Kherson (, ) is a port city of Ukraine that serves as the

administrative centre An administrative center 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 administrative language (such as Belgium, Lu ...

Kherson Oblast Kherson Oblast ( uk, Херсо́нська о́бласть, translit=Khersónsʹka óblastʹ, ), also known as Khersonshchyna ( uk, Херсо́нщина, ), is an oblast (province) in southern Ukraine, currently claimed and partly occupied ...

. Located on the Black Sea and on the Dnieper River, Kherson is the home of a major

ship-building Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other floating vessels. It normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces its roots to befor ...

industry and is a regional economic centre. In 2021, the city had an estimated population of 283,649. From March to November 2022, the city was

occupied ' (Norwegian: ') is a Norwegian political thriller TV series that premiered on TV2 on 5 October 2015. Based on an original idea by Jo Nesbø, the series is co-created with Karianne Lund and Erik Skjoldbjærg. Season 2 premiered on 10 October 2 ...

by Russian forces during their

invasion of Ukraine The territory of present-day Ukraine has been Invasion, invaded or Military occupation, occupied a number of times throughout History of Ukraine, its history. List See also *List of invasions *List of wars involving Ukraine References

...

. Ukrainian forces recaptured the city on 11 November 2022.

Etymology

As the first new settlement in the "Greek project" of

Empress Catherine , en, Catherine Alexeievna Romanova, link=yes , house = , father = Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst , mother = Joanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp , birth_date = , birth_name = Princess Sophie of Anhal ...

and her favorite Grigory Potemkin, it was named after the ancient Greek city-colony of Chersonesus in Crimea. In Greek, () means 'peninsular shore'.

History

Russian Empire era (1783–1917)

The city was founded by decree of

Catherine the Great , en, Catherine Alexeievna Romanova, link=yes , house = , father = Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst , mother = Joanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp , birth_date = , birth_name = Princess Sophie of Anhal ...

on 18 June 1778 on the high bank of the Dnieper as a central fortress of the

Black Sea Fleet Chernomorskiy flot , image = Great emblem of the Black Sea fleet.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Great emblem of the Black Sea fleet , dates = May 13, ...

after the Russian annexation of the territory in 1774. The city was established in place of the Russian-built fort or

sconce Sconce may refer to: *Sconce (fortification), a military fortification *Sconce (light fixture) *Sconcing, imposing a penalty in the form of drink *Sconce Point Fort Victoria is a former military fort on the Isle of Wight, England (), built to ...

"Saint Alexander" which existed at least since 1737 and also served as one of administrative centers of the Zaporizhian Sich and run by local Cossacks. The fort was built during the Russo-Turkish War and improved some 30 years later. Before 1737 in place of Kherson and Fort St.Alexandre, older maps show a settlement of Bilschowisce which carries Ukrainian-like transliteration. 1783 saw the city granted the rights of a district town and the opening of a local shipyard where the hulls of the Russian Black Sea fleet were laid. Within a year the Kherson Shipping Company began operations. By the end of the 18th century, the port had established trade with France, Italy, Spain and other European countries. Between 1783–1793 Poland's maritime trade via the Black Sea was conducted through Kherson by the ''

Kompania Handlowa Polska Kompania Handlowa Polska (English: Trade Company Poland), also known as Black Sea Trade Company (Kompania Handlu Czarnomorskiego), Black Sea Company (Kompania Czarnomorska), and Kherson Company (Kompania Chersonska) was a Joint-stock company which ...

''. In 1791, Potemkin was buried in the newly built St. Catherine's Cathedral. In 1803 the city became the capital of the

Kherson Governorate The Kherson Governorate (1802–1922; russian: Херсонская губерния, translit.: ''Khersonskaya guberniya''; uk, Херсонська губернія, translit=Khersonska huberniia), was an administrative territorial unit (als ...

."Херсон", Большая Советская Энциклопедия, том 46 (''The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, Vol. 46''), Б. А. Введенский 2-е изд.(B. A. Vvedensky ed.. 2nd Edition). . М., Государственное научное издательство «Большая Советская энциклопедия» (State Scientific Publishing House), 1957, pp. 121–122 Industry, beginning with breweries, tanneries and other food and agricultural processing, developed from the 1850s. In 1897 the population of the city was 59,076 of which, on the basis of their first language, almost half were recorded as Great Russian, 30% as Jewish, and 20% Ukrainian. During the

revolution of 1905 The Russian Revolution of 1905,. also known as the First Russian Revolution,. occurred on 22 January 1905, and was a wave of mass political and social unrest that spread through vast areas of the Russian Empire. The mass unrest was directed again ...

