Lemkos ( rue, Лeмкы, translit= Lemkŷ; pl, Łemkowie; uk, Лемки, translit=Lemky) are an ethnic group inhabiting the Lemko Region ( rue, Лемковина, translit=Lemkovyna; uk, Лемківщина, translit=Lemkivshchyna) of Carpathian Rus', an ethnographic region in the Carpathian Mountains and
foothills
Foothills or piedmont are geographically defined as gradual increases in elevation at the base of a mountain range, higher hill range or an upland area. They are a transition zone between plains and low relief hills and the adjacent topographi ...
spanning
Ukraine
Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian invas ...
,
Slovakia
Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the ...
and
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is divided into Voivodeships of Poland, sixteen voivodeships and is the fifth most populous member state of the European Union (EU), with over 38 mill ...
.
Their affiliation with other ethnicities is controversial. Some Lemkos consider their ethnos to be a sub-group of
Rusyns
Rusyns (), also known as Carpatho-Rusyns (), or Rusnaks (), are an East Slavic ethnic group from the Eastern Carpathians in Central Europe. They speak Rusyn, an East Slavic language variety, treated variously as either a distinct languag ...
(also called Carpatho-Rusyns or Carpatho-Ruthenians). Other Carpathian ethnic groups identifying as Rusyns include the
Boykos
The Boykos ( uk, Бойки, Boiky; pl, Bojkowie; sk, Pujďáci), or simply Highlanders (верховинці, ''verkhovyntsi''), are an ethnolinguistic sub-group of Ukrainians located in the Carpathian Mountains of Ukraine, Slovakia, Hunga ...
and Hutsuls. Members of these groups have historically also been given other designations such as ''Verkhovyntsi'' (Highlanders). Among people of the Carpathian highlands, communities speaking the same dialect will identify with a different ethnic label when crossing borders due to the influence of state-sponsored education and media. As well the same community may switch its preferred identification over time. In Slovakia between the 1991 and 2001 censuses, the number of people identifying as "Ukrainian" declined by 2,467 people (an 18.6% decrease) while those reporting Rusyn as their national identity increased by 7,004 people (a 40.6% increase). It is not clear however, if this refers to the same individuals switching their identification, more young first-time respondents choosing Rusyn, or migration. Note that "Lemko" was not an option on the Slovak census, and many Rusyn-identifying Slovak citizens would be part of ''other'' subgroups besides the Lemkos.
The spoken language of the Lemkos, which has a code of ''rue'' under ISO 639-3, has been variously described as a language in its own right, a dialect of Rusyn or a dialect of Ukrainian. In Ukraine, almost all Lemkos speak both Lemko and standard Ukrainian (according to the
2001 Ukrainian Census
The Ukrainian Census of 2001 is to date the only census of the population of independent Ukraine. It was conducted by the State Statistics Committee of Ukraine on 5 December 2001, twelve years after the last Soviet Union census in 1989.
). Ukraine (unlike neighboring countries) denies Lemkos separate ethnic and linguistic status. In the Polish Census of 2011, 11,000 people declared Lemko nationality, of whom 6,000 declared only Lemko nationality, 4,000 declared double national identity – Lemko-Polish, and 1,000 declared Lemko identity together with a non-Polish identity. Przynależność narodowo-etniczna ludności – wyniki spisu ludności i mieszkań 2011 '. GUS. Materiał na konferencję prasową w dniu 29 January 2013. p. 3.
Etymology
The ethnonym Lemko derives from the word ( rue, лем, translation=only). The term is thought to have first originated as a nickname for users of the word ''lem'' in the borderlands between the Lemko and Boyko regions: the easternmost extent of usage of the word on the north side of the Carpathians. (On the south side of the Carpathians, the analogous nickname, ''lemak'', was used in the ''lem-lyš''
isogloss
An isogloss, also called a heterogloss (see Etymology below), is the geographic boundary of a certain linguistic feature, such as the pronunciation of a vowel, the meaning of a word, or the use of some morphological or syntactic feature. Major ...
area.) The ethnonym eventually entered use in academia and was first recorded in print with the 1834 publication of ''Grammatik der ruthenischen oder klein russischen Sprache in Galizien'' (lit. 'Grammar of Ruthenian or Little Russian Language in Galicia') by Yosyp Levytsky.
As an endonym, ''Lemko'' only entered wider use in the early 20th century. Prior to adopting the name, Lemkos would refer to themselves as ''
Rusyns
Rusyns (), also known as Carpatho-Rusyns (), or Rusnaks (), are an East Slavic ethnic group from the Eastern Carpathians in Central Europe. They speak Rusyn, an East Slavic language variety, treated variously as either a distinct languag ...
'' ( rue, Русины, Rusynŷ) or ''Rusnaks'' ( rue, Руснaкы, Руснаци, Rusnakŷ, Rusnacy). By the interwar period the popularity of ''Lemko'' as an endonym had grown, and appeared in periodicals such as ''Lemko'' and ''Naš Lemko''.
