Zhytomyr ( ; see
below
Below may refer to:
*Earth
*Ground (disambiguation)
*Soil
*Floor
* Bottom (disambiguation)
*Less than
*Temperatures below freezing
*Hell or underworld
People with the surname
* Ernst von Below (1863–1955), German World War I general
* Fred Belo ...
for other names) is a
city
A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...
in the north of the western half of
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 ...
. It is the
administrative center
An administrative centre is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune, is located.
In countries with French as the administrative language, such as Belgiu ...
of
Zhytomyr Oblast
Zhytomyr Oblast (), also referred to as Zhytomyrshchyna (), is an Administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast (province) in northwestern Ukraine. The administrative center of the oblast is the city of Zhytomyr. Its population is approximately
H ...
(
province
A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...
), as well as the administrative center of the surrounding
Zhytomyr urban hromada (
commune) and
Zhytomyr Raion (
district
A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...
). Moreover Zhytomyr consists of two
urban districts: Bohunskyi District and Koroliovskyi District (named in honour of
Sergey Korolyov
Sergei Pavlovich Korolev (14 January 1966) was the lead Soviet rocket engineer and spacecraft designer during the Space Race between the United States and the Soviet Union in the 1950s and 1960s. He invented the R-7 Rocket, Sputnik 1, and w ...
). Zhytomyr occupies an area of . Its population is
Zhytomyr is a major transport hub. The city lies on a historic route linking the city of
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, ...
with the west through
Brest. Today it links
Warsaw
Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...
with Kyiv,
Minsk
Minsk (, ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach (Berezina), Svislach and the now subterranean Nyamiha, Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the administra ...
with
Izmail
Izmail (, ; ; , or ; ) is a List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality on the Danube river in Odesa Oblast in south-western Ukraine. It serves as the administrative center of Izmail Raion, one of seven distr ...
, and several major cities of Ukraine. Zhytomyr was also the location of
Ozerne airbase, a key
Cold War
The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...
strategic aircraft base southeast of the city.
Important economic activities of Zhytomyr include lumber milling, food processing, granite quarrying, metalworking, and the manufacture of musical instruments.
Zhytomyr Oblast is the main center of the
Polish minority in Ukraine, and in the city itself there is a Latin Catholic cathedral and large
Roman Catholic
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...
Polish cemetery, founded in 1800. It is regarded as the third biggest Polish cemetery outside Poland, after the
Lychakivskiy Cemetery in
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 ...
and
Rasos Cemetery in
Vilnius
Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...
.
Names
The city of Zhytomyr is also historically known by different names in other languages:
* ;
* ;
* ;
* .
History
Legend holds that Zhytomyr was established about 884 by Zhytomyr, prince of a Slavic tribe of
Drevlians
The Drevlians, Derevlians or Derevlianians ( or , ) were a tribe of East Slavs between the 6th and the 10th centuries, which inhabited the territories of Polesia and right-bank Ukraine, west of the Polans (eastern), eastern Polans and along the ...
. This date, 884, is cut into a large stone of the ice age times, standing on the hill where Zhytomyr was founded. Zhytomyr was one of the prominent cities of
Kievan Rus'
Kievan Rus', also known as Kyivan Rus,.
* was the first East Slavs, East Slavic state and later an amalgam of principalities in Eastern Europe from the late 9th to the mid-13th century.John Channon & Robert Hudson, ''Penguin Historical At ...
. The first records of the town date from 1240, when it was sacked by the
Mongol
Mongols are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, China (Inner Mongolia and other 11 autonomous territories), as well as the republics of Buryatia and Kalmykia in Russia. The Mongols are the principal member of the large family of M ...
hordes of
Batu Khan
Batu Khan (–1255) was a Mongol ruler and founder of the Golden Horde, a constituent of the Mongol Empire established after Genghis Khan's demise. Batu was a son of Jochi, thus a grandson of Genghis Khan. His '' ulus'' ruled over the Kievan ...
.
In 1320 Zhytomyr was captured by the
Grand Duchy of Lithuania
The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a sovereign state in northeastern Europe that existed from the 13th century, succeeding the Kingdom of Lithuania, to the late 18th century, when the territory was suppressed during the 1795 Partitions of Poland, ...
and received
Magdeburg rights
Magdeburg rights (, , ; also called Magdeburg Law) were a set of town privileges first developed by Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor (936–973) and based on the Flemish Law, which regulated the degree of internal autonomy within cities and villages gr ...
in 1444. After the
Union of Lublin
The Union of Lublin (; ) was signed on 1 July 1569 in Lublin, Poland, and created a single state, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, one of the largest countries in Europe at the time. It replaced the personal union of the Crown of the Kingd ...
(1569) the city was incorporated into the
Crown of the Polish Kingdom and in 1667, following the
Treaty of Andrusovo
The Truce of Andrusovo (, , also sometimes known as Treaty of Andrusovo) established a thirteen-and-a-half year truce, signed on between the Tsardom of Russia and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, which had fought the Russo-Polish War sin ...
, it became the capital of the
Kiev Voivodeship. In the
Second Partition of Poland
The 1793 Second Partition of Poland was the second of partitions of Poland, three partitions (or partial annexations) that ended the existence of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth by 1795. The second partition (politics), partition occurred i ...
in 1793 it passed to
Imperial Russia
Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor/empress, or imperialism.
Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to:
Places
United States
* Imperial, California
* Imperial, Missouri
* Imperial, Nebraska
* Imperial, Pennsylvania
* ...
and became the capital of the
Volhynian Governorate
Volhynia Governorate, also known as Volyn Governorate, was an administrative-territorial unit (''guberniya'') of the Southwestern Krai of the Russian Empire. It consisted of an area of and a population of 2,989,482 inhabitants. The governorate ...
.
Following the
Union of Lublin
The Union of Lublin (; ) was signed on 1 July 1569 in Lublin, Poland, and created a single state, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, one of the largest countries in Europe at the time. It replaced the personal union of the Crown of the Kingd ...
, Zhytomyr became an important center of local administration, seat of the
starosta
Starosta or starost (Cyrillic: ''старост/а'', Latin: ''capitaneus'', ) is a community elder in some Slavic lands.