there were workers' strikes and an army mutiny (an armed demonstration by soldiers of the 10th Disciplinary Battalion) in the city.Херсон // Советская историческая энциклопедия / редколл., гл. ред. Е. М. Жуков. том 15. М., государственное научное издательство «Советская энциклопедия», 1974. ("Kherson", ''Soviet Historical Encyclopedia''. Vol. 15, E. M. Zhukov. ed., State Scientific Publishing House), 1974. pp 504–506, 571–573

Soviet era (1917–1991)

Early Bolshevik period

In the Russian Constituent Assembly election held in November 1917—the first and last free election in Kherson for 70 years—Bolsheviks who had seized power in

Petrograd Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

and Moscow received just 13.2 percent of the vote in the

Governorate A governorate is an administrative division of a state. It is headed by a governor. As English-speaking nations tend to call regions administered by governors either State (administrative division), states or province, provinces, the term ''govern ...

. The largest electoral bloc in the district, with 43 percent of the vote, was an alliance of Ukrainian Socialist Revolutionaries (SRs), Russian Socialist Revolutionaries and the United Jewish Socialist Workers Party. The Bolsheviks dissolved SR-dominated Assembly after its first sitting,Orlando Figes, ''A People's Tragedy: The Russian Revolution 1891–1924'', London: Pimlico (1997), p. 516. and proceeded to force from Kiev the Central Council of Ukraine (Tsentralna Rada) whose response to the Leninist coup had been to proclaim the independence of the Ukrainian People's Republic (UPR). But, before the Bolsheviks could secure Kherson, they were obliged to cede the region under the terms of the March 1918 Treaty of Brest-Litovsk to the German and Austrian controlled Ukrainian State. After the withdrawal of German and Austrian forces in November 1918, the efforts of the UPR (the Petluirites) to assert authority were frustrated by a French-led Allied intervention which occupied Kherson in January 1919. Kherson aerial view 1918 (01)

In March 1919, the Green Army of local warlord Otaman

Nykyfor Hryhoriv Nykyfor Oleksandrovych Hryhoriv (né Nychypir Servetnyk, 1884 – 27 July 1919) was a Ukrainian paramilitary leader noted for repeatedly switching sides during the Ukrainian Civil War. He was commonly known as "Otaman Hryhoriv." In some historic ...

ousted the French and Greek garrison and precipitated the Allied evacuation from Odesa. In July, the Bolsheviks defeated Hryhoriv who had called upon the Ukrainian people to rise against the "Communist imposters" and their "Jewish commissars," and had perpetrated pogroms, including in the Kherson region. Kherson itself was occupied by the counter-revolutionary Whites before finally falling to the Bolshevik Red Army in February 1920. In 1922 the city and region was formally incorporated into the Ukrainian SSR a constituent republic of the Soviet Union. The population was radically reduced from 75,000 to 41,000 by the famine of 1921–3, but then rose steadily, reaching 97,200 in 1939. In 1940, the city was one of the sites of executions of

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

officers and

intelligentsia The intelligentsia is a status class composed of the university-educated people of a society who engage in the complex mental labours by which they critique, shape, and lead in the politics, policies, and culture of their society; as such, the in ...

committed by the Soviets as part of the Katyn massacre.

World War II and post-War period

Further devastation and population loss resulted from the

German occupation German-occupied Europe refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly occupied and civil-occupied (including puppet governments) by the military forces and the government of Nazi Germany at various times between 1939 an ...

during the Second World War. The German occupation, which lasted from August 1941 to March 1944, contended with both Soviet and Ukrainian nationalist (

OUN Oun or OUN may refer to People * Ahmed Oun (born '1946), Libyan major general * Ek Yi Oun (1910–2013), Cambodian politician * Kham-Oun I (1885–1915), Lao queen consort * Õun, an Estonian surname; notable people with this surname * Oun Kham (18 ...

) underground cells. The Kherson district leadership of the OUN was headed by Bogdan Bandera (brother of OUN leader Stepan Bandera). The Germans operated a Nazi prison and the Stalag 370 prisoner-of-war camp in the city. In the post-war decades, which saw substantial industrial growth, the population more than doubled, reaching 261,000 by 1970. The new factories, including the Comintern Shipbuilding and Repairs Complex, the Kuibyshev Ship Repair Complex, and the Kherson Cotton Textile Manufacturing Complex (one of the largest textile plants in the Soviet Union), and Kherson's growing grain-exporting port, drew in labour from the Ukrainian countryside. This changed the city's ethnic composition, increasing the Ukrainian share from 36% in 1926 to 63% in 1959, while reducing the Russian share from 36 to 29%. The Jewish population never recovered from the Holocaust visited by the Germans: accounting for 26% of residents in 1926, their number had fallen to just 6% in 1959.

In independent Ukraine

With a turnout of 83.4% of eligible voters, 90.1% of the votes cast in Kherson Oblast affirmed Ukrainian independence in the

national referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a Representative democr ...

of 1 December 1991. With the collapse of the Soviet Union, Kherson and its industries experienced severe dislocation. Over the following three decades, the population of both the city and the region declined, reflecting both a significant excess of deaths over live births and persistent net-emigration from the area. The 2014 pro-Russian unrest in eastern and southern Ukraine was marked in Kherson by a small demonstration of some 400 persons. Following

Russian occupation of Crimea The Russian occupation of Crimea is an ongoing military occupation within Ukraine by the Russian Federation, which began on 20 February 2014 when the military-political, administrative, economic and social order of Russia was spread to the Aut ...

in 2014, Kherson housed the office of the Ukrainian President's representative in Crimea. In July 2020, as part of the general administrative reform of Ukraine, the Kherson Municipality was merged as an urban

hromada A hromada ( uk, територіальна громада, lit=territorial community, translit=terytorialna hromada) is a basic unit of administrative division in Ukraine, similar to a municipality. It was established by the Government of Ukra ...

into newly established Kherson Raion, one of five raions in the

of which the city remained the administrative centre. A "City Profile", part of the SCORE (Social Cohesion and Reconciliation) ''Ukraine 2021'' project funded by USAID, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and the European Union, concluded that "more than 80% of citizens in Kherson city feel their locality is a good place to live, work, and raise a family". This was despite a low level of trust in the local authorities in whom corruption was perceived to be high. It also found that, while more inclined to express support for co-operation with Russia than for membership of the EU, "citizens in Kherson feel attached to their Ukrainian identity".

2020 local election

In the last free elections before the 2022 Russian invasion, the Ukrainian local elections held on 25 October 2020, the results of Kherson City Council elections were as follows'':'' The parties widely perceived as pro-Russian, and Euro-skeptic, Opposition Platform,

Volodymyr Saldo Bloc The Volodymyr Saldo Bloc (, , abbr. БВС or BVS) was a minor Regionalism (politics), regionalist political party in the Kherson Oblast in Ukraine headed by Volodymyr Saldo. The party was founded in 2019 and won 5 seats in the Kherson Oblast Cou ...

, and

Party of Shariy Party of Shariy ( uk, Партія Шарія, russian: Партия Шария, PSh) is a banned political party in Ukraine founded by political blogger Anatoly Shariy. Its official proclaimed ideology is libertarianism.Kremlin The Kremlin ( rus, Московский Кремль, r=Moskovskiy Kreml', p=ˈmɐˈskofskʲɪj krʲemlʲ, t=Moscow Kremlin) is a fortified complex in the center of Moscow founded by the Rurik dynasty, Rurik dynasty. It is the best known of th ...

.Court bans Sharia Party
, Ukrayinska Pravda (16 June 2022) The Volodymyr Saldo Bloc dissolved; its deputies in Kyiv joined the newly formed faction "Support to the programs of the President of Ukraine". From 26 April 2022, Volodymyr Saldo himself, who had been mayor of Kherson from 2002 to 2012, went on to serve the Russian occupiers, as

head A head is the part of an organism which usually includes the ears, brain, forehead, cheeks, chin, eyes, nose, and mouth, each of which aid in various sensory functions such as sight, hearing, smell, and taste. Some very simple animals may ...

of the Kherson military–civilian administration.

2022 Russian occupation

Kherson witnessed heavy fighting in the first days of the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...

(

Kherson offensive The Battle of Kherson was a military engagement between Russian and Ukrainian forces that began on 24 February 2022 as part of the southern Ukraine offensive of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. The battle ended on 2 March 2022 with the cap ...

). As of 2 March the city was under Russian control, and as early as 8 March the Russian FSB was reported to be tasked with crushing resistance. Under the Russian occupation, locals continued to stage street protests against the invading army's presence and in support of the unity of Ukraine. According to the Ukrainian government, the Russian military sought to create a puppet

Kherson People's Republic The Russian occupation of Kherson Oblast is an ongoing military occupation of Ukraine's Kherson Oblast by Russian forces that began on 2March 2022 during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russian invasion of Ukraine as part of the southern ...

in the style of the Russian-backed separatist polities in the

Donbas The Donbas or Donbass (, ; uk, Донба́с ; russian: Донба́сс ) is a historical, cultural, and economic region in eastern Ukraine. Parts of the Donbas are controlled by Russian separatist groups as a result of the Russo-Ukrai ...

region and tried to coerce local councillors into endorsing the move, detaining those activists and officials who opposed their design. By 26 April 2022, Russian troops had taken over the city's administration headquarters and had appointed both a new mayor, former KGB agent

Alexander Kobets Oleksandr Yuriyovych Kobets (born 27 September 1959) is a Ukrainian and Russian politician, businessman and former intelligence officer who served as the Russian-installed mayor of Kherson from 26 April 2022 until 11 November 2022 when Russia ...

, and ex-mayor Volodymyr Saldo as a new civilian-military regional administrator. The next day, Ukraine's Prosecutor General said that troops used tear gas and stun grenades to disperse a further pro-Ukraine rally in the city centre. In an indication of an intended split from Ukraine, on the 28th the new administration announced that from May it would switch the region's payments to the Russian ruble. Citing unnamed reports about alleged discrimination of Russian speakers, its deputy head, Kirill Stremousov said that "reintegrating the Kherson region back into a Nazi Ukraine is out of the question". On 30 May the Russian-backed occupation authority in Kherson claimed that it had started exporting last year's grain from Kherson to Russia. They would also be working on exporting sunflower seeds. On 6 June it was reported by the Ukrainian mayor of Kherson, Ihor Kolykhaiev, that the occupiers had conducted a meeting of more than 70 Russian sympathizers aimed at conducting a referendum on the region integrating the occupied areas into Russia. His sources told him that the dates discussed were two: in September or at the end of 2022. As a Russian election was going to take place on 11 September, the Kherson vote would be scheduled to coincide with that day. An elected official in Russia named

Igor Kastyukevich Igor Yurievich Kastyukevich (russian: Игорь Юрьевич Кастюкевич; born December 6, 1976, Saratov) is a Russian political figure and deputy of the 8th State Duma. In 2003 he started working in the sports development depart ...

had discussed this plan on 7 June, following the visit to Kherson of Sergei Kiriyenko, the deputy chief of staff of the Russian presidential administration. By June, the occupiers were switching Ukrainian schools to their educational curriculum and Russian SIM cards were on the market. Kolykhaiev witnessed the occupiers distributing Russian passports. A cafe frequented by the occupiers was bombed on 7 June and at least four people were injured. Stremousov said on 29 June that "The Kherson region will decide to join the Russian Federation and become a full-fledged subject as one unified state." On the same visit, Kiriyenko spoke at the United Russia party's humanitarian aid center in Kherson: "The Kherson region's admission into Russia will be complete, similar to Crimea,” recalling the

2014 Crimean status referendum The Crimean status referendum of 2014 was a disputed referendum on March 16, 2014, concerning the status of Crimea, in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the local government of Sevastopol (both Administrative divisions of Ukraine, subdivi ...

. On 18 June it was announced that Russian FSB officers were in the process of moving from hotels to apartments that had been vacated by Ukrainians. In late June the first Russian bank opened in Kherson, while

Oleksii Kovalov Oleksiy Ivanovych Kovalov ( uk, Олексій Іванович Ковальов, ; 19 January 1989 – 28 August 2022) was a Ukrainian politician. A few months before his death, he had started collaborating with Russia during the 2022 Russian i ...

, an ex-member of the Ukrainian Servant of the People party, survived an assassination attempt after he had been appointed vice-president. On 24 June Dmytro Savluchenko, who led the Directorate for Family, Youth, and Sports of the Russian occupation administration, was assassinated by the explosion of a car bomb. On 29 June the Ukrainian mayor of Kherson, Kolykhaiev, was detained by Russian security forces. On 5 July, Volodymyr Saldo announced that the former deputy head of government in the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad Sergei Yeliseyev, a graduate of the FSB Academy, was to assume the presidency of the oblast. On 28 August 2022 the vice-president of the occupation administration (Kovalev) was found shot dead inside his own apartment in

Zaliznyi Port Zaliznyi Port (; ), also known as Zhelezny Port (), is a resort village ( selo) along the Black Sea coast, located in the of Skadovsk Raion of Kherson oblast in Ukraine. It is situated near the outskirts of the Black Sea Biosphere Reserve, being ...