Polish authorities also played a hand in popular adoption of the term leading up to World War II. Concerned by the potential for Ukrainian nationalism the region, authorities sought to encourage Rusyn identity as a counter. This led to promotion of the exaggerated historicity of Lemkos as a distinctive ethnographic group and of their corresponding ethnonym.
In the aftermath of WWII, ''Lemko'' finally supplanted ''Rusyn'' and ''Rusnak'' as the term of choice for the Rusyns on the north face of the Carpathians in Poland.
History
Several hypotheses account for the origin of the Lemkos, however, like all Rusyns, they most probably have a diverse ethnogenetic origin. The Lemkos (and other Carpatho-Rusyns) are considered to be descendants of the medieval
White Croats
White Croats ( hr, Bijeli Hrvati; pl, Biali Chorwaci; cz, Bílí Chorvati; uk, Білі хорвати, Bili khorvaty), or simply known as Croats, were a group of Early Slavs, Early Slavic tribes who lived among other West Slavs, West and East ...
, affected by the migration of Rusyn-influenced
Slovaks
The Slovaks ( sk, Slováci, singular: ''Slovák'', feminine: ''Slovenka'', plural: ''Slovenky'') are a West Slavic ethnic group and nation native to Slovakia who share a common ancestry, culture, history and speak Slovak.
In Slovakia, 4.4 ...
, and the
Vlach
"Vlach" ( or ), also "Wallachian" (and many other variants), is a historical term and exonym used from the Middle Ages until the Modern Era to designate mainly Romanians but also Aromanians, Megleno-Romanians, Istro-Romanians and other Eastern ...
/ Romanian migrations in the 14th and 15th centuries.
The Lemko Region became part of Poland in the time of the medieval Piast dynasty but was frequently disputed with the neighbouring Rus', as can be seen by taking the town of
Sanok
Sanok (in full the Royal Free City of Sanok — pl, Królewskie Wolne Miasto Sanok, rue, Санок, ''Sanok'', ua, Cянік, ''Sianik'', la, Sanocum, yi, סאניק, ''Sonik'') is a town in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship of south-eastern ...
as an example: In 981CE
Vladimir I of Kiev
Vladimir I Sviatoslavich or Volodymyr I Sviatoslavych ( orv, Володимѣръ Свѧтославичь, ''Volodiměrъ Svętoslavičь'';, ''Uladzimir'', russian: Владимир, ''Vladimir'', uk, Володимир, ''Volodymyr''. Se ...
invaded the area and took it over from Poland. In 1018 it returned to Poland, in 1031 it went back to Rus', and in 1340 Casimir III of Poland recovered it for Poland. The '' gord'' of Sanok is mentioned for the first time in
Hypatian Codex The Hypatian Codex (also known as Hypatian Letopis or Ipatiev Letopis; be, Іпацьеўскі летапіс; russian: Ипатьевская летопись; uk, Іпатіївський літопис) is a ''svod'' (compendium) of three '' ...
in 1150.
Lemkos (or their progenitors) became an
ethnic minority
The term 'minority group' has different usages depending on the context. According to its common usage, a minority group can simply be understood in terms of demographic sizes within a population: i.e. a group in society with the least number o ...
Galicia
Galicia may refer to:
Geographic regions
* Galicia (Spain), a region and autonomous community of northwestern Spain
** Gallaecia, a Roman province
** The post-Roman Kingdom of the Suebi, also called the Kingdom of Gallaecia
** The medieval King ...
in 1772. Mass
emigration
Emigration is the act of leaving a resident country or place of residence with the intent to settle elsewhere (to permanently leave a country). Conversely, immigration describes the movement of people into one country from another (to permanentl ...
from this territory to the Western hemisphere for economic reasons began in the late 19th century. After World War I, Lemkos founded two short-lived republics, the Lemko-Rusyn Republic in the west of Galicia, which had a russophile orientation, and the Komancza Republic, with a Ukrainophilic orientation.
It is estimated that about 130,000 to 140,000 Lemkos were living in the Polish part of the Lemko Region in 1939. Depopulation of these lands occurred during the forced resettlement, initially to the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
counter-insurgency
Counterinsurgency (COIN) is "the totality of actions aimed at defeating irregular forces". The Oxford English Dictionary defines counterinsurgency as any "military or political action taken against the activities of guerrillas or revolutionar ...
operation to remove potential support for
guerrilla war
Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare in which small groups of combatants, such as paramilitary personnel, armed civilians, or irregulars, use military tactics including ambushes, sabotage, raids, petty warfare, hit-and-run tactic ...
being waged by the
Ukrainian Insurgent Army
The Ukrainian Insurgent Army ( uk, Українська повстанська армія, УПА, translit=Ukrayins'ka povstans'ka armiia, abbreviated UPA) was a Ukrainian nationalist paramilitary and later partisan formation. During Worl ...