The Slavic root of "starost" translates as "senior". Since the Middle Ages, it has designated an official in a leadersh ...
, and capital of Zhytomyr County. Here,
sejmik
A sejmik (, diminutive of ''sejm'', occasionally translated as a ''dietine''; ) was one of various local parliaments in the history of Poland and history of Lithuania. The first sejmiks were regional assemblies in the Kingdom of Poland (before ...
s of
Kiev Voivodeship took place. In 1572, the town had 142 buildings, a manor house of the starosta and a castle. Following the privilege of King
Sigismund III Vasa
Sigismund III Vasa (, ; 20 June 1566 – 30 April 1632
N.S.) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1587 to 1632 and, as Sigismund, King of Sweden from 1592 to 1599. He was the first Polish sovereign from the House of Vasa. Re ...
, Zhytomyr had the right for two fairs a year.
During
Khmelnytsky Uprising
The Khmelnytsky Uprising, also known as the Cossack–Polish War, Khmelnytsky insurrection, or the National Liberation War, was a Cossack uprisings, Cossack rebellion that took place between 1648 and 1657 in the eastern territories of the Poli ...
(1648) Zhytomyr was incorporated into
Cossack Hetmanate
The Cossack Hetmanate (; Cossack Hetmanate#Name, see other names), officially the Zaporozhian Host (; ), was a Ukrainian Cossacks, Cossack state. Its territory was located mostly in central Ukraine, as well as in parts of Belarus and southwest ...
state.
In 1667, Zhytomyr became capital of Kiev Voivodeship, and in 1724, a Jesuit school and monastery were opened here. By 1765, Zhytomyr had five churches, including 3 Roman Catholic and 2 Orthodox, and 285 houses.
In 1793 Zhytomyr was incorporated into 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 ...
, and in 1804 was named capital of the Volhynian Governorate.
During a period of
Ukrainian independence
Ukraine emerged as the concept of a nation, and Ukrainians as a nationality, with the Ukrainian National Revival which began in the late 18th and early 19th century. The first wave of national revival is traditionally connected with the publi ...
(1917-1920) in 1918, the city was the national capital of
Ukrainian People's Republic
The Ukrainian People's Republic (UPR) was a short-lived state in Eastern Europe. Prior to its proclamation, the Central Council of Ukraine was elected in March 1917 Ukraine after the Russian Revolution, as a result of the February Revolution, ...
for a few weeks. Ultimately, the Ukrainian fight for independence failed and
Ukrainian People's Republic
The Ukrainian People's Republic (UPR) was a short-lived state in Eastern Europe. Prior to its proclamation, the Central Council of Ukraine was elected in March 1917 Ukraine after the Russian Revolution, as a result of the February Revolution, ...
became occupied by
Soviet Union
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
. A new Soviet Ukraine state was formed under Soviet rule -
Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic
The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, abbreviated as the Ukrainian SSR, UkrSSR, and also known as Soviet Ukraine or just Ukraine, was one of the Republics of the Soviet Union, constituent republics of the Soviet Union from 1922 until 1991. ...
. From 1920 Zhytomyr was a part of
Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic
The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, abbreviated as the Ukrainian SSR, UkrSSR, and also known as Soviet Ukraine or just Ukraine, was one of the Republics of the Soviet Union, constituent republics of the Soviet Union from 1922 until 1991. ...
.
Due to one of
Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...
's 5-year plans, the city suffered from the man-made famine
Holodomor of 1932-1933. In 2008, the National Museum of the Holodomor Genocide published the National Book of Memory of the Victims of the Holodomor of 1932–1933 in Ukraine. Zhytomyr region – Zhytomyr. The book has 1116 pages and consists of three sections. According to historical records, more than 8015 people died during Holodomor in 1932–1933.
During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
Zhytomyr and the surrounding territory was for two and a half years (first from
9 July 1941 to 12 November 1943, and again from 19 November 1943 to
31 December 1943) under
Nazi German
Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a totalitarian dictat ...
occupation and was
Heinrich Himmler
Heinrich Luitpold Himmler (; 7 October 1900 – 23 May 1945) was a German Nazism, Nazi politician and military leader who was the 4th of the (Protection Squadron; SS), a leading member of the Nazi Party, and one of the most powerful p ...
's Ukrainian headquarters. The Nazi regime in what they called the "Zhytomyr General District" became what historian
Wendy Lower describes as
a laboratory for… Himmler's resettlement activists… the elimination of the Jews and German colonization of the East—transformed the landscape and devastated the population to an extent that was not experienced in other parts of Nazi-occupied Europe besides Poland. hile�� timately, the exigencies of the war effort and mounting partisan warfare behind the lines prevented Nazi leaders from fully developing and realizing their colonial aims in Ukraine… In addition to the immediate destruction of all Jewish communities, Himmler insisted that the Ukrainian civilian population be brought to a 'minimum.'[Lower, 2005, introduction.]
During 1942-1949 Zhytomyr region was a territory of mild
Ukrainian Insurgent Army
The Ukrainian Insurgent Army (, abbreviated UPA) was a Ukrainian nationalist partisan formation founded by the Organisation of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) on 14 October 1942. The UPA launched guerrilla warfare against Nazi Germany, the S ...
(UPA) activity (UPA North), who fought for Independence of Ukraine against
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...
and the
Soviet Union
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
.
After the
Soviet Union
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
defeated
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...
, Zhytomyr fell under Soviet rule and became a part of
Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic
The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, abbreviated as the Ukrainian SSR, UkrSSR, and also known as Soviet Ukraine or just Ukraine, was one of the Republics of the Soviet Union, constituent republics of the Soviet Union from 1922 until 1991. ...
again.
On 24 August 1991 Ukrainian parliament announced
Declaration of Independence of Ukraine
The Act of Declaration of Independence of Ukraine was adopted by the Supreme Soviet of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, Supreme Soviet of the Ukrainian SSR (''Verkhovna Rada'') on 24 August 1991.[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 ...]
.
2022 Russian invasion
During the
2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...
, Zhytomyr and the surrounding area were subjected to several Russian air and missile strikes, such as the 2 March airstrike which damaged residential buildings, a thermal electricity plant, and two hospitals, killing at least two and injuring more than a dozen.
