Volodymyr Vynnychenko
Volodymyr Kyrylovych Vynnychenko (Ukrainian: Володимир Кирилович Винниченко; July 28 [O.S. July 16] 1880 – March 6, 1951) was a Ukrainian statesman, political activist, writer, playwright and artist who served as the first prime minister of the Ukrainian People's Republic.
Volodymyr Vynnychenko | |
|---|---|
| Володимир Винниченко | |
| 1st Chairman of the Directory | |
| In office December 19, 1918 – February 10, 1919 | |
| Preceded by | Pavlo Skoropadsky (as Hetman of Ukraine) |
| Succeeded by | Symon Petliura |
| 1st Prime Minister of the Ukrainian People's Republic | |
| In office June 28, 1917 – August 26, 1917 | |
| President | Mykhailo Hrushevsky (speaker of Central Rada) |
| Preceded by | position created |
| Succeeded by | Vsevolod Holubovych |
| Secretary of Internal Affairs | |
| In office June 28, 1917 – January 30, 1918 | |
| Prime Minister | Himself |
| Preceded by | position created |
| Succeeded by | Pavlo Khrystiuk |
| Personal details | |
| Born | July 28, 1880 Yelisavetgrad, Russian Empire |
| Died | March 6, 1951 (aged 70) Mougins, France |
| Nationality | Ukrainian |
| Political party | Foreign Group of Ukrainian Communists (1919) |
| Other political affiliations | Ukrainian Social Democratic Labour Party (1905–1919) Revolutionary Ukrainian Party (?-1905) |
| Spouse | Rosalia Yakovna Vynnychenko (Lifshits) |
| Alma mater | Kiev University |
| Signature | |
As a writer, Vynnychenko is recognized in Ukrainian literature as a leading modernist writer in pre-revolutionary Ukraine, who wrote short stories, novels, and plays, but in Soviet Ukraine his works were forbidden, like that of many other Ukrainian writers, from the 1930s until the mid-1980s. Prior to his entry onto the stage of Ukrainian politics, he was a long-time political activist, who lived abroad in Western Europe from 1906 to 1914. His works reflect his immersion in the Ukrainian revolutionary milieu, among impoverished and working-class people, and among émigrés from the Russian Empire living in Western Europe.