(UPA) in south-eastern Poland.
Some 5,000 Lemko families returned to their home regions in Poland between 1957 and 1958,Lemko Republic of Florynka / Ruska narodna respublika Lemkiv /ref> (they were officially granted the right to return in 1956), the Lemko population in the Polish section of Lemkivschyna only numbers around 10,000–15,000 today. Some 50,000 Lemkos live in the western and northern parts of Poland, where they were sent to populate former
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
villages in areas ceded to Poland. Among those, 5,863 people identified themselves as Lemko in the 2002 census. However, 60,000 ethnic Lemkos may reside in Poland today. Within the Lemko Region, Lemkos live in the villages of Łosie,
Krynica-Zdrój
Krynica-Zdrój (until 31 December 2001 Krynica, rue, Крениця, uk, Криниця) is a town in Nowy Sącz County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, southern Poland. It is inhabited by over eleven thousand people. It is the biggest spa town in ...
Gładyszów
Gładyszów ( uk, Ґлaдишiв) is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Uście Gorlickie, within Gorlice County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, in southern Poland, close to the border with Slovakia. Gładyszów lies near Uście Gorlic ...
,
Hańczowa
Hańczowa ( uk, Ганчова, ''Hanchova'') is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Uście Gorlickie, within Gorlice County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, in southern Poland, close to the border with Slovakia. It lies approximately ...
,
Zyndranowa
Zyndranowa ( uk, Зиндранова, ''Zyndranova'') is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Dukla, within Krosno County, Subcarpathian Voivodeship, in south-eastern Poland, close to the border with Slovakia. It lies approximately ...
,
Uście Gorlickie
Uście Gorlickie ( uk, Устя Руське, ''Ustia Rus’ke'') is a village in Gorlice County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, in southern Poland, close to the border with Slovakia. It is the seat of the gmina
The gmina (Polish: , plural ''g ...
,
Bartne
Bartne ', ( rue, Бортне, ''Bortne'', uk, Бортне, ''Bortne'') is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Sękowa, within Gorlice County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, in southern Poland, close to the border with Slovakia. It ...
Kulaszne
Kulaszne ( uk, Куляшне, ''Kuliashne'') is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Komańcza, within Sanok County, in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship (province) of south-eastern Poland, close to the border with Slovakia. It lies app ...
Komańcza
Komańcza ( uk, Команча, ''Komancha'') is a village in the Sanok County, in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship (province) of south-eastern Poland. It is situated in the Bukowsko Upland mountains, located near the towns of Medzilaborce and Pa ...
,
Sanok
Sanok (in full the Royal Free City of Sanok — pl, Królewskie Wolne Miasto Sanok, rue, Санок, ''Sanok'', ua, Cянік, ''Sianik'', la, Sanocum, yi, סאניק, ''Sonik'') is a town in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship of south-eastern ...
,
Nowy Sącz
Nowy Sącz (; hu, Újszandec; yi, Tzanz, צאַנז; sk, Nový Sonč; german: Neu-Sandez) is a city in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship of southern Poland. It is the district capital of Nowy Sącz County as a separate administrative unit. It ha ...
Zyndranowa
Zyndranowa ( uk, Зиндранова, ''Zyndranova'') is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Dukla, within Krosno County, Subcarpathian Voivodeship, in south-eastern Poland, close to the border with Slovakia. It lies approximately ...
An important aspect of Lemko culture is their deep commitment to
Byzantine Christianity Byzantine Church or Byzantine church may refer to:
* Historically, the State church of the Roman Empire
** particularly, Eastern Orthodox Church in the Byzantine Empire
* Any church that uses the Byzantine Rite a.k.a. ''Greek rite''
** the Eastern ...
which was introduced to the Eastern Slavs from Byzantium via Moravia through the efforts of
Saints Cyril and Methodius
Cyril (born Constantine, 826–869) and Methodius (815–885) were two brothers and Byzantine Christian theologians and missionaries. For their work evangelizing the Slavs, they are known as the "Apostles to the Slavs".
They are credited wi ...
in the 9th century. Originally the Lemkos adhered to Orthodoxy, but in order to avoid latinization, directly entered into
Union of Brest
The Union of Brest (; ; ; ) was the 1595–96 decision of the Ruthenian Orthodox Church eparchies (dioceses) in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth to break relations with the Eastern Orthodox Church and to enter into communion with, and place ...
Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church
, native_name_lang = uk
, caption_background =
, image = StGeorgeCathedral Lviv.JPG
, imagewidth =
, type = Particular church ( sui iuris)
, alt =
, caption = St. George's ...
with a
Roman Catholic
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 ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...
minority, or to the
Ruthenian Catholic Church Ruthenian Catholic Church may refer to:
* Ruthenian Uniate Church, a historical Eastern Catholic jurisdiction during the early modern period
* Belarusian Greek Catholic Church, representing modern branch of the Ruthenian Uniate Church, in Belarus
* ...