Administrative division
The city is divided into two
urban districts:
Microdistrict
The city of Zhytomyr contains the following areas (
microdistricts):
* Bohunia
* Hydropark
* Hinchanka the Second
* Zavokzalny district
* Railway station area
* Korbutivka
* Kroshnia
* Maliovanka
* Marianivka
* Pavlykivka
* Putiatynka
* Rudnia
* Smokivka
* Smolianka
* Sokolova Hora
* Old Town
* Eastern microdistrict (folk name Poliova)
* Khmilnyki (folk name Malikova)
* Center
Population
Demographic history
Ethnic groups
Distribution of the population by ethnicity according to the
2001 census:
Language
Distribution of the population by native language according to the
2001 census:
According to a survey conducted by the
International Republican Institute
The International Republican Institute (IRI) is an American nonprofit organization founded in 1983 and funded and supported by the United States federal government. Most of its board is drawn from the Republican Party. Its public mission is to a ...
in April–May 2023, 82% of the city's population spoke Ukrainian at home, and 14% spoke Russian.
Roman Catholics
Zhytomyr had been a Latin Catholic bishopric since 1321, until The See was suppressed in 1789 in favor of the
Diocese of Lutsk and Zytomierz, until that was split up again in 1925, when it was restored as the
Roman Catholic Diocese of Zhytomyr; that was formally suppressed in 1998 to establish the
Diocese of Kyïv–Žytomyr, but actually the city retains the episcopal see in its Cathedral of the
Holy Wisdom, while
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, ...
(although first in the title and the national capital) only has a
co-cathedral
A co-cathedral is a cathedral church which shares the function of being a bishop's seat, or ''cathedra'', with another cathedral, often in another city (usually a former see, anchor city of the metropolitan area or the civil capital). Instances o ...
.
The Zhytomyr cemetery was opened in 1800. At first, it served Polish nobility from
Volhynia
Volhynia or Volynia ( ; see #Names and etymology, below) is a historic region in Central and Eastern Europe, between southeastern Poland, southwestern Belarus, and northwestern Ukraine. The borders of the region are not clearly defined, but in ...
, such as the Czeczel and the Woronicz families. Later, other Catholics were buried here, including Germans, Ukrainians and Russians.
In 1840, the Chapel of St. Stanislaus was built (now in ruins), and the cemetery was divided into nine districts, named after different saints. In the
Soviet Union
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
, the complex was devastated, now it is under the process of renovation.
Among most famous people buried here are:
* Bronislaw Matyjewicz-Maciejewicz, one of the first Polish air pilots
* Karol Niedzialkowski – bishop of Lutsk and Zhytomir in the late 19th century
*
Apolinary Wnukowski – Roman Catholic archbishop and scholar
* Juliusz Zarębski – Polish composer
* parents of
Ignacy Jan Paderewski
Ignacy Jan Paderewski (; r 1859– 29 June 1941) was a Polish pianist, composer and statesman who was a spokesman for Polish independence. In 1919, he was the nation's Prime Minister of Poland, prime minister and foreign minister durin ...
* the family of
Stanisław Moniuszko
Jews in Zhytomyr

Zhytomyr apparently had few
Jew
Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...
s at the time of the
Khmelnytsky Uprising
The Khmelnytsky Uprising, also known as the Cossack–Polish War, Khmelnytsky insurrection, or the National Liberation War, was a Cossack uprisings, Cossack rebellion that took place between 1648 and 1657 in the eastern territories of the Poli ...
(1648), but by the time it became part of
Russia
Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
in 1778, it had a large Jewish community, and was a center of the
Hasidic
Hasidism () or Hasidic Judaism is a religious movement within Judaism that arose in the 18th century as a spiritual revival movement in contemporary Western Ukraine before spreading rapidly throughout Eastern Europe. Today, most of those aff ...
movement. Jews formed nearly one-third of the 1861 population (13,299 of 40,564); thirty years later, they had somewhat outpaced the general growth of the city, with 24,062 Jews in a total population of 69,785. By 1891 there were three large
synagogue
A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...
s and 46 smaller ''
batei midrash''. The proportion of Jews was much lower in the surrounding district of Zhytomyr than in the city itself; at the turn of the century (circa 1900) there were 22,636 Jews in a total population of 281,378.
In
Imperial Russia
Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor/empress, or imperialism.
Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to:
Places
United States
* Imperial, California
* Imperial, Missouri
* Imperial, Nebraska
* Imperial, Pennsylvania
* ...
, Zhytomyr held the same status as the official Jewish center of southern part of the
Pale of Settlement
The Pale of Settlement was a western region of the Russian Empire with varying borders that existed from 1791 to 1917 (''de facto'' until 1915) in which permanent settlement by Jews was allowed and beyond which the creation of new Jewish settlem ...
as
Vilnius
Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...
held in the north.
The printing of
Hebrew
Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...
books was permitted only in these two cities during the monopoly of Hebrew printing from 1845 to 1862, and both were chosen as the seats of the two
rabbi
A rabbi (; ) is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi—known as ''semikha''—following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of t ...
nical schools which were established by the government in 1848 in pursuance of its plans to force secular education on the
Jews of Russia in accordance with the program of the Teutonized Russian
Haskalah
The ''Haskalah'' (; literally, "wisdom", "erudition" or "education"), often termed the Jewish Enlightenment, was an intellectual movement among the Jews of Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe, with a certain influence on those in Wester ...
movement.
The rabbinical school of Zhytomyr was considered the more Jewish, or rather the less Russianized, of the two (''
Ha-Meliẓ
''HaMelitz'' (Hebrew: ) was the first Hebrew newspaper in the Russian Empire. It was founded by Alexander Zederbaum in Odessa in 1860.
History
''HaMelitz'' first appeared as a weekly, and it began to appear daily in 1886. From 1871, it was publish ...
'', 1868, No. 40, cited in ''Jewish Encyclopedia''). Its first head master was
Jacob Eichenbaum, who was succeeded by
Hayyim Selig Slonimski
Ḥayyim Selig ben Ya'akov Slonimski (; March 31, 1810 – May 15, 1904), also known by Hebrew abbreviations, his acronym ḤaZaS (), was a Hebrew publisher, mathematician, astronomer, inventor, science writer, and rabbi. He was among the first t ...
in 1862. The latter remained at the head of the school until it was closed (together with the one at Vilnius) in 1873 because of its failure to provide rabbis with a secular education who would be acceptable to the Jewish communities.
Suchastover,
Gottlober,
Lerner, and
Zweifel were among the best-known teachers of the rabbinical school at Zhytomyr, while
Abraham Goldfaden,
Salomon Mandelkern, and
Abraham Jacob Paperna were among the students who later became famous in the Jewish world.
The Jewish community of Zhytomyr suffered
pogrom
A pogrom is a violent riot incited with the aim of Massacre, massacring or expelling an ethnic or religious group, particularly Jews. The term entered the English language from Russian to describe late 19th- and early 20th-century Anti-Jewis ...
s:
#On 7–8 May 1905, when the section of the city known as "Podol" was devastated, and 20 were killed within the city.
#On 7–10 January 1919, 15 young Jewish neighbors were killed when they came to defend, and the
Christian
A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...
student Nicholas Blinov, also attempting to defend, likewise died. Ten young Jews from nearby
Chudnov were also killed while on their way to aid the Jews of Zhytomyr.
#Beginning on 22 March 1919, according to witnesses, the 317 deaths were fewer than might have been, due to both Christian sheltering efforts and the return of the
Bolshevik
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, ...
troops within a few days.
The Jewish community of the region was largely destroyed in
the Holocaust
The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...
. In the four months beginning with
Himmler
Heinrich Luitpold Himmler (; 7 October 1900 – 23 May 1945) was a German Nazism, Nazi politician and military leader who was the 4th of the (Protection Squadron; SS), a leading member of the Nazi Party, and one of the most powerful p ...
's 25 July 1942 orders, "all of Ukraine's
shtetl
or ( ; , ; Grammatical number#Overview, pl. ''shtetelekh'') is a Yiddish term for small towns with predominantly Ashkenazi Jews, Ashkenazi Jewish populations which Eastern European Jewry, existed in Eastern Europe before the Holocaust. The t ...
s and
ghettos lay in ruins; around 3,000 Jewish men, women, and children were murdered by stationary and mobile
SS-police units with local Ukrainian auxiliaries."
[
Today, the Zhytomyr Jewish community numbers about 5,000. The community is a part of the "Union of Jewish Communities in Ukraine" and the city and district's rabbinate. Rabbi Shlomo Vilhelm, who came to the city as a Chabad emissary in 1994, serves as rabbi. Other Jewish institutions are also active in the city, including the ]Joint
A joint or articulation (or articular surface) is the connection made between bones, ossicles, or other hard structures in the body which link an animal's skeletal system into a functional whole.Saladin, Ken. Anatomy & Physiology. 7th ed. McGraw- ...
and its humanitarian branch "Chesed" and the Jewish Agency
The Jewish Agency for Israel (), formerly known as the Jewish Agency for Palestine, is the largest Jewish non-profit organization in the world. It was established in 1929 as the operative branch of the World Zionist Organization (WZO).
As an ...
.
The community has an ancient synagogue
A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...
in the city center which has a mikveh
A mikveh or mikvah (, ''mikva'ot'', ''mikvot'', or (Ashkenazi Hebrew, Ashkenazic) ''mikves'', lit., "a collection") is a bath used for ritual washing in Judaism#Full-body immersion, ritual immersion in Judaism to achieve Tumah and taharah, ...
. Chabad
Chabad, also known as Lubavitch, Habad and Chabad-Lubavitch (; ; ), is a dynasty in Hasidic Judaism. Belonging to the Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) branch of Orthodox Judaism, it is one of the world's best-known Hasidic movements, as well as one of ...
operates in the city various educational institutions which have residence in a village next to the city.
Culture
The city has 2 state theaters and a philharmonic, more than 10 museums, libraries and planetarium.
One of the world-famous museums of cosmonautics Serhiy Pavlovych Korolyov Museum of Cosmonautics is located in the city.
Theaters and music
In 1809, the first stationary theater building was built in Zhytomyr on the initiative of Volyn governor M. I. Кomburley.
In 1858, the first stone theater in Ukraine was built (now it houses the regional state philharmonic). M. Kropyvnytskyi, M. Zankovetska, V. Komisarzhevska, I. Aldridge, P. Viardot performed here.
In 1966, a new theater building was built with a large auditorium for 943 seats and a small one for 70 seats, a lobby with an area of 550 m2, rehearsal halls, dressing rooms, offices, production shops.
Currently in the city work:
* Academic Ukrainian Music and Drama Theater named after Ivan Kocherga;
* Academic Regional Puppet Theater;
* Philharmonic named after Svyatoslav Richter.
Since 1973, the Zhytomyr Academic Dance Ensemble "Sun" exists in the city.
The internationally renowned chamber choir OREYA is based in the city.
Famous composers Borys Lyatoshynsky
Borys Mykolaiovych Lyatoshynsky, also known as Boris Nikolayevich Lyatoshinsky, (3 January 189515 April 1968) was a List of Ukrainian composers, Ukrainian composer, conductor, and teacher. A leading member of the new generation of 20th century ...
and Sviatoslav Richter
Sviatoslav Teofilovich Richter ( – August 1, 1997) was a Soviet and Russian classical pianist. He is regarded as one of the greatest pianists of all time,Great Pianists of the 20th Century and has been praised for the "depth of his interpreta ...
were born in Zhytomyr.
Museums
The following museums operate in Zhytomyr:
* historical and local lore museum;
* art gallery;
*museum of nature;
* V. G. Korolenko Literary Memorial Museum;
*memorial house-museum of academician Sergei Korolev
Sergei Pavlovich Korolev (14 January 1966) was the lead Soviet Aerospace engineering, rocket engineer and spacecraft designer during the Space Race between the United States and the Soviet Union in the 1950s and 1960s. He invented the R-7 Sem ...
;
*literary museum of Zhytomyr Region;
*museum of the history of fire protection;
*Sergei Pavlovich Korolyov Museum of Cosmonautics.
Libraries
* Zhytomyr Regional Universal Scientific Library named after O. Olzhych;
*Zhytomyr Regional Scientific Medical Library;
*Zhytomyr Regional Library for Youth;
*Zhytomyr Regional Library for Children.
