Lychakivskiy Cemetery
Encyclopedia
Lychakiv Cemetery is a famous and historic cemetery in Lviv
, Ukraine
.
and upper class
es. Initially the cemetery was located on several hills in the borough of Lychakiv, following the imperial Austro-Hungarian
edict ordering that all cemeteries be moved outside of the city limits. The original project was prepared by Karol Bauer, the head of the Lviv University
botanical garden
.
In mid-1850s the cemetery was expanded significantly by Tytus Tchórzewski, who created the present network of alleys and round-abouts. It then became the main city cemetery, and soon most other cemeteries were closed. The two largest that remained were the Yanivskiy Cemetery , with many working class graves) and the adjacent New Jewish Cemetery. Lychakivskiy Cemetery was used by all Christian sects in the city: in addition to Roman Catholics, it also included Eastern Rite Catholics, Protestants and Orthodox
.
In 1925 the ashes of one of the unknown defenders of Lviv were transferred to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Warsaw. Since 1999 there is also a monument to the Sich Riflemen
located just outside the Polish mausoleum – Cemetery of the Defenders of Lwów
.
After World War II
the city was annexed by the Soviet Union
to the Ukrainian SSR
and the majority of the surviving pre-war inhabitants of the city were expelled to the former German areas awarded to Poland after the Yalta Conference
. This started a period of devastation of historical monuments located at the cemetery. Up to 1971 many of the sculptures were destroyed; the cemetery of Lwów Eagles was completely destroyed and turned into a truck depot. However, in 1975 the cemetery was declared a historical monument and the degradation ended. Since the late 1980s
, the cemetery has seen constant rebuilding and refurbishment and continues to be one of the principal tourist attractions of Lwów.
Due to the history of complex Polish-Ukrainian relations, the Polish Eagles Cemetery was neglected because the Ukrainian authorities did not want to rebuild this monument of little Polish soldiers defending the city in 1920s. Though in the late 1980s, workers of a Polish company which were working in Khmelnytskyi
started to redecorate and rebuild the necropolis from its ruins (which was not always legal according to Ukrainian law). Although the Ukrainian authorities tried to stop the works several times, the Poles managed to renovate this important memorial of great Lvovians.
In late 2006 the city administration announced plans to transfer the tombs of Stepan Bandera
, Yevhen Konovalets
, Andriy Melnyk
and other key leaders of OUN
/UPA to a new area of the cemetery dedicated to the Ukrainian national liberation struggle.http://en.for-ua.com/news/2006/10/25/171101.html
Lviv
Lviv is a city in western Ukraine. The city is regarded as one of the main cultural centres of today's Ukraine and historically has also been a major Polish and Jewish cultural center, as Poles and Jews were the two main ethnicities of the city until the outbreak of World War II and the following...
, Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
.
History
Since its creation in 1787 as Łyczakowski Cemetery, it has been the main necropolis of the city's inteligentsia, middleMiddle class
The middle class is any class of people in the middle of a societal hierarchy. In Weberian socio-economic terms, the middle class is the broad group of people in contemporary society who fall socio-economically between the working class and upper class....
and upper class
Upper class
In social science, the "upper class" is the group of people at the top of a social hierarchy. Members of an upper class may have great power over the allocation of resources and governmental policy in their area.- Historical meaning :...
es. Initially the cemetery was located on several hills in the borough of Lychakiv, following the imperial Austro-Hungarian
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...
edict ordering that all cemeteries be moved outside of the city limits. The original project was prepared by Karol Bauer, the head of the Lviv University
Lviv University
The Lviv University or officially the Ivan Franko National University of Lviv is the oldest continuously operating university in Ukraine...
botanical garden
Botanical garden
A botanical garden The terms botanic and botanical, and garden or gardens are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word botanic is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens. is a well-tended area displaying a wide range of plants labelled with their botanical names...
.