(see also
Slovak Greek Catholic Church
The Slovak Greek Catholic Church ( Slovak: ''Gréckokatolícka cirkev na Slovensku'', "Greek-Catholic Church in Slovakia"; la, Ecclesia Graeco Catholica Slovacica), or Slovak Byzantine Catholic Church, is a metropolitan '' sui iuris'' Eastern Ca ...
) in Slovakia. A substantial number belong to the
Eastern Orthodox Church
The Eastern Orthodox Church, also called the Orthodox Church, is the second-largest Christian church, with approximately 220 million baptized members. It operates as a communion of autocephalous churches, each governed by its bishops vi ...
. Through the efforts of the martyred priest Father
Maxim Sandovich
Maxim Timofeyevich Sandovich (russian: Максим Тимофеевич Сандович, pl, Maksym Sandowicz; 1 February 1888 - 6 August 1914) is a New Martyr and Orthodox saint. known as saint hieromartyr Maxim of Gorlice ( pl, Maksym Gorlick ...
(canonized by the Polish Orthodox Church in the 1990s), in the early 20th century, Eastern Orthodoxy was reintroduced to many Lemko areas which had accepted the Union of Brest centuries before.
The distinctive wooden architectural style of the Lemko churches is to place the highest
cupola
In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, most often dome-like, tall structure on top of a building. Often used to provide a lookout or to admit light and air, it usually crowns a larger roof or dome.
The word derives, via Italian, fr ...
of the church building at the entrance to the church, with the roof sloping downward toward the
sanctuary
A sanctuary, in its original meaning, is a sacred place, such as a shrine. By the use of such places as a haven, by extension the term has come to be used for any place of safety. This secondary use can be categorized into human sanctuary, a s ...
as opposed to their neighbouring sub-ethnic groups such as the Boykos who place the highest cupola in the middle. Both groups styles have three cupola with numerous
eaves
The eaves are the edges of the roof which overhang the face of a wall and, normally, project beyond the side of a building. The eaves form an overhang to throw water clear of the walls and may be highly decorated as part of an architectural sty ...
.
Language/dialect
The Slavic dialects of Central Europe form (or formed, prior to standardization) a
dialect continuum
A dialect continuum or dialect chain is a series of language varieties spoken across some geographical area such that neighboring varieties are mutually intelligible, but the differences accumulate over distance so that widely separated varie ...
with few distinct boundaries between neighbouring varieties. However the question of language boundaries has become a controversial political issue since the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and later the Soviet Union into "
nation states
A nation state is a political unit where the state and nation are congruent. It is a more precise concept than "country", since a country does not need to have a predominant ethnic group.
A nation, in the sense of a common ethnicity, may inc ...
", each having only one official language. The Lemko dialects share many features with other Carpathian ones, which are often grouped together as the
Rusyn language
Rusyn (; rue, label=Rusyn language#Carpathian Rusyn, Carpathian Rusyn, русиньскый язык, translit=rusîn'skyj jazyk; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, руски язик, translit=ruski jazik),http://theses.gla.ac.uk/2781/1/2011Bapt ...
by outside linguists.
The Lemko dialect has been influenced greatly by the languages spoken by geographically neighboring peoples and ruling elites, so much so that some consider it a separate entity.Lemko speech includes some patterns matching those of the surrounding
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 ...
and
Slovak language
Slovak () , is a West Slavic language of the Czech–Slovak group, written in Latin script. It is part of the Indo-European language family, and is one of the Slavic languages, which are part of the larger Balto-Slavic branch. Spoken by ap ...
s, leading some to refer to it as a transitional dialect between Polish and Slovak (some even consider the dialect in Eastern Slovakia to be a dialect of the Slovak language).
Metodyj Trochanovskij developed a Lemko Primer (''Bukvar: Perša knyžečka dlja narodnŷch škol'', 1935) and a First Reader (''Druha knyžečka dlja narodnŷch škol'', 1936) for use in schools in the Lemko-speaking area of
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is divided into Voivodeships of Poland, sixteen voivodeships and is the fifth most populous member state of the European Union (EU), with over 38 mill ...
. In 1934, Lemko was introduced as the language of instruction in schools in the Lemko region. The pupils were taught from textbooks prepared by Trochanovskij and published by the State Publishing House. However, shortly before the outbreak of World War II Polish authorities replaced them with Ukrainian texts. Important fieldwork on the Lemko dialect was carried out by the Polish linguist Zdzisław Stieber before their dispersal.
According to the Central Statistical Office of Poland, in the school year 2010–2011, Lemko was taught as a first language in twenty primary schools and interschool groups, and ten schools and interschool groups at junior high level, with 188 students attending classes.