. His wife was stabbed in the same attack and she died later in the hospital. On 30 September 2022, the Russian Federation claimed to have

annexed Annexation (Latin ''ad'', to, and ''nexus'', joining), in international law, is the forcible acquisition of one state's territory by another state, usually following military occupation of the territory. It is generally held to be an illegal act ...

Kherson Oblast. The United Nations General Assembly

condemned Condemned or The Condemned may refer to: Legal * Persons awaiting execution * A condemned property, or condemned building, by a local authority, usually for public health or safety reasons * A condemned property seized by power of eminent domain ...

the proclaimed annexations with a vote of 143-5. Russian forces were ordered to withdraw from the city by defence minister Sergei Shoigu and regroup on the eastern side of the Dnieper on 9 November 2022. Ukrainian officials claimed that Russian troops were destroying bridges connecting the city to the other bank of the river. On 11 November, Ukraine announced that its forces had entered the city following the Russian withdrawal. Before retreat, Russian army destroyed infrastructure facilities of the city (communications, water, heat, electricity, TV tower), looted two main museums ( and the Art Museum), transporting their items to Crimean museums, and took away several monuments to historical figures.

Demographics

Ethnicity

As of Ukrainian National Census in 2001, the ethnic groups living within Kherson included: * Ukrainians – 76.6% * Russians – 20.0% *Other – 3.4%

Languages

Administrative divisions

There are three city raions. * Suvorov Raion, central and oldest district of the city, named after the Russian General

Suvorov Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov (russian: Алекса́ндр Васи́льевич Суво́ров, Aleksándr Vasíl'yevich Suvórov; or 1730) was a Russian general in service of the Russian Empire. He was Count of Râmnicu Sărat, Rymnik, C ...

. Includes departments: Tavrіjs'kij, Pіvnіchnij and Mlini. * Dnipro Raion, named after the Dnieper river. Includes departments: HBK, Tekstilny, Sklotara, Slobіdka, Voyenka, Skhіdny. * Korabelny Raion. Includes departments: Shumensky, Korabel, Zabalka, Sukharne, Zhitloselishche, Selishche — 4, Selishche — 5.

Climate

Under the Köppen climate classification, Kherson has a humid continental climate (''Dfa'').

Transport

Ports

Kherson has both a seaport,

Port of Kherson Port of Kherson ( uk, Херсонський морський порт, Khersonsky morsky port) is a port in the city of Kherson, Ukraine. It is located in the delta of Dnieper river. The berthing line of the seaport is 1.5 km (10 berths), w ...

and a river port,

Kherson River Port Kherson River Port is a large transport hub in which there is interaction of river, sea, rail and road transport. Kherson River Port was born at the same time as the city (1778). Initially, the first shipments from the upper reaches of the Dnieper ...

Rail

Kherson is connected to the national railroad network of Ukraine. There are daily long-distance services to Kyiv, Lviv and other cities.

Air

Kherson is served by Kherson International Airport. It operates a 2,500 x 42-meter concrete runway, accommodating Boeing 737, Airbus 319/320 aircraft, and helicopters of all series.

Education

There are 77 high schools as well as 5 colleges. There are 15 institutions of higher education, including: * *

Kherson State University of Agriculture Kherson (, ) is a port city of Ukraine that serves as the administrative centre of Kherson Oblast. Located on the Black Sea and on the Dnieper River, Kherson is the home of a major ship-building industry and is a regional economic centre. In 2 ...

Kherson State University Kherson State University is one of the oldest universities in southern Ukraine. Today it is a multidisciplinary academic, cultural and educational centre. History KSU was founded in November 1917 during the First World War , it was modeled on th ...

Kherson National Technical University Kherson National Technical University ( uk, Херсонський національний технічний університет) uk, is a technical institution in Kherson, Ukraine. History The university was founded in 1959 by a group of ...

*International University of Business and Law The documentary '' Dixie Land'' was filmed at a music school in Kherson.

Main sights

St. Catherine's Cathedral, Kherson *The Church of St. Catherine – was built in the 1780s, supposedly to Ivan Starov's designs, and contains the tomb of Prince Grigory Potemkin. *Jewish cemetery – Kherson has a large Jewish community which was established in the mid-nineteenth century. *

Kherson TV Tower Kherson TV Tower ( uk, Херсонська телевежа "Kherson TV Tower") was a tall steel space framed truss communications tower located in the Ukrainian city of Kherson. The building was uniquely built, having been built by using the c ...

Adziogol Lighthouse __NOTOC__ The Adziogol Lighthouse ( uk, Аджигольський маяк), also known as Stanislav–Adzhyhol Lighthouse or Stanislav Range Rear light, is one of two vertical lattice hyperboloid structures of steel bars, serving as active lig ...