Architecture: sights and monuments
The city has 74 historical monuments, 24 archeological monuments, and 15 monuments of monumental art (one of which is of national importance). Monuments of architecture and urban planning of state importance — 10, local significance — 72.
Monuments of historical, cultural and religious significance in the city of Zhytomyr include:
* Cells of the Jesuit monastery (1724);
* Holy Dormition Bishops Cathedral in Podil (1874);
*Church of St. James;
*Seminary Church of St. John of Dukla;
* Saint Sophia Cathedral;
*St. Michael's Cathedral;
*Holy Exaltation of the Cross Cathedral;
*Transfiguration Cathedral;
*Lutheran Church;
*Water tower.
In 1996, the Memorial to the Victims of Fascism was erected in Bohunia by the sculptor Yosyp Tabachnyk (a memorable location of the Bohunіa concentration camp for prisoners of war).
Geography
Zhytomyr lies in a unique natural setting; all sides of the city are surrounded by ancient forest
A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...
s through which flow the Teteriv, Kamianka, Kroshenka and Putiatynka river
A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...
s. The Teteriv river generally forms the southern boundary of Zhytomyr, though there are also some small areas of Zhytomyr city territory below the southern bank of the river. The city is rich in parks and public square
A town square (or public square, urban square, city square or simply square), also called a plaza or piazza, is an open public space commonly found in the heart of a traditional town or city, and which is used for community gatherings. Relat ...
s.
Zhytomyr is set out on a mostly radial type of street
A street is a public thoroughfare in a city, town or village, typically lined with Building, buildings on one or both sides. Streets often include pavements (sidewalks), pedestrian crossings, and sometimes amenities like Street light, streetligh ...
net with the centre at the main public square of the city, named ''Sobornyi Maidan'' (which means ''Cathedral Square''). A building containing court
A court is an institution, often a government entity, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between Party (law), parties and Administration of justice, administer justice in Civil law (common law), civil, Criminal law, criminal, an ...
s and some other institutions is in the west of the square. Before 1991, this building contained Zhytomyr Oblast Committee of the Communist Party. Just behind the building (that is to the west of Sobornyi Square) is a small quiet park, bearing the name of ''Zamkova Gora'' (''Castle Mountain'') and containing a monument-type boulder with an inscription stating that this is a place where Zhytomyr was founded. This historical centre of Zhytomyr is in the south part of the city. The old part of Zhytomyr is on three rocky hills over the river Kamianka: Okhrimova, Zamkova, and Petrovska.
The old town is surrounded by new housing estates, the names of which are often borrowed from the former suburban villages or reflect the longstanding occupations common in these places. The main streets connecting Sobornyi Maidan with the outskirts of Zhytomyr are Kyivska Street or 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, ...
Street (going to northeast, to the railway station
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...
and also to the main bus station
A bus station, bus depot, or bus interchange is a structure where city buses or intercity buses stop to pick up and drop off passengers. A bus station is larger than a bus stop, which is usually simply a place on the roadside, where buses can st ...
of the city), Velyka Berdychiv
Berdychiv (, ) is a historic city in Zhytomyr Oblast, northern Ukraine. It serves as the administrative center of Berdychiv Raion within the oblast. It is south of the administrative center of the oblast, Zhytomyr. Its population is approximat ...
ska Street (going to southeast
The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, Radius, radially arrayed compass directions (or Azimuth#In navigation, azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A ''compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, ...
), Lech Kaczyński
Lech Aleksander Kaczyński (; 18 June 194910 April 2010) was a Polish politician who served as the city mayor of Warsaw from 2002 until 2005, and as President of Poland from 2005 until his death in 2010 in an air crash. The aircraft carrying ...
Street (going southwest; its further continuation is Chudnivska Street going to beach
A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from Rock (geology), rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle beach, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological s ...
es and a forest-type park near the river of Teteriv), and Peremohy Street (going north).
The best-known street in the central part of Zhytomyr is Mykhailivska (named after St. Michael's Church
Church may refer to:
Religion
* Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying
* Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination
* Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...
at the northern end of the street). The street is about 500 metre
The metre (or meter in US spelling; symbol: m) is the base unit of length in the International System of Units (SI). Since 2019, the metre has been defined as the length of the path travelled by light in vacuum during a time interval of of ...
s to the east of Sobornyi Maidan and runs approximately from north to south, connecting some points at the above-mentioned Kyivska Street and Velyka Berdychivska. Mykhailivska Street is for pedestrian
A pedestrian is a person traveling on foot, by wheelchair or with other mobility aids. Streets and roads often have a designated footpath for pedestrian traffic, called the '' sidewalk'' in North American English, the ''pavement'' in British En ...
traffic: vehicle
A vehicle () is a machine designed for self-propulsion, usually to transport people, cargo, or both. The term "vehicle" typically refers to land vehicles such as human-powered land vehicle, human-powered vehicles (e.g. bicycles, tricycles, velo ...
s are forbidden, with the exception of some slow-moving ones. A puppet theatre is nestled in the middle of the street, while the building of the Zhytomyr City Council is at its southern end. Several small coffee houses and cafés have sprung up here recently, frequented by locals from all walks of life and of all ages. If one crosses Velyka Berdychivska Street from the southern end of Mykhailivska Street, then one finds oneself at Korolyov Square containing the building of the Zhytomyr Oblast Council. Crossing Kyivska Street from the northern end of Mykhailivska Street, one can continue to go along Pokrovska Street, another important long avenue of Zhytomyr (going north).
The best-known park of Zhytomyr is named after Yuri Gagarin
Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin; Gagarin's first name is sometimes transliterated as ''Yuriy'', ''Youri'', or ''Yury''. (9 March 1934 – 27 March 1968) was a Soviet pilot and cosmonaut who, aboard the first successful Human spaceflight, crewed sp ...
, in the south of the city, at the left (northern) bank of the Teteriv River. It was formerly owned by the Baron de Chaudoir.
Climate
Economy
Zhytomyr is an important economic center in the region. Enterprises in the city include glass, metal fabrication, electronic devices, screens, fabrics, furniture, shoes and others.
In addition, there is a large pharmaceutical factory in Zhytomyr. Since 1944, a confectionery factory (ALC "ZhL") has operated in Zhytomyr; the enterprise is one of the leaders of the Ukrainian confectionery market.
