Olena Ivanivna Stepaniv (; 7 December 1892 – 11 July 1963; also Olena Iwaniwna Stepaniw, Yelena Ivanