Myron Tarnavsky ( uk, Мирон Тарнавський (August 29, 1869 in Baryliv, Galicia,

Austria-Hungary 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 between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

now

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 ...

– June 29, 1938 in

Lviv Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in western Ukraine, and the seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is one of the main cultural centres of Ukraine ...

), was a 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 wa ...

, the military of the

West Ukrainian People's Republic The West Ukrainian People's Republic (WUPR) or West Ukrainian National Republic (WUNR), known for part of its existence as the Western Oblast of the Ukrainian People's Republic, was a short-lived polity that controlled most of Eastern Gali ...

Background

Tarnavsky was born into a family of

priests A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in p ...

in a village in the Lviv region. He attended a village grade school and a German gymnasium in

Brody Brody ( uk, Броди; russian: Броды, Brodï; pl, Brody; german: Brody; yi, בראָד, Brod) is a city in Zolochiv Raion of Lviv Oblast (province) of western Ukraine. It is located in the valley of the upper Styr River, approximately ...

, western Ukraine. He then served for one year in the Austrian military and due to his good performance was given the opportunity to pursue officer training in Lviv and, later, Vienna.A.Y. Bailo. (2008
МИРОН ТАРНАВСЬКИЙ – ВІЙСЬКОВИЙ ДІЯЧ
Lviv: Lviv National University

Military activities

In 1899 Myron Tarnavsky completed officer training in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

and was stationed in

Sambir Sambir ( uk, Самбір, pl, Sambor, yi, סאמבאָר, Sambor) is a city in Sambir Raion, Lviv Oblast, Ukraine. It serves as the administrative center of Sambir Raion (district) and is located close to the border with Poland. Sambir hosts t ...

and, for a longer period of time, in

Zolochiv Zolochiv, ( ua, Золочів) may refer to the following places in Ukraine: * Zolochiv, Lviv Oblast, city in Lviv Oblast * Zolochiv, Kharkiv Oblast, urban-type settlement in Ukraine {{set index, populated places in Ukraine ...

where as an officer of the Austrian military he played an active role in local Ukrainian community life. With the outbreak of World War I in 1914, Tarnavsky was assigned to the front and fought against the Russian military. In 1915 he was wounded but returned to the Russian front, fighting in the

Carpathian mountains The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians () are a range of mountains forming an arc across Central Europe. Roughly long, it is the third-longest European mountain range after the Urals at and the Scandinavian Mountains at . The range stretches ...

, later that year. In 1916, Tarnavsky obtained the rank of major in the Austro-Hungarian army and became the commander of the

Ukrainian Sich Riflemen Legion of Ukrainian Sich Riflemen (german: Ukrainische Sitschower Schützen; uk, Українські cічові стрільці (УСС), translit=Ukraïnski sichovi stril’tsi (USS)) was a Ukrainian unit within the Austro-Hungarian Army d ...

. In 1918 he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel and given command of the 16th infantry regiment, then stationed in central Ukraine. At the end of 1918, Austria-Hungary collapsed and a western Ukrainian state was declared in the formerly Austrian-controlled territory of Galicia. Tarnavsky joined the

in February 1919, and obtained the rank of colonel. In July of that year, after Ukrainian forces were driven out of Galicia by the Polish army, Tarnavsky was promoted to the rank of brigadier general and became Supreme Commander of the Ukrainian Galician Army. Tarnavsky oversaw the Galician offensive on Kiev. His army was decimated by a typhus epidemic and he arranged an armistice with the forces of

Anton Denikin Anton Ivanovich Denikin (russian: Анто́н Ива́нович Дени́кин, link= ; 16 December Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates">O.S._4_December.html" ;"title="Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="nowiki/>Old Style and New St ...

. Because this was unauthorized by the Ukrainian policial leadership and he was relieved of duty and

court-martial A court-martial or court martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of memb ...

ed in November 1919. Tarnavsky was then acquitted and briefly reinstated as supreme commander.Tarnavsky, Myron
Encyclopedia of Ukraine, vol. 5. (1993). Toronto: Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies at University of Toronto

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tarnavsky, Myron 1869 births 1938 deaths People from Lviv Oblast People from the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria Ukrainian Austro-Hungarians Ukrainian military personnel Ukrainian Galician Army people Austro-Hungarian military personnel of World War I Ukrainian people of the Polish–Ukrainian War Recipients of the Iron Cross, 2nd class Burials at Yaniv Cemetery