In mid-1850s the cemetery was expanded significantly by Tytus Tchórzewski, who created the present network of alleys and round-abouts. It then became the main city cemetery, and soon most other cemeteries were closed. The two largest that remained were the Yanivskiy Cemetery , with many working class graves) and the adjacent New Jewish Cemetery. Lychakivskiy Cemetery was used by all Christian sects in the city: in addition to Roman Catholics, it also included Eastern Rite Catholics, Protestants and Orthodox
Eastern Orthodox Church
The Orthodox Church, officially called the Orthodox Catholic Church and commonly referred to as the Eastern Orthodox Church, is the second largest Christian denomination in the world, with an estimated 300 million adherents mainly in the countries of Belarus, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece,...
.
In 1925 the ashes of one of the unknown defenders of Lviv were transferred to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Warsaw. Since 1999 there is also a monument to the Sich Riflemen
Sich Riflemen
The Sich Riflemen Halych-Bukovyna Kurin were one of the first regular military units of the Army of the Ukrainian People's Republic. The unit operated from 1917 to 1919 and was formed from Ukrainian soldiers of the Austro-Hungarian army, local population and former commanders of the Ukrainian Sich...
located just outside the Polish mausoleum – Cemetery of the Defenders of Lwów
Cemetery of the Defenders of Lwów
The Cemetery of the Defenders of Lwów is a memorial and a burial place for the Poles and their allies who died in Lviv during the hostilities of the Polish-Ukrainian War and Polish-Soviet War between 1918 and 1920....
.
After World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
the city was annexed by the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
to the Ukrainian SSR
Ukrainian SSR
The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic or in short, the Ukrainian SSR was a sovereign Soviet Socialist state and one of the fifteen constituent republics of the Soviet Union lasting from its inception in 1922 to the breakup in 1991...
and the majority of the surviving pre-war inhabitants of the city were expelled to the former German areas awarded to Poland after the Yalta Conference
Recovered Territories
Recovered or Regained Territories was an official term used by the People's Republic of Poland to describe those parts of pre-war Germany that became part of Poland after World War II...
. This started a period of devastation of historical monuments located at the cemetery. Up to 1971 many of the sculptures were destroyed; the cemetery of Lwów Eagles was completely destroyed and turned into a truck depot. However, in 1975 the cemetery was declared a historical monument and the degradation ended. Since the late 1980s
Dissolution of the Soviet Union
The dissolution of the Soviet Union was the disintegration of the federal political structures and central government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , resulting in the independence of all fifteen republics of the Soviet Union between March 11, 1990 and December 25, 1991...
, the cemetery has seen constant rebuilding and refurbishment and continues to be one of the principal tourist attractions of Lwów.
Due to the history of complex Polish-Ukrainian relations, the Polish Eagles Cemetery was neglected because the Ukrainian authorities did not want to rebuild this monument of little Polish soldiers defending the city in 1920s. Though in the late 1980s, workers of a Polish company which were working in Khmelnytskyi
Khmelnytskyi, Ukraine
Khmelnytskyi is a city in Ukraine in the region of Podillia. It is located on the Southern Buh River and about from the Ukrainian capital, Kiev. The town's original name was Płoskirów, later Proskurov, but in 1954 was renamed Khmelnytskyi. It is the center of the Khmelnytskyi Oblast in western...
started to redecorate and rebuild the necropolis from its ruins (which was not always legal according to Ukrainian law). Although the Ukrainian authorities tried to stop the works several times, the Poles managed to renovate this important memorial of great Lvovians.
In late 2006 the city administration announced plans to transfer the tombs of Stepan Bandera
Stepan Bandera
Stepan Andriyovych Bandera was a Ukrainian politician and one of the leaders of Ukrainian national movement in Western Ukraine , who headed the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists...
, Yevhen Konovalets
Yevhen Konovalets
Yevhen Konovalets was a military commander of the UNR army and political leader of the Ukrainian nationalist movement...