The city is home to the Zhytomyr Armored Factory. The factory has been one of the main repair facilities in Ukraine since the start of the Russo-Ukrainian War
The Russo-Ukrainian War began in February 2014 and is ongoing. Following Ukraine's Revolution of Dignity, Russia Russian occupation of Crimea, occupied and Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, annexed Crimea from Ukraine. It then ...
, running on 3 shifts. In September 2014 it was announced that the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine had placed a ₴280 million order with the factory.
Transport
In ancient times, the city was on the important road from 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, ...
to the city of Brest-Litovsk.
Now this road is of international highway connecting 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, ...
to the Hungarian border near Chop.
Some other roads:
* connecting the cities Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of Roman civilization
*Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...
and Zhytomyr (through Vinnytsia
Vinnytsia ( ; , ) is a city in west-central Ukraine, located on the banks of the Southern Bug. It serves as the administrative centre, administrative center of Vinnytsia Oblast. It is the largest city in the historic region of Podillia. It also s ...
)
* Zhytomyr - Chernivtsi
Chernivtsi (, ; , ;, , see also #Names, other names) is a city in southwestern Ukraine on the upper course of the Prut River. Formerly the capital of the historic region of Bukovina, which is now divided between Romania and Ukraine, Chernivt ...
(through Khmelnytskyi)
* Zhytomyr - Stavyshche (through Skvyra)
* Zhytomyr – checkpoint "Vystupovychi" of the Ukrainian-Belarus
Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...
ian border (through Korosten
Korosten (, ), also historically known as Iskorosten (), is a historic city and a large transport hub in Zhytomyr Oblast, northern Ukraine. It is located on the Uzh (Pripyat), Uzh River. Korosten serves as the Capital city, administrative center ...
).
Railways
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of land transport, next to roa ...
connect Koziatyn with Zhytomyr (through Berdychiv
Berdychiv (, ) is a historic city in Zhytomyr Oblast, northern Ukraine. It serves as the administrative center of Berdychiv Raion within the oblast. It is south of the administrative center of the oblast, Zhytomyr. Its population is approximat ...
), Korosten
Korosten (, ), also historically known as Iskorosten (), is a historic city and a large transport hub in Zhytomyr Oblast, northern Ukraine. It is located on the Uzh (Pripyat), Uzh River. Korosten serves as the Capital city, administrative center ...
, Zviahel, Korostyshiv and Fastiv. In 2011 a stretch of the Fastiv – Zhytomyr rail line was electrified.
Zhytomyr is about 131 kilometers from 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, ...
(by road 140 km, by rail 165 km).
The following trains pass through Zhytomyr train station (both directions for all):
* Zhytomyr - Korosten
Korosten (, ), also historically known as Iskorosten (), is a historic city and a large transport hub in Zhytomyr Oblast, northern Ukraine. It is located on the Uzh (Pripyat), Uzh River. Korosten serves as the Capital city, administrative center ...
* Vinnytsia
Vinnytsia ( ; , ) is a city in west-central Ukraine, located on the banks of the Southern Bug. It serves as the administrative centre, administrative center of Vinnytsia Oblast. It is the largest city in the historic region of Podillia. It also s ...
- Korosten
Korosten (, ), also historically known as Iskorosten (), is a historic city and a large transport hub in Zhytomyr Oblast, northern Ukraine. It is located on the Uzh (Pripyat), Uzh River. Korosten serves as the Capital city, administrative center ...
* Zhytomyr - Korostyshiv
* Korosten
Korosten (, ), also historically known as Iskorosten (), is a historic city and a large transport hub in Zhytomyr Oblast, northern Ukraine. It is located on the Uzh (Pripyat), Uzh River. Korosten serves as the Capital city, administrative center ...
- Koziatyn
* Zhytomyr - Koziatyn
* Zhytomyr - Zviahel
* Zhytomyr - Fastiv
The city has an airport (however, it is not currently being used for passenger transport; it is intended for the use of strategic bombers, though not currently being used).
Zhytomyr has three bus stations connecting it with many other cities and villages in 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 ...
and abroad.
Zhytomyr has fifteen bridges and junctions built over rivers and roads. There is a 30-kilometer ring road around Zhytomyr.
The most interesting bridge in Zhytomyr is one over the Teteriv River in Gagarin Park (named after Yuri Gagarin
Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin; Gagarin's first name is sometimes transliterated as ''Yuriy'', ''Youri'', or ''Yury''. (9 March 1934 – 27 March 1968) was a Soviet pilot and cosmonaut who, aboard the first successful Human spaceflight, crewed sp ...
).
Public city transport
Common kinds of public transport
Public transport (also known as public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) are forms of transport available to the general public. It typically uses a fixed schedule, route and charges a fixed fare. There is no rigid definition of whic ...
shuttling within Zhytomyr are trolleybus
A trolleybus (also known as trolley bus, trolley coach, trackless trolley, trackless tramin the 1910s and 1920sJoyce, J.; King, J. S.; and Newman, A. G. (1986). ''British Trolleybus Systems'', pp. 9, 12. London: Ian Allan Publishing. .or troll ...
es, bus
A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a motor vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van, but fewer than the average rail transport. It is most commonly used ...
es, and minibus
A minibus, microbus, or minicoach is a passenger-carrying motor vehicle that is designed to carry more people than a multi-purpose vehicle or minivan, but fewer people than a full-size bus. In the United Kingdom, the word "minibus" is us ...
es. There are also electric tram
A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which Rolling stock, vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some ...
s, but on one route only. Earlier there were several tram routes in Zhytomyr, but all excepting one were canceled during a period of domination of the opinion that a tram is a bad kind of transport
Transport (in British English) or transportation (in American English) is the intentional Motion, movement of humans, animals, and cargo, goods from one location to another. Mode of transport, Modes of transport include aviation, air, land tr ...
.
Trams began to shuttle in Zhytomyr in 1899. Thus Zhytomyr became the 5th city with electric trams within the territory of present-day 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 ...
. Trolleybuses appear in Zhytomyr in 1962.
The total length of Zhytomyr city electric transport routes (trolleybuses and trams) is 275 km. Zhytomyr is the first city in Ukraine to implement e-ticket system in all municipal public transport.