, a hyperboloid structure designed by Vladimir Shukhov in 1911 * The Kherson Art Museum has a collection of icons, and Ukrainian and Russian paintings and sculptures. Particularly noteworthy are ''Portrait of a Woman'' (1883) by Konstantin Makovsky; ''The Tempest is Coming'' by Ivan Aivazovsky; ''Sunset'' by

Alexei Savrasov Alexei Kondratyevich Savrasov (russian: Алексе́й Кондра́тьевич Савра́сов) (May 24, 1830 – September 26, 1897) was a Russian landscape painting, landscape painter and creator of the ''lyrical landscape'' style ...

; ''Cattle Yard in Abramtsevo'' by

Vasily Polenov Vasily Dmitrievich Polenov (Russian: Васи́лий Дми́триевич Поле́нов; 1 June 1844 – 18 July 1927) was a Russian landscape painter associated with the Peredvizhniki movement of realist artists. His contemporaries would ca ...

; ''At the Stone'' by Ivan Kramskoi; ''The Charioteer'', by Peter Clodt von Jürgensburg (sculptor); ''Prince Svyatoslav'' by Eugene Lanceray (sculptor); ''Mephistopheles'' by

Mark Antokolsky Mark Matveyevich Antokolsky (russian: Марк Матве́евич Антоко́льский; 2 November 18409 July 1902) was a Russian Imperial sculptor of Lithuanian Jewish descent. Biography Mordukh Matysovich Antokolsky''Boris Schatz: The ...

(sculptor); ''Near the Monastery'' by German painter August von Bayer (1859); ''Oaks'' (1956); ''Moloditsya'' (1938) and ''Still Life with the Blue Broom'' (1930), by

Oleksii Shovkunenko Oleksii Oleksiyovych Shovkunenko ( uk, Олексій Олексійович Шовкуненко; 21 March 1884 - 12 March 1974) was a Soviet painter and teacher, and from 1947 on a member of the USSR Academy of Arts. Shovkunenko was born in t ...

(born in Kherson).

Notable people

* Grigory Adamov (1886–1945) a Soviet science fiction writer * Georgy Arbatov (1923–2010), a Soviet and Russian political scientist. *

Vladimir Baranov-Rossine Vladimir may refer to: Names * Vladimir (name) for the Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Macedonian, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak and Slovenian spellings of a Slavic name * Uladzimir for the Belarusian version of the name * Volodymyr for the Ukr ...

(1888–1944) Ukrainian/Russian/French painter, avant-garde artist and inventor. * Max Barskih (born 1990), a Ukrainian singer and songwriter. *

Stefania Berlinerblau Stefania Berlinerblau or Fanny Berlin (1852September 4, 1921) was an American anatomist and physician. She is noted for her investigations on blood circulation, which led to the demonstration of the artery-vein connections. She is also considere ...

(1852–1921) American anatomist and physician, investigated blood circulation *

Maximilian Bern Maximiliam Bern (November 11, 1849 – September 10, 1923) was a German writer and editor. He was born in Kherson, Ukraine, where his father was a physician. Upon his father's death, his mother took him to Vienna to further his education. From ...

(1849–1923) a German writer and editor. *

Sergei Bondarchuk Sergei Fyodorovich Bondarchuk (russian: Сергей Фёдорович Бондарчук, ; uk, Сергі́й Федорович Бондарчук, Serhíj Fédorovych Bondarchúk; 25 September 192020 October 1994) was a Soviet and Russian ...

(1920–1994), Soviet and Russian actor, film director, and screenwriter * Lev Davidovitch Bronstein, (1879–1940), better known as ''Leon Trotsky'', Bolshevik revolutionary and Marxist theorist, was born in the village of Bereslavka,

. *

Artem Datsyshyn Artem Viktorovych Datsyshyn ( uk, Артем Вікторович Дацишин, 26 January 1979 – 17 March 2022) was a Ukrainian ballet dancer and soloist with the National Opera of Ukraine, where he performed leading roles in ballets includ ...

(1979–2022) a Ukrainian ballet dancer and soloist *

Ivan Gannibal Ivan Abramovich Gannibal (russian: Иван Абрамович Ганнибал; June 5, 1735 – October 12, 1801) was an eminent Russian military leader. He was the son of military commander, general and engineer Abram Petrovich Gannibal, as w ...