, Andriy Melnyk
Andriy Melnyk
Andriy Melnyk , Ukrainian military and political leader.-Life:Born near Drohobych, Galicia into a peasant family. Between 1912 and 1914 he studied at the Higher School of Agriculture in Vienna...
and other key leaders of OUN
Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists
The Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists is a Ukrainian political organization which as a movement originally was created in 1929 in Western Ukraine . The OUN accepted violence as an acceptable tool in the fight against foreign and domestic enemies particularly Poland and Russia...
/UPA to a new area of the cemetery dedicated to the Ukrainian national liberation struggle.http://en.for-ua.com/news/2006/10/25/171101.html
Notable people
Poles
Since the city for centuries used to be a centre of Polish culture, there are numerous famous Poles buried there. Among them are:- Roman AbrahamRoman AbrahamRoman Abraham was a Polish cavalry general, commander of Wielkopolska Cavalry Brigade during German and Soviet Invasion of Poland in September 1939, in Battle of Bzura commander of Polish cavalry ....
, general - Stefan BanachStefan BanachStefan Banach was a Polish mathematician who worked in interwar Poland and in Soviet Ukraine. He is generally considered to have been one of the 20th century's most important and influential mathematicians....
, mathematician - Władysław Bełza, writer
- Benedykt Dybowski, soldier, adventurer, ethnologist and biologist
- Mieczysław Garsztka, polish aviator
- Mieczysław Gębarowicz, historian
- Franciszek Ksawery GodebskiFranciszek Ksawery GodebskiFranciszek Ksawery Godebski was a Polish writer and publicist.He was born in Frankenthal. Cyprian Godebski was his father, and Dobrogost his pseudonym....
, historian - Artur GrottgerArtur GrottgerArtur Grottger – 1867) was a Polish painter and graphic designer, one of the most prominent artists of the early 19th century despite his brief life.-Biography:...
, artist - Zygmunt GorgolewskiZygmunt GorgolewskiZygmunt Gorgolewski was a Polish architect, renowned for his construction of the Grand Theatre in Lwów ....
, architect, author of the Lwów Opera - Seweryn GoszczyńskiSeweryn GoszczynskiSeweryn Goszczyński was a Polish Romantic prose writer and poet.Goszczyński did not receive a thorough education because his parents were not well off. He studied with breaks in different schools, the Basilian School in Humań being the one where he stayed the longest period of time. At this school...
, poet - Jan Nepomucen Kamiński, founder of the first theatre in Lwów
- Wojciech KętrzyńskiWojciech Ketrzynskithumb|Kętrzyński-Monument in [[Kętrzyn]].Wojciech Kętrzyński , born Adalbert von Winkler, was a historian and the director of the Ossolineum Library in Lwów, Austrian partition of Poland. He focused on Polish history in a time when no independent Polish state existed...
, historian and name-sake of the city of KętrzynKetrzynKętrzyn , is a town in northeastern Poland with 28,351 inhabitants . Situated in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship , Kętrzyn was previously in Olsztyn Voivodeship . It is the capital of Kętrzyn County... - Maria KonopnickaMaria KonopnickaMaria Konopnicka nee Wasiłowska , was a Polish poet, novelist, writer for children and youth, a translator, journalist and critic, as well as an activist for women's rights and Polish independence.Maria Konopnicka also composed a poem about the execution of the Irish patriot, Robert...
, writer - Juliusz Konstanty Ordon, officer
- Karol SzajnochaKarol SzajnochaKarol Szajnocha was a Polish writer, historian, and independence activist. Self-taught, he would nonetheless become a notable Polish historian of the partitions period.-Biography:...
, historian - Gabriela ZapolskaGabriela ZapolskaMaria Gabriela Stefania Korwin-Piotrowska , known as Gabriela Zapolska, was a Polish novelist, playwright, naturalist writer, feuilletonist, theatre critic and stage actress. Zapolska wrote 41 plays, 23 novels, 177 short stories, 252 works of journalism, one film script, and over 1,500...
, writer - Franciszek Stefczyk, cooperative activist
Ukrainians
Among the notable Ukrainians buried there are:- Vasyl BarvinskyVasyl BarvinskyVasyl Oleksandrovich Barvinsky was Ukrainian composer, pianist, conductor, teacher, musicologist, and music related social figure....