In the late 20th century, some Lemkos/Rusyns, mainly emigres from the region of the southern slopes of the Carpathians in modern-day Slovakia, began codifying a standard
grammar
In linguistics, the grammar of a natural language is its set of structure, structural constraints on speakers' or writers' composition of clause (linguistics), clauses, phrases, and words. The term can also refer to the study of such constraint ...
for the Lemko dialect, which was presented on the 27 January 1995 in Prešov, Slovakia. In 2013 the famous novel ''
The Little Prince
''The Little Prince'' (french: Le Petit Prince, ) is a novella by French aristocrat, writer, and military pilot Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. It was first published in English and French in the United States by Reynal & Hitchcock in April 1943 a ...
'' was translated into Lemko by
Petro Krynyckij
Petro is a masculine given name, a surname and an Ancient Roman cognomen. It may refer to:
Given name
* Petro Balabuyev (1931-2007), Ukrainian airplane designer, engineer and professor, lead designer of many Antonov airplanes
* Petro Doroshenko ...
.
Lemkos in fiction
Nikolai Gogol
Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol; uk, link=no, Мико́ла Васи́льович Го́голь, translit=Mykola Vasyliovych Hohol; (russian: Яновский; uk, Яновський, translit=Yanovskyi) ( – ) was a Russian novelist, ...
Slovakia
Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the ...
and pictured on the Slovakian
euro
The euro (symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...
Prešov Region
The Prešov Region, also Priashiv Region ( sk, Prešovský kraj, ; hu, Eperjesi kerület; uk, Пряшівський край) is one of the eight Slovak administrative regions and consists of 13 districts (okresy) and 666 municipalities, 23 o ...
.
Avram Davidson
Abraham, ; ar, , , name=, group= (originally Abram) is the common Hebrew patriarch of the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Judaism, he is the founding father of the special relationship between the Jew ...
makes several references to the Lemko people in his stories. Anna Bibko, mother-in-law of the protagonist of ''All Shall Be Well; and All Shall Be Well; and All Manner of Things Shall Be Well'', is a Lemko "guided by her senses of traditionalism and grievance, not necessarily in that order".
In the critically acclaimed movie ''
The Deer Hunter
''The Deer Hunter'' is a 1978 war drama film co-written and directed by Michael Cimino about a trio of Slavic-American steelworkers whose lives were upended after fighting in the Vietnam War. The three soldiers are played by Robert De Niro, C ...
'' the wedding reception scene was filmed in Lemko Hall in the Tremont neighborhood of
Cleveland
Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U ...
,
Ohio
Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...
, which had a significant immigrant population of Lemkos at one time. The three main characters’ surnames, however, appear to be Russian, possibly Polish and Ukrainian (Michael "Mike" Vronsky, from Polish ''Wroński'', Steven Pushkov, and Nikonar "Nick" Chevotarevich) and the wedding was filmed inside St. Theodosius Russian Orthodox Cathedral, which is also located in Tremont.
Location
The Lemkos' homeland is commonly referred to as the Lemko Region ( uk, Лeмкiвщина; rue, Лeмкoвина; pl, Łemkowszczyzna). Up until 1945, this included the area from the
Poprad River
The Poprad ( hu, Poprád, links=no, german: Popper, links=no) is a river in northern Slovakia and southern Poland, and a tributary of the Dunajec River near Stary Sącz, Poland. It has a length of 170 kilometres (63 km of which are with ...
in the west to the valley of Oslawa River in the east, areas situated primarily in present-day
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is divided into Voivodeships of Poland, sixteen voivodeships and is the fifth most populous member state of the European Union (EU), with over 38 mill ...
, in the
Lesser Poland
Lesser Poland, often known by its Polish name Małopolska ( la, Polonia Minor), is a historical region situated in southern and south-eastern Poland. Its capital and largest city is Kraków. Throughout centuries, Lesser Poland developed a ...
and
Subcarpathian Voivodeship
Subcarpathian Voivodeship or Subcarpathia Province (in pl, Województwo podkarpackie ) is a voivodeship, or province, in the southeastern corner of Poland. Its administrative capital and largest city is Rzeszów. Along with the Marshall, it is ...
s (
provinces
A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outsi ...
). This part of the Carpathian mountains is mostly deforested, which allowed for an agrarian economy, alongside such traditional occupations as ox grazing and sheep herding.
The Lemko region became part of Poland in medieval Piast times. Lemkos were made part of the Austrian province of
Galicia
Galicia may refer to:
Geographic regions
* Galicia (Spain), a region and autonomous community of northwestern Spain
** Gallaecia, a Roman province
** The post-Roman Kingdom of the Suebi, also called the Kingdom of Gallaecia
** The medieval King ...
in 1772. This area was part of the
Austro-Hungarian Empire
Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with t ...
until its dissolution in 1918, at which point the Lemko-Rusyn Republic (''Ruska Lemkivska'') declared its independence. Independence did not last long however, and the republic was incorporated into Poland in 1920.
