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[BANNED] De-shcho pro avtonomyiu Ukraini [i.e. A few words on the autonomy of Ukraine]

[Doroshenko, D.]

Khar'kov: Drukarnia Petra Kaluhina for Vydavnytstvo, 1906. Item #1957

15 pp. 16 x 12.5 cm. Issued without title page. Publisher’s covers. Good condition. Spot to the front cover. Minor tears along extremities including the spine, two 0.5 cm tears to the bottom of brochure w/o paper loss. Rust on staples.

A collection of two articles by one of the Ukrainian independence movement leaders, Dmytro Doroshenko (1882 - 1951).

Two articles included in the brochure are “How free Ukrainian Cossacks were turned into slaves” and “On autonomy”. The first one is a historical essay telling the story of Ukrainian struggles for independence of the XVIIth and the XVIIIth century. The second one lists historical, territorial, cultural differences between Ukrainians and Moscouvites, concluding that Ukraine should be autonomous and shall be governed by a parliament. The importance of those short texts shall be understood if taken within the time context. 1905 saw the fall of the Russian Emperor Nicholas II and almost simultaneously, the fall of tsarist censorship. For the first time after Ems Ukaz of 1876, the Ukrainian press advanced to enjoy newly acquired freedom. All this contributed to a vast amount of talks and press publications on the biggest dream of the Ukrainians: a free, independent country where one can freely speak its own language and cherish its traditions. In the period of 1906-1908, the first years of relative freedom of speech, young Doroshenko wrote a number of articles envisioning a free, fair country based on the principles won by Ukrainians centuries ago: “We, Ukrainians, shall not wait a time when someone will give us it [autonomy], we shall take it with out own powerful hands”. And in just a few years Doroshenko started to build exactly what he wrote about. Young historian entered politics and went on to become the Governor of Chernigov province and minister of foreign affairs of the newly established Ukrainian Hetmanate. Later, as Hetmanate fell, Doroshenko emigrated and concentrated on historical and cultural studies. The brochure was issued anonymously which was not common for any of Doroshenko’s publications. This anonymity was a matter of prudence in the times when the freedom of speech was granted on paper but not always in real life. These articles were first published in Khliborob (first politically oriented Ukrainian newspaper in the Russian Empire, printed in Lubny) and Zaporizhzhia (also an early political periodical, printed in Ekaterinoslav / Dnipro) respectively. Remarkably, Zaporizhzhia was closed down after only one issue by the censors exactly because of the radical proindependence articles like Doroshenko’s one. Preceding the article “On autonomy”, one can find poetic lines by Yakym Samotnii (pseud. Yakim Ermolev) - “Don’t you moan!”, a versed appeal to the Ukrainian people not to whine, but to act on what’s important for them.

Rare. Not in WorldCat. Not in KVK.

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