Mykhailo Omelianovych-Pavlenko ( uk, Михайло Омелянович Павленко; 8 December 1878 – 29 May 1952) was the Supreme Commander of the

Ukrainian Galician Army Ukrainian Galician Army ( uk, Українська Галицька Армія, translit=Ukrayins’ka Halyts’ka Armiya, UHA), was the Ukrainian military of the West Ukrainian National Republic during and after the Polish-Ukrainian War. It w ...

(UHA) and of the Army of the Ukrainian People's Republic. Later, he served as defence minister for the Government-in-exile of the

Ukrainian People's Republic The Ukrainian People's Republic (UPR), or Ukrainian National Republic (UNR), was a country in Eastern Europe that existed between 1917 and 1920. It was declared following the February Revolution in Russia by the First Universal. In March 1 ...

Early life

Mykhaylo Omelianovych-Pavlenko was born in

Tiflis Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Kura River with a population of approximately 1.5 million pe ...

(present-day

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

). His father, Volodymyr, was an officer in the

Russian Imperial Army The Imperial Russian Army (russian: Ру́сская импера́торская а́рмия, tr. ) was the armed land force of the Russian Empire, active from around 1721 to the Russian Revolution of 1917. In the early 1850s, the Russian Ar ...

. His mother was of a Georgian aristocratic family. Omelianovych-Pavlenko attended the military academy in Petersburg, graduating in 1900. He had a younger brother Ivan who later was fighting along with him.

Early military service

Pavlenko participated in the

Russo-Japanese war The Russo-Japanese War ( ja, 日露戦争, Nichiro sensō, Japanese-Russian War; russian: Ру́сско-япóнская войнá, Rússko-yapónskaya voyná) was fought between the Empire of Japan and the Russian Empire during 1904 and 1 ...

as a company commander. Later, in 1910, he graduated from the General Staff School.

World War I

During World War I, Pavlenko served as commander of many units - including a Ukrainian brigade in

Yekaterinoslav Dnipro, previously called Dnipropetrovsk from 1926 until May 2016, is Ukraine's fourth-largest city, with about one million inhabitants. It is located in the eastern part of Ukraine, southeast of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on the Dnieper Rive ...

.Omelianovych-Pavlenko, Mykhailo
/ref> In the spring of 1917, Omelianovych-Pavlenko became an active supporter of Ukrainian independence, and initiated the creation of the Odessa batalion. He also initiated Ukrainian military academies in

Zhytomyr Zhytomyr ( uk, Жито́мир, translit=Zhytomyr ; russian: Жито́мир, Zhitomir ; pl, Żytomierz ; yi, זשיטאָמיר, Zhitomir; german: Schytomyr ) is a city in the north of the western half of Ukraine. It is the administrative ...

and Kamyanets-Podilsky. On December 10, 1918, Pavlenko assumed command of the Ukrainian Halitska Army, which he led until June 1919. After the union of the UHA and the army of the Ukrainian People's Republic, Pavlenko assumed command of the force. He served as special attache to Symon Petlura. Omelianovych-Pavlenko commanded the army of the UNR during the

First Winter Campaign The First Winter Campaign was a campaign by the army of the Ukrainian People's Republic (UPR) against Bolshevik forces in Ukraine during the Ukrainian-Soviet War. It began on December 6, 1919, and lasted until May 6, 1920. The main task of the Wi ...

(1920).

Inter-war Years

Pavlenko moved to

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...

, where he headed the Alliance of Ukrainian Veterans' Organizations.

World War II

During the Second World War, after Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union, Pavlenko headed a Ukrainian nationalist militia, the Ukrainian Liberation Army, that allied itself with the Axis Powers. At its peak it had 80,000 members.

After World War II

Père-Lachaise - Division 88 - Omelanovitch 02

After World War II, Pavlenko moved to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

, and became the Defence minister of the Government in exile of the Ukrainian National Republic from 1945 to 1948. Pavlenko was promoted to rank of

Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

Legacy

Due to " decommunization policies" a street in (

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 inv ...

's capital)

Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the seventh-most populous city in Europe. Kyi ...

that was named after

Imperial Russian The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. The ...

General

Alexander 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 Rymnik, Count of the Holy ...

was renamed after Omelianovych-Pavlenko in 2016.Bandera Avenue in Kyiv to be - the decision of the Court of Appeal

Ukrayinska Pravda ''Ukrainska Pravda'' ( uk, Українська правда, lit=Ukrainian Truth) is a Ukrainian online newspaper founded by Georgiy Gongadze on 16 April 2000 (the day of the Ukrainian constitutional referendum). Published mainly in Ukrai ...

(22 April 2021)

Publications

Pavlenko authored four books: The Ukrainian-Polish War of 1918–19, (published in 1929), The Winter Campaign, (published in 1934), and two books of memoirs (published in 1930 and 1935).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Omelianovych-Pavlenko, Mykhailo 1878 births 1952 deaths Military personnel from Tbilisi People from Tiflis Governorate Generals of the Ukrainian People's Republic Defence ministers of Ukraine Ukrainian military leaders Ukrainian Galician Army people Russian military personnel of the Russo-Japanese War Russian military personnel of World War I Ukrainian people of World War I Recipients of the Order of St. George Recipients of the Order of St. Anna, 2nd class Recipients of the Order of St. Anna, 3rd class Recipients of the Order of St. Anna, 4th class Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery Ukrainian collaborators with Nazi Germany