Attack on Zhytomyr
On 27 February 2022, the city's public airport Zhytomyr Airport was directly attacked by 2 Iskander missiles launched from Belarus
Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...
, during the Russian invasion of Ukraine
On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...
, which had recently started three days prior to the attack on Zhytomyr Airport.
Twin towns – sister cities
Zhytomyr is twinned with:
* Bytom
Bytom (Polish pronunciation: ; Silesian language, Silesian: ''Bytōm, Bytōń'', ) is a city in Upper Silesia, in southern Poland. Located in the Silesian Voivodeship, the city is 7 km northwest of Katowice, the regional capital.
It is one ...
, Poland
* Dazhou
Dazhou ( zh, s= 达州 , t= 達州 , p=Dázhōu , w=Ta-chou) is a prefecture-level city in the northeast corner of Sichuan province, China, bordering Shaanxi to the north and Chongqing to the east and south. As of 2020 census, Dazhou was home t ...
, China
* Kutaisi
Kutaisi ( ; ka, ქუთაისი ) is a city in the Imereti region of the Georgia (country), Republic of Georgia. One of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, it is the List o ...
, Georgia
* Montana
Montana ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota to the east, South Dakota to the southeast, Wyoming to the south, an ...
, Bulgaria
* Płock
Płock (pronounced ), officially the Ducal Capital City of Płock, is a city in central Poland, on the Vistula river, in the Masovian Voivodeship. According to the data provided by Central Statistical Office (Poland), GUS on 31 December 2021, the ...
, Poland
* Shangla, Pakistan
Notable people
* Ossip Bernstein
Ossip Samoilovich Bernstein (20 September 1882 – 30 November 1962) was a French chess player and businessman. He was one of the inaugural recipients of the title Grandmaster (chess), International Grandmaster from FIDE in 1950.
Biography
Born ...
(1882–1962), Russian-French Grandmaster chess player and businessman
* Aleksandr Bezymensky (1898–1973), a Soviet poet, screenwriter and journalist.
* Hayim Nahman Bialik
Hayim Nahman Bialik (; January 9, 1873 – July 4, 1934) was a Jewish poet who wrote primarily in Hebrew language, Hebrew and Yiddish. Bialik is considered a pioneer of modern Hebrew poetry, part of the vanguard of Jewish thinkers who gave voice ...
(1873 in Ivnytsia – 1934), Hebrew poet, educated in Zhytomyr
* (1908 in Zhytomyr - 1995), Brazilian-Ukrainian media magnate
* Sasha Boole (born 1989), Ukrainian country and folk musician, and singer / songwriter
* Tadeusz Borowski
Tadeusz Borowski (; 12 November 1922 – 3 July 1951) was a Polish writer and journalist. His wartime poetry and stories dealing with his experiences as a prisoner at Auschwitz are recognized as classics of Polish literature.
Early life
Boro ...
(1922–1951), a Polish writer and journalist.
* Ina Bourskaya (1886—1954), an American opera singer.
* Jarosław Dąbrowski
Jarosław Żądło-Dąbrowski (; 13 November 1836 – 23 May 1871), also known as Jaroslav Dombrowski, was a Polish nobleman (szlachta member) and military officer in the Imperial Russian Army, a Polish nationalist and radical republican for ...
(1836–1871), Polish nobleman and Paris Commune
The Paris Commune (, ) was a French revolutionary government that seized power in Paris on 18 March 1871 and controlled parts of the city until 28 May 1871. During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, the French National Guard (France), Nation ...
revolutionary
* Boris Didkovsky (1883–1937) Bolshevik revolutionary, Soviet geologist and University rector
* Oksana Dyka (born 1978), a Ukrainian operatic soprano.
* Luis Filcer (1927–2018), a Mexican Expressionist painter dealing with injustice and struggle.
* Samuel Freedman (1908–1993), Canadian judge, Manitoba Chief Justice
* Yakov Gamarnik (1894–1937), Soviet Communist militant and military commander
* Jewgeni Grischbowski (born 1992), a Dj and Music Producer.
* Vladimir Hachinski (born ), clinical neuroscientist and researcher into stroke and dementia
* Valentin Hrabovsky (1937–2004), author, poet, and art critic
* Mark Kharitonov (1937–2024) Russian novelist, poet, and essayist
* Alexander Kipnis
Alexander Kipnis ( – May 14, 1978) was a Russian and American bass singer. Having initially established his artistic reputation in Europe, Kipnis became an American citizen in 1931, following his marriage to an American. He appeared often at ...
(1891–1978), German then US bass opera singer
* Vladimir Korolenko (1853–1921), Russian writer, journalist and human rights activist
* Sergei Korolev
Sergei Pavlovich Korolev (14 January 1966) was the lead Soviet Aerospace engineering, rocket engineer and spacecraft designer during the Space Race between the United States and the Soviet Union in the 1950s and 1960s. He invented the R-7 Sem ...
(1907–1966), rocket engineer and designer, head of the Soviet space program
The Soviet space program () was the state space program of the Soviet Union, active from 1951 until the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. Contrary to its competitors (NASA in the United States, the European Space Agency in Western Euro ...
* Dmytro Kveselevych (1935–2003), translator and lexicographer
* Keni Liptzin (1856–1918), Jewish actress in Yiddish theatre
Yiddish theatre consists of plays written and performed primarily by Jews in Yiddish, the language of the Ashkenazi Jewish community. The range of Yiddish theatre is broad: operetta, musical comedy, and satire, satiric or nostalgic revues; melodr ...
* Borys Lyatoshynsky
Borys Mykolaiovych Lyatoshynsky, also known as Boris Nikolayevich Lyatoshinsky, (3 January 189515 April 1968) was a List of Ukrainian composers, Ukrainian composer, conductor, and teacher. A leading member of the new generation of 20th century ...
(1895–1968), a Ukrainian composer, conductor and teacher.
* Julian Movchan (1913–2002), a Ukrainian-American journalist, writer and doctor.
* Donia Nachshen (1903–1987) a British book illustrator, produced gov't posters in WWII.
* Franciszek Niepokólczycki (1900–1974), a colonel of Polish Army.