(1735–1801), an eminent Russian military leader and a founder of the city * Sergei Garmash (born 1958) a Soviet and Russian film and stage actor. * Yefim Golïshev (1897–1970), painter and composer associated with the Dada movement in Berlin. * Nikolai Grinko (1920–1989) a Soviet and Ukrainian actor *

Kateryna Handziuk Kateryna Viktorivna Handziuk ( uk, Катерина Вікторівна Гандзюк; 17 June 1985 – 4 November 2018) was a Ukrainian civil rights and anti-corruption activist campaigner and political advisor, who exposed corruption in her ho ...

(1985–2018), Ukrainian civil rights and anti-corruption activist * John Howard (1726–1790), English prison reformer, he died of typhus whilst in Kherson. *

Mircea Ionescu-Quintus Mircea Ionescu-Quintus (; 18 March 1917 – 15 September 2017) was a Romanian politician who served as a senator and Minister of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency ...

(1917–2017), Romanian politician, writer and jurist * Yurii Kerpatenko (1976–2022), Ukrainian conductor * Ihor Kolykhaiev (born 1971) Ukrainian politician and entrepreneur, Mayor of Kherson since 2020 *

Samuel Maykapar Samuel Moiseyevich Maykapar () (18 December 18678 May 1938) was a Russian romantic composer, pianist, professor of music at the St. Petersburg Conservatory, and author of a number of piano practice pieces. Life Childhood Samuel Maykapar was bor ...

(1867–1938), a Russian romantic composer, pianist and professor of music *

Yuriy Odarchenko Yuriy Vitaliyovych Odarchenko ( uk, Юрій Віталійович Одарченко) (born 5 April 1960) is a Ukrainian politician, member of the ''Batkivshchyna'' All-Ukrainian Union "Fatherland" party. 2006–2014 he was a member of Ukrainia ...

(born 5 1960) a politician, Governor of Kherson Oblast since 2014 * Nicholas Perry (born 1992), a social media personality, known online as ''Nikocado Avocado'' * Sergei Polunin, (born 1989) a Russian ballet dancer, actor and model. *Prince Grigory Potemkin (1739–1791), military leader, statesman and nobleman; a founder of the city. * Salomon Rosenblum (1873–1925), later known as '' Sidney Reilly'', a secret agent, adventurer and playboy, employed by the British

Secret Intelligence Service The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6 ( Military Intelligence, Section 6), is the foreign intelligence service of the United Kingdom, tasked mainly with the covert overseas collection and analysis of human intelligenc ...

; may have inspired spy character, James Bond. *

Nissan Rilov Nissan Rilov (1922 - 2007) was an Israeli artist. Prior to undertaking his artistic career, he served in paramilitary and military groups such as the Special Night Squads (SNS), the Haganah, and the British Army during World War II. Rilov became ...

(1922–2007) former soldier, Israeli artist and supporter of Palestinians * Moshe Sharett (1894–1965), the 2nd Prime Minister of Israel from 1953 to 1955 *

Inna Shevchenko Inna Shevchenko ( uk, Інна Шевченко) is a Ukrainian feminist activist and the leader of international women's movement FEMEN, which often demonstrates topless against what they perceive as manifestations of patriarchy, especially d ...

(born 1990) a Ukrainian feminist activist and leader women's movement FEMEN *

Sergei Stanishev Sergey Dmitrievich Stanishev ( bg, Сергей Дмитриевич Станишев ; born 5 May 1966) is a Bulgarian politician who is serving as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP). He previously served as President of the Party of Eu ...

(born 1966), a Bulgarian politician, 49th

Prime Minister of Bulgaria The prime minister of Bulgaria ( bg, Министър-председател, Ministar-predsedatel) is the head of government of Bulgaria. They are the leader of a political coalition in the Bulgarian parliament – known as the National Assemb ...

*Prince Alexander Suvorov (1730–1800) a Russian general, a founder of the city. * Svitlana Tarabarova (born 1990) a Ukrainian singer, songwriter, music producer and actress. *

Mikhail Yemtsev Mikhail Yemtsev (Russian: Михаил Тихонович Емцев, June 3, 1930 – August 25, 2003) - Soviet and Russian science fiction writer who worked mostly in collaboration with Yeremey Parnov Yeremey Iudovich Parnov (russian: link=no ...

(1930–2003), Soviet and Russian science fiction writer Larisa Latynina 2010

Sport

* Anastasiia Chetverikova (born 1998) sprint canoeist, team silver medallist at the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

* Inna Gaponenko (born 1976) a chess player,

International Master FIDE titles are awarded by the international chess governing body FIDE (''Fédération Internationale des Échecs'') for outstanding performance. The highest such title is Grandmaster (GM). Titles generally require a combination of Elo rating and ...

