, Deserve such pain and strife?'' :''Even in this hour of dread, When we defended Ukraine?'' :''Sorrow traveled through the valleys, Tears flow like rivers tally.'' :''The land weeps and wails, For Mykola, who now trails.'' :''Rest, beloved Mykola, do sleep, We will forever your memory keep.'' :''For what you did for our people's sake, For freedom's cause, your life you gave.'' :''Over your resting place, we vow, Promising to cherish our native land, somehow.'' :''We'll learn from you how to defend, To live for freedom till the end,'' :''To strive for freedom's lofty goal, To obtain it and make it whole.'' :''For the cause of freedom, to sacrifice, To be ready to pay the highest price.'' :''Let the earth now turn to pen, So people won't forget again.'' :''They will remember and commemorate, In every Kuban home, your fate.'' :''Sleep, dear brother, beloved friend, Throughout the land, your loss does send.'' :''Thick tears fall, the heart does sway, And to your grave, we bow and pray.'' : In 1990, at the celebration of the 500th anniversary of the formation of Zaporizhzhya Sich, a delegation of

brought a portrait of Riabovil with the inscription "Mykola Riabovil is a national hero of

. " since 2017 there is a Mykola Riabovil Street in

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ryabovil, Mykola Ukrainian politicians 1883 births 1919 deaths Kuban Cossacks Kuban oblast Ukrainian nationalists Russian Civil War Ukrainian State Hetmans