* Oleh Olzhych (1907-1944), Ukrainian writer and nationalist militant
* Abram Ranovich (1885–1948), Soviet scholar of classical antiquity and religion.
* Zvi Ribak (1910-1994), a Jewish painter
* Sviatoslav Richter
Sviatoslav Teofilovich Richter ( – August 1, 1997) was a Soviet and Russian classical pianist. He is regarded as one of the greatest pianists of all time,Great Pianists of the 20th Century and has been praised for the "depth of his interpreta ...
(1915–1997), a distinguished Soviet pianist
* Michael Rostovtzeff
Mikhail Ivanovich Rostovtzeff, or Rostovtsev (; – October 20, 1952), was a Russian historian whose career straddled the 19th and 20th centuries and who produced important works on ancient Roman and Greek history. He served as president of t ...
(1870–1952), a Russian historian and archaeologist
* Esther Salaman (1900–1995), a Russian-born Jewish writer and physicist.
* Igor Shafarevich (1923–2017), a Soviet and Russian mathematician, did algebraic number theory
Algebraic number theory is a branch of number theory that uses the techniques of abstract algebra to study the integers, rational numbers, and their generalizations. Number-theoretic questions are expressed in terms of properties of algebraic ob ...
* David Shterenberg (1881–1948), a Russian Soviet painter and graphic artist.
* Apollon Skalkowski (1808-1898), Russian and Ukrainian scientist, historian, writer and publisher
* Andriy Slyusarchuk (born 1971) a Ukrainian mnemonist and fraudster
* Mykola Stsiborskyi (1897–1941), leader of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists
The Organisation of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN; ) was a Ukrainian nationalist organization established on February 2, 1929 in Vienna, uniting the Ukrainian Military Organization with smaller, mainly youth, radical nationalist right-wing groups. ...
* Vladimir Veksler (1907–1966), an experimental physicist, pioneer of the particle accelerator
A particle accelerator is a machine that uses electromagnetic fields to propel electric charge, charged particles to very high speeds and energies to contain them in well-defined particle beam, beams. Small accelerators are used for fundamental ...
* Natalia Vlaschenko (born 1960), journalist, screenwriter, TV presenter, playwright and columnist.
* Bruno Zach (1891–1935), an Austrian art deco sculptor of Genre art
* Casimir Zagourski (1883–1944), a Polish photographer active in Central Africa
Central Africa (French language, French: ''Afrique centrale''; Spanish language, Spanish: ''África central''; Portuguese language, Portuguese: ''África Central'') is a subregion of the African continent comprising various countries accordin ...
1924–44
* Juliusz Zarębski (1854–1885), a Polish composer and pianist.
* Zev Wolf of Zhitomyr (died 1798), an Hassidic Rabbi.
Sport
* Anastasiya Chernenko (born 1990), a professional triathlete
* Aderinsola Eseola (born 1991), a Ukrainian footballer with over 200 club caps
* Ruslan Malinovskyi (born 1993) a Ukrainian footballer with over 300 club caps and 49 for 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 ...
* Viktor Rudyi (born 1962), a retired Soviet and Ukrainian football player with 510 club caps.
* Vyacheslav Shabranskyy (born 1987), boxer, fought for the WBO light-heavyweight title in 2017.
* Danylo Sikan (born 2001), a Ukrainian footballer with over 50 club caps and 6 for 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 ...
* Andriy Tkachuk (born 1987), a Ukrainian football midfielder with over 400 club caps
* Yuriy Vernydub (born 1966), a Ukrainian football coach and former player with 462 club caps.
Gallery
File:Будинок, в якому народився Ярослав Домбровський, генерал Паризької комуни..jpg, Typical old Zhytomyr architecture
File:Будинок взаємного кредиту (міська рада) .jpg, City Hall
File:Житомир. Здание Областного суда..JPG, Court building
File:Житомир. Парк Гагарина..JPG, Fountains in Gagarin park
file:Житомир Кафедральний костел Св. Софії.jpg, Saint Sophia Cathedral
file:Кріха 2017.jpg, Chapel of the Lutheran Church
File:2017 Житомир (16) Вул. Любарська, 3.jpg, Former home of writer Józef Ignacy Kraszewski
file:Zhytomyr Stariy Bul'var 9 Okruzhniy Sud 01 (YDS 6520).JPG, The National University of Agriculture in Zhytomyr
file:Zhytomyr Pushkins'ka 42 Druga Cholovicha Gimnaziya 01 (YDS 6538).JPG, Zhytomyr state technology university
file:Korolev-museum-zhytomyr.jpg, The Korolyov Museum
file:Житомир, майдан Перемоги 12.jpg, Spaso-Preobrazhenskiy sobor
file:Zhytomyr_Maydan_Peremohi2.JPG, Victory Square with tank monument and Cathedral in Zhytomyr
file:Zhytomyr Kyivs'ka 4 Kostel Sv.Yoana z Dukli 02 (YDS 6340).JPG, The Catholic Church of St. John in the centre of Zhytomyr
file:Хрестовоздвиженська Церква, Житомир, вул. Кафедральна, 18.jpg, Khrestovozdvizhensky Cathedral
file:Церква Св. Михайла.jpg, Cathedral, St. Michael's Church
file:Житомир. Ворота ВДНХ..JPG, Entrance to the trade fair hall, informal name: "artistic gates"
file:Denkmal für die Opfer des Faschismus.JPG, Monument to the victims of fascism (Zhytomyr)
Notes
References
Sources
*
* Wendy Lower, ''Nazi Empire-Building and the Holocaust in Ukraine'', 2005, University of North Carolina Press.
Introduction (online)
accessed 19 July 2006.
Sources and external links
*
Zhytomyr Journal - news, photo, map and other
Zhytomyr business directory (in Russian or Ukrainian)
interesniy.zhitomir.ua
– a blog about history of Zhytomyr
Zhytomyr map - cafes, bars, restaurants
everything about the city
hotels of Zhytomyr
{{Authority control
Zhytomyr,
Cities in Zhytomyr Oblast
Zhytomyr Raion
Historic Jewish communities in Ukraine
Cities of regional significance in Ukraine
Holocaust locations in Ukraine
880s establishments
Populated places established in the 9th century
Oblast centers in Ukraine