As a result of the forcible deportation of Ukrainians from Poland to the Soviet Union after World War II, the majority of Lemkos in Poland were either resettled from their historic homeland to the prеviously German territories in the North-Western region of Poland or to the
Prešov Region
The Prešov Region, also Priashiv Region ( sk, Prešovský kraj, ; hu, Eperjesi kerület; uk, Пряшівський край) is one of the eight Slovak administrative regions and consists of 13 districts (okresy) and 666 municipalities, 23 o ...
in present-day
Slovakia
Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the ...
continue to live on their ancestral lands, with the exception of some Lemkos who resettled in their homeland in the late 1950s and afterward. Lemkos are/were neighbours with
Slovaks
The Slovaks ( sk, Slováci, singular: ''Slovák'', feminine: ''Slovenka'', plural: ''Slovenky'') are a West Slavic ethnic group and nation native to Slovakia who share a common ancestry, culture, history and speak Slovak.
In Slovakia, 4.4 ...
,
Carpathian Germans
Carpathian Germans (german: Karpatendeutsche, Mantaken, hu, kárpátnémetek or ''felvidéki németek'', sk, karpatskí Nemci) are a group of ethnic Germans. The term was coined by the historian Raimund Friedrich Kaindl (1866–1930), originally ...
and ''Lachy sądeckie'' (Poles) to the west, Pogorzans ( Poles) and '' Dolinians'' (a Rusyn subgroup) to the north,
Ukrainians
Ukrainians ( uk, Українці, Ukraintsi, ) are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine. They are the seventh-largest nation in Europe. The native language of the Ukrainians is Ukrainian. The majority of Ukrainians are Eastern Or ...
to the east, and
Slovaks
The Slovaks ( sk, Slováci, singular: ''Slovák'', feminine: ''Slovenka'', plural: ''Slovenky'') are a West Slavic ethnic group and nation native to Slovakia who share a common ancestry, culture, history and speak Slovak.
In Slovakia, 4.4 ...
to the south.
PogMAP2.png, Ethnographic groups of southeasternmost Poland, Lemkos in light blue.
Subethnoses of the Rusyns.svg, Highlander groups of westernmost Ukraine, Lemkos in blue.
Austria-Hungary (ethnic) - 1880 Podkarpacie.jpg, National map of languages ( Outer Eastern Carpathians;
Prešov Region
The Prešov Region, also Priashiv Region ( sk, Prešovský kraj, ; hu, Eperjesi kerület; uk, Пряшівський край) is one of the eight Slovak administrative regions and consists of 13 districts (okresy) and 666 municipalities, 23 o ...
; and
Subcarpathian Voivodeship
Subcarpathian Voivodeship or Subcarpathia Province (in pl, Województwo podkarpackie ) is a voivodeship, or province, in the southeastern corner of Poland. Its administrative capital and largest city is Rzeszów. Along with the Marshall, it is ...
, 1876)
Carpatho-Rusyn sub-groups - Presov area Lemkos (left side) and Przemyśl area Ukrainians in original goral folk-costumes..jpg,
Prešov
Prešov (, hu, Eperjes, Rusyn language, Rusyn and Ukrainian language, Ukrainian: Пряшів) is a city in Eastern Slovakia. It is the seat of administrative Prešov Region ( sk, Prešovský kraj) and Šariš, as well as the historic Sáros Cou ...
area Lemkos (left side) and
Przemyśl
Przemyśl (; yi, פשעמישל, Pshemishl; uk, Перемишль, Peremyshl; german: Premissel) is a city in southeastern Poland with 58,721 inhabitants, as of December 2021. In 1999, it became part of the Subcarpathian Voivodeship; it was pr ...
area Ukrainians in traditional attire. Photo: Village Mokre near
Sanok
Sanok (in full the Royal Free City of Sanok — pl, Królewskie Wolne Miasto Sanok, rue, Санок, ''Sanok'', ua, Cянік, ''Sianik'', la, Sanocum, yi, סאניק, ''Sonik'') is a town in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship of south-eastern ...
Mary Beck
Mary Virginia Beck ( uk, Євгенія Михайлівна Бек, rue, Євґенія Бек, 29 February 1908 - 30 January 2005) was a Detroit Democratic Party politician, female activist and journalist from Pennsylvania, most notable for bei ...
,
Detroit
Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...
Bill Evans
William John Evans (August 16, 1929 – September 15, 1980) was an American jazz pianist and composer who worked primarily as the leader of his trio. His use of impressionist harmony, interpretation of traditional jazz repertoire, block ch ...
, American jazz pianist and composer
* , Lemko activist, creator of the Lemko Culture Museum in Zyndranowa
* , musician
*
Misia Furtak
Misia Furtak (earlier active as Misia Ff) is a Polish singer, bassist and journalist known as a member of the indie rock group Très.b, active between 2005 and 2014.
Biography
Furtak was born in Zielona Góra, Poland and is of Lemkos, Lemko or ...