& Woman Grandmaster. *

Oleksandr Holovko Oleksandr Borysovych Holovko ( uk, Олександр Борисович Головко; born 6 January 1972) is a Ukrainian former footballer who played as a centre-back and current manager of Dinaz Vyshhorod. Holovko also used to be a regula ...

(born 1972) former footballer with 414 club caps and 58 for Ukraine * Pavlo Ishchenko (born 1992), Ukrainian-Israeli boxer *

Oleksandr Karavayev Oleksandr Oleksandrovych Karavayev ( uk, Олександр Олександрович Караваєв, born 2 June 1992) is a Ukrainian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Dynamo Kyiv. Club career Karavayev was born in Khers ...

(born 1992), footballer with over 250 club caps and 45 for Ukraine * Yevhen Kucherevskyi (1941–2006), Ukrainian football coach of

Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk Football Club Dnipro ( uk, Футбо́льний Клуб «Дніпро́», ) was a Ukrainian football club based in Dnipro. The club was owned by the Privat Group that also owns BC Dnipro and Budivelnyk Kyiv. In 2018 FC Dnipro was forced in ...

* Larisa Latynina (born 1934), Soviet gymnast, has won nine Olympic gold medals *

Tatiana Lysenko Tatiana Felixivna Lysenko ( uk, Тетяна Фелiксiвна Лисенко; born June 23, 1975) is a Soviet and Ukrainian former gymnast, who had her senior competitive career from 1990 to 1994. Lysenko was a member of the Soviet Union team ...

(born 1975), Soviet and Ukrainian gymnast, two gold and a bronze medal at the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...

Yuriy Maksymov Yuriy Vilyovych Maksymov ( ua, Юрій Вільйович Максимов; born 8 December 1968) is a Ukrainian football coach and a former midfielder. His career achievements saw him inducted into the Viktor Leonenko Hall of Fame in March 2 ...

(born 1968) football coach and former midfielder with 384 club caps and 27 for Ukraine. * Yuri Nikitin (born 1978) gymnast and gold medallist at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

Sergei Postrekhin Sergei Postrekhin (born November 1, 1957 in Kherson, Ukrainian SSR) is a Soviet-born Ukrainian sprint canoer who competed in the late 1970s and early 1980s. At the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, he won a gold in the C-1 500 m event and ...

(born 1957) sprint canoer, gold and silver medallist at the

1980 Summer Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (russian: Летние Олимпийские игры 1980, Letniye Olimpiyskiye igry 1980), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad (russian: Игры XXII Олимпиады, Igry XXII Olimpiady) and commo ...

Serhiy Tretyak Serhiy Volodymyrovych Tretyak ( uk, Сергій Володимирович Трет`як; russian: Серге́й Владимирович Третьяк; born 7 September 1963) is a retired Ukrainian professional footballer. Tretyak made his p ...

(born 1963) a retired Ukrainian footballer with over 500 club caps *

David Tyshler David (also "Davyd") Abramovich Tyshler (russian: Давид Абрамович Тышлер; 13 June 1927 – 7 June 2014) was a Russian sabreur, part of the first generation of internationally successful Soviet fencers (Olympic bronze medalist ...

(1927–2014), Ukrainian/Soviet fencer, two gold and a bronze medal at the

1956 Summer Olympics The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVI Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, from 22 November to 8 December 1956, with the exception of the equestrian events, whi ...

Roman Vintov Roman Vasilyevich Vintov (russian: Роман Васильевич Винтов; born 1 July 1978) is a former Russian professional football player. He also held Ukrainian citizenship as Roman Vasylyovych Vintov ( uk, Роман Васильов ...

(born 1978) a former Russian/Ukrainian footballer with over 460 club caps

Twin cities

* Zalaegerszeg, Hungary *

Shumen Shumen ( bg, Шумен, also romanized as ''Shoumen'' or ''Šumen'', ) is the tenth largest city in Bulgaria and the administrative and economic capital of Shumen Province. Etymology The city was first mentioned as ''Šimeonis'' in 1153 by t ...

, Bulgaria * Izmit, Turkey *

Bizerte Bizerte or Bizerta ( ar, بنزرت, translit=Binzart , it, Biserta, french: link=no, Bizérte) the classical Hippo, is a city of Bizerte Governorate in Tunisia. It is the northernmost city in Africa, located 65 km (40mil) north of the cap ...

, Tunisia