, impressionist composer - Ivan FrankoIvan FrankoIvan Yakovych Franko was a Ukrainian poet, writer, social and literary critic, journalist, interpreter, economist, political activist, doctor of philosophy, the author of the first detective novels and modern poetry in the Ukrainian language....
, poet and reformer of the Ukrainian languageUkrainian languageUkrainian is a language of the East Slavic subgroup of the Slavic languages. It is the official state language of Ukraine. Written Ukrainian uses a variant of the Cyrillic alphabet.... - Volodymyr IvasyukVolodymyr IvasyukVolodymyr Mykhailovych Ivasyuk or Volodymyr Ivasiuk was a very popular Ukrainian songwriter, composer and poet from the Ukrainian SSR...
, composer - Stanislav Ludkevych, composer
- Oleksandr TysowskyjOleksander TysovskyDr. Oleksander Tysovsky , pseudonym: "Drot", was the founder of the Ukrainian Scouting organization Plast in 1911, and adapted the universal Scout principles to the needs and interests of Ukrainian youth. In 1944 he emigrated to Vienna...
(alternately Alexander Tysovsky), founder of Ukrainian Scouting - Mikhail Kobrin, theologian
- Markiyan ShashkevychMarkiyan ShashkevychMarkiyan Shashkevych was a priest of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church, a poet, a translator, and the leader of the literary revival in Right Bank Ukraine.In 1832, they organized a group of students aimed at the rise of the Ukrainian...
, poet - Anatole VakhnianynAnatole VakhnianynAnatole Vakhnianyn , was a Ukrainian political and cultural figure, composer, teacher and journalist.-Biography:Vakhnianyn was born in Sieniawa, Przeworsk County, today a part of Poland but at that time a part of the Austrian Empire. He came from a clerical family; his father, Klym Vakhnianyn, and...
, composer and leading cultural figure - Jacques HnizdovskyJacques HnizdovskyJacques Hnizdovsky , was a Ukrainian-American painter, printmaker, sculptor, ex libris designer, book illustrator, and art historian.- Biography :...
, painter, printmaker, sculptor, bookplate designer and illustrator of numerous books, both in Ukrainian and English
Veterans' sections
There are also numerous parts of the cemetery in which veterans of most wars of 19th and 20th centuries are buried, including the quarters of veterans of:- November UprisingNovember UprisingThe November Uprising , Polish–Russian War 1830–31 also known as the Cadet Revolution, was an armed rebellion in the heartland of partitioned Poland against the Russian Empire. The uprising began on 29 November 1830 in Warsaw when the young Polish officers from the local Army of the Congress...
- January UprisingJanuary UprisingThe January Uprising was an uprising in the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth against the Russian Empire...
- World War IWorld War IWorld War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
- Lwów Eagles (Cemetery of the Defenders of LwówCemetery of the Defenders of LwówThe Cemetery of the Defenders of Lwów is a memorial and a burial place for the Poles and their allies who died in Lviv during the hostilities of the Polish-Ukrainian War and Polish-Soviet War between 1918 and 1920....
, reopened on 24 June 2005) - Polish-Ukrainian WarPolish-Ukrainian WarThe Polish–Ukrainian War of 1918 and 1919 was a conflict between the forces of the Second Polish Republic and West Ukrainian People's Republic for the control over Eastern Galicia after the dissolution of Austria-Hungary.-Background:...
- Polish-Bolshevik War
- Polish Defensive WarInvasion of Poland (1939)The Invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign or 1939 Defensive War in Poland and the Poland Campaign in Germany, was an invasion of Poland by Germany, the Soviet Union, and a small Slovak contingent that marked the start of World War II in Europe...
- World War IIWorld War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
- Victims of the NKVDNKVDThe People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs was the public and secret police organization of the Soviet Union that directly executed the rule of power of the Soviets, including political repression, during the era of Joseph Stalin....