Oleksander Yakovych Shulhyn ( uk, Олександр Шульгин; russian: Александр Шульгин; french: Alexandre Choulguine) was a prominent political, public, scientific and cultural figure of Ukraine and the Ukrainian government in exile better known under his French transcription Alexandre Choulguine. Shulhyn played a key role in establishing the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine ( uk, Міністерство закордонних справ України) is the ministry of the Ukrainian government that oversees the foreign relations of Ukraine. The head of the ministry is th ...

. He was a member of the

Shevchenko Scientific Society The Shevchenko Scientific Society () is a Ukrainian scientific society devoted to the promotion of scholarly research and publication that was founded in 1873. Unlike the government-funded National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, the society ...

, a professor of the

Ukrainian Free University The Ukrainian Free University ( ua, Український Вільний Університет, german: Ukrainische Freie Universität, la, Universitas Libera Ukrainensis) is a private graduate university located in Munich, Germany. History ...

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

, a member of the Ukrainian delegation at the

Paris Peace Conference, 1919 Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

and a representative of Ukrainians in

International Refugee Organization The International Refugee Organization (IRO) was an intergovernmental organization founded on 20 April 1946 to deal with the massive refugee problem created by World War II. A Preparatory Commission began operations fourteen months previously. ...

after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. During the

(1939–40 and 1945–46) Shulhyn acted as a head of Ukrainian government in exile.

Biography

Shulhyn was born in the village of Sofyne (Katsapshchyna), Khorol county in Government of Poltava (today Andriivka rural council of Khorol Raion) in the family of a historian and pedagogue Yakiv Shulhyn whose heritage is traced to the Cossack officers (starshina). He is related to

Vasily Shulgin Vasily Vitalyevich Shulgin (russian: Васи́лий Вита́льевич Шульги́н; 13 January 1878 – 15 February 1976) was a Russian conservative monarchist, politician and member of the White movement. Young years Shulgin was bo ...

. Brother of Oleksander, Volodymyr perished at the

Battle of Kruty The Battle of Kruty ( uk, Бій під Крутами, ) took place on January 29 or 30, 1918 , near Kruty railway station (today the village of Pamiatne, Nizhyn Raion, Chernihiv Oblast), about northeast of Kyiv, Ukraine, which at the time ...

. Shulhyn initially enrolled at the mathematics-physics department of the

Saint Petersburg State University Saint Petersburg State University (SPBU; russian: Санкт-Петербургский государственный университет) is a public research university in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Founded in 1724 by a decree of Peter the G ...

in 1908. In 1910 he transferred to the department of history and philosophy from which Shulhyn graduated in 1915. Later until 1917, he worked at the department as a professor's assistant. While in

Saint Petersburg 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 ...

, Shulhyn joined the Petersburg community of TUP, later switching to the Ukrainian Democratic-Radical Party (later Ukrainian Party of Socialist Federalists). In Petrograd he was a delegate of the Ukrainian National Council at the

Petrograd Soviet The Petrograd Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies (russian: Петроградский совет рабочих и солдатских депутатов, ''Petrogradskiy soviet rabochikh i soldatskikh deputatov'') was a city council of P ...

. During the

February Revolution The February Revolution ( rus, Февра́льская револю́ция, r=Fevral'skaya revolyutsiya, p=fʲɪvˈralʲskəjə rʲɪvɐˈlʲutsɨjə), known in Soviet historiography as the February Bourgeois Democratic Revolution and somet ...

Shulhyn arrived to

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

joining the

Central Council of Ukraine The Central Council of Ukraine ( uk, Українська Центральна Рада, ) (also called the Tsentralna Rada or the Central Rada) was the All-Ukrainian council (soviet) that united deputies of soldiers, workers, and peasants deputie ...

and later its executive committee. From July 1917 through January 30, 1918 he served as a secretary of Inter-ethnic (later Foreign) Affairs. During the time participated in the writing of the Statute of the Higher Administration of Ukraine, and organization of the Congress of peoples of Russia that took place in September 1917 in Kiev. From July 1918, Shulhyn played a less active role in the government serving for several diplomatic missions of Ukraine in Europe when he was appointed the Ambassador of Ukraine to Bulgaria by the government of the

Hetman of Ukraine Hetman of Ukraine ( uk, Гетьман України) is a former historic government office and political institution of Ukraine that is equivalent to a head of state or a monarch. Brief history As a head of state the position was establi ...

. In 1919 Shulhyn became a member of the Ukrainian delegation to the Paris Peace Conference, and on November 15, 1920, he headed the Ukrainian delegation at the General Assembly of

League of Nations The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ...

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

.General information on the General Assembly
/ref> From 1921 Shulhyn headed the Extraordinary diplomatic mission of Ukraine in Paris. From 1923 to 1927 Shulhyn lived in Paris and was a professor of the

and the Ukrainian Higher Pedagogical University of Drahomanov, both in Prague, where he taught history and philosophy. In Prague he revived the Radical-Democratic Party, becoming the head of its Prague committee. In 1926 Shulhyn was appointed the minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine in exile, once again leading the Ukrainian foreign policy until 1936. In 1933–38 he headed one of the League of Nations' international unions. Also, from 1929 to 1939 Shulhyn chaired the Main Emigration Council, served as a chief editor of the Paris bi-monthly magazine ''La Revue de Prométhée'' (1938–1940) and the Paris weekly magazine ''Tryzub'' (1940). During the

German occupation of France The Military Administration in France (german: Militärverwaltung in Frankreich; french: Occupation de la France par l'Allemagne) was an interim occupation authority established by Nazi Germany during World War II to administer the occupied zo ...

Shulhyn was jailed in 1940–41. After World War II in 1946 Shulhyn created the Ukrainian Academic Society in Paris, serving as its chairman until 1960. Also from 1952 to 1960, he was initiator and vice-president of the International Free Academy in Paris, which united the exiled scientists. In 1948–52 Shulhyn represented

Ukrainians Ukrainians ( uk, Українці, Ukraintsi, ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine. They are the seventh-largest nation in Europe. The native language of the Ukrainians is Ukrainian language, Ukrainian. The majority ...

in the

, later until 1960 cooperated with the French organization for protection of refugees and stateless at the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs of France The Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs () is the ministry of the Government of France that handles France's foreign relations. Since 1855, its headquarters have been located at 37 Quai d'Orsay, close to the National Assembly. The term Qu ...

References

External links

*
Biography at the Ukrainian Center

Biography of Shulhyn
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shulhyn, Oleksander 1889 births 1960 deaths People from Poltava Oblast People from Poltava Governorate Ukrainian refugees Members of the Shevchenko Scientific Society Ukrainian politicians before 1991 Foreign ministers of Ukraine Prime ministers of the Ukrainian People's Republic Ambassadors of Ukraine to Bulgaria Ukrainian Democratic Party (1904) politicians 20th-century Ukrainian politicians Members of the Ukrainian government in exile