, musician
*
Andrew Kay
Andrew F. Kay (January 22, 1919 – August 28, 2014) was a businessman and innovator. He was President and CEO of Kaypro, a personal computer company, which at one time was the world's fourth largest manufacturer of computers, and the largest in ...
, inventor of the digital voltmeter (1953), and inductee of the
Computer Hall of Fame
A computer is a machine that can be programmed to carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (computation) automatically. Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic sets of operations known as programs. These program ...
Nina Petrovna Khrushcheva
Nina Petrovna Khrushcheva (russian: Нина Петровна Хрущёва; uk, Ні́на Петрі́вна Хрущо́ва; ; russian: Кухарчук; 14 April 1900 – 13 August 1984) was the second wife of the Soviet leader Nikita ...
, wife of Soviet leader
Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (– 11 September 1971) was the First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964 and chairman of the country's Council of Ministers from 1958 to 1964. During his rule, Khrushchev ...
* Ivan Krasovs'kyi, Lemko ethnographer/historian
*
Volodymyr Kubiyovych Volodymyr ( uk, Володи́мир, Volodýmyr, , orv, Володимѣръ) is a Ukrainian given name of Old East Slavic origin. The related Ancient Slavic, such as Czech, Russian, Serbian, Croatian, etc. form of the name is Володимѣръ ...
Adrian Mikhalchishin
Adrian Bohdanovych Mikhalchishin (also Mihalcisin, Mihalčišin or Mykhalchyshyn, uk, Адріян Богданович Михальчишин, born November 18, 1954) is a Ukrainian chess grandmaster now playing for Slovenia. Education: Lviv Un ...
, Ukrainian chessmaster
* , Ukrainian politician, member of Ukrainian party Svoboda, son of Adrian Mikhalchishin
* Nikifor, painter
*
Maxim Sandovich
Maxim Timofeyevich Sandovich (russian: Максим Тимофеевич Сандович, pl, Maksym Sandowicz; 1 February 1888 - 6 August 1914) is a New Martyr and Orthodox saint. known as saint hieromartyr Maxim of Gorlice ( pl, Maksym Gorlick ...
, Orthodox saint
*
Andrij Savka
Andrij Savka ( uk, Андрій Савка; alternatively Andrew Sawka; 13 December 1619 – 1661), was a Lemko region bandit/"Robin Hood" and folk hero from Dukla. He was born in 1619 in Stebník. In 1651, he led 500 men as part of a peasan ...
aka Andrew Sawka, bandit, folk hero, Lemko "Robin Hood", led peasant revolution in 1651
*
Khrystyna Soloviy
Khrystyna Ivanivna Soloviy (or Solovii, uk, Христина Іванівна Соловій; born 17 January 1993 in Drohobych, Ukraine) is a Ukrainian- Lemko folk singer.
Biography
Soloviy was born on 17 January 1993 in Drohobych into a f ...
, Ukrainian folk singer
*
George Stroumboulopoulos
George Mark Paul Stroumboulopoulos (; Greek: Γεώργιος Μάρκος Παύλος Στρουμπουλόπουλος; born August 16, 1972) is a Canadian media personality. He is one of Canada's most popular broadcasters and best known as fo ...
, Canadian television personality with Ukrainian-born mother
*
Petro Murianka
Petro Trochanowski or Piotr Trochanowski (born 10 August 1947) was born in Parchów, Silesia in the southwestern part of Poland to Lemko parents from Binczarowa. He is the editor of ''Besida'', published in Krynica since 1989. He is a spokesp ...
Andy Warhol
Andy Warhol (; born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director, and producer who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore the relationsh ...
(birth name Warhola), American artist, major figure in the pop art movement
* James Warhola, American artist
*
John Warhola
John Warhola (May 31, 1925 – December 24, 2010) played a pivotal role in maintaining the legacy of his younger brother, pop artist Andy Warhol, assigned responsibility by their father on his deathbed to ensure that Andy attended college and ...
Green Ukraine
Green Ukraine, also known as Zelenyi Klyn ( uk, Зелений клин, Zelenyi Klyn, russian: Зелёный Клин, Zelyonyy Klin, literally: 'the green gore/wedge') or Zakytaishchyna (Ukrainian and Russian: , literally: 'Trans China'), is ...
republic
*
History of Ukraine
Prehistoric Ukraine, as a part of the Pontic steppe in Eastern Europe, played an important role in Eurasian cultural contacts, including the spread of the Chalcolithic, the Bronze Age, Indo-European migrations and the domestication of the ho ...
Lemko Republic
Lemko-Rusyn People's Republic ( rue, Руска Народна Република Лемків, Ruska Narodna Respublika Lemkiv , Rusyn National Republic of Lemkos), often known also as the Lemko-Rusyn Republic, just the Lemko Republic, or the ...
Red Ruthenia
Red Ruthenia or Red Rus' ( la, Ruthenia Rubra; '; uk, Червона Русь, Chervona Rus'; pl, Ruś Czerwona, Ruś Halicka; russian: Червонная Русь, Chervonnaya Rus'; ro, Rutenia Roșie), is a term used since the Middle Ages fo ...
Rusyn language
Rusyn (; rue, label=Rusyn language#Carpathian Rusyn, Carpathian Rusyn, русиньскый язык, translit=rusîn'skyj jazyk; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, руски язик, translit=ruski jazik),http://theses.gla.ac.uk/2781/1/2011Bapt ...
*
Rusyns
Rusyns (), also known as Carpatho-Rusyns (), or Rusnaks (), are an East Slavic ethnic group from the Eastern Carpathians in Central Europe. They speak Rusyn, an East Slavic language variety, treated variously as either a distinct languag ...
Ruthenians
Ruthenian and Ruthene are exonyms of Latin origin, formerly used in Eastern and Central Europe as common ethnonyms for East Slavs, particularly during the late medieval and early modern periods. The Latin term Rutheni was used in medieval sourc ...
Ukraine
Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian invas ...
*
Ukrainians
Ukrainians ( uk, Українці, Ukraintsi, ) are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine. They are the seventh-largest nation in Europe. The native language of the Ukrainians is Ukrainian. The majority of Ukrainians are Eastern Or ...
* Moklak, Jaroslaw. ''The Lemko Region in the Second Polish Republic: Political and Interdenominational Issues 1918--1939'' (2013); covers Old Rusyns, Moscophiles and National Movement Activists, & the political role of the Greek Catholic and Orthodox Churches
* ''Łemkowie Grupa Etniczna czy Naród?'', 'The Lemkos: An Ethnic Group or a Nation?'' trans.
* ''The Lemkos of Poland'' – Articles and Essays, editor Paul Best and Jarosław Moklak
* ''The Lemko Region, 1939–1947 War, Occupation and Deportation'' – Articles and Essays, editor Paul Best and Jarosław Moklak
*
*
* Лемкiвскiй календар. (Lemkivskiĭ kalendar)
*
*
* Gocz T., Życie Łemka / Teodor Gocz. - wyd. II, poprawione i uzupełnione. - Zyndranowa - Krosno : Oficyna Wydawnicza "APLA", 2007. - 142 s.
* Drozd R., Halczak B. Dzieje Ukraińców w Polsce w latach 1921–1989 / Roman Drozd, Bohdan Halczak. – wyd. II, poprawione. – Warszawa : TYRSA, 2010. – 237 s.
* Halczak B. Publicystyka narodowo – demokratyczna wobec problemów narodowościowych i etnicznych II Rzeczypospolitej / Bohdan Halczak. – Zielona Góra : Wydaw. WSP im. Tadeusza Kotarbińskiego, 2000. – 222 s.
* Halczak B. Problemy tożsamości narodowej Łemków / Bohdan Halczak // W: Łemkowie, Bojkowie, Rusini: historia, współczesność, kultura materialna i duchowa / red. nauk. Stefan Dudra, Bohdan Halczak, Andrzej Ksenicz, Jerzy Starzyński . – Legnica – Zielona Góra : Łemkowski Zespół Pieśni i Tańca "Kyczera", 2007 – s. 41–55 .
* Halczak B. Łemkowskie miejsce we wszechświecie. Refleksje o położeniu Łemków na przełomie XX i XXI wieku / Bohdan Halczak // W: Łemkowie, Bojkowie, Rusini – historia, współczesność, kultura materialna i duchowa / red. nauk. Stefan Dudra, Bohdan Halczak, Roman Drozd, Iryna Betko, Michal Šmigeľ . Tom IV, cz. 1 . – Słupsk – Zielona Góra : . w. 2012 – s. 119–133 .
* Дрозд Р., Гальчак Б. Історія українців у Польщі в 1921–1989 роках / Роман Дрозд, Богдан Гальчак, Ірина Мусієнко; пер. з пол. І. Мусієнко. 3-тє вид., випр., допов. – Харків : Золоті сторінки, 2013. – 272 с.
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Patrycja Trzeszczyńska, "Bridges to the past: a Lemko family history explored through letters. An ethnographic case study," Canadian Slavonic Papers 60, no. 1-2 (2018)
Ukraine Lemko ethno folk group * "The bells of Lemkivshchyna. Will the authorities of Ukraine and Poland listen to them",
Zerkalo Nedeli
''Dzerkalo Tyzhnia'' ( ua, Дзеркало тижня), usually referred to in English as the ''Mirror Weekly'', was one of Ukraine's most influential analytical weekly-publisher newspapers, founded in 1994.in Russian an in Ukrainian
* "Five questions for a Lemko",
Zerkalo Nedeli
''Dzerkalo Tyzhnia'' ( ua, Дзеркало тижня), usually referred to in English as the ''Mirror Weekly'', was one of Ukraine's most influential analytical weekly-publisher newspapers, founded in 1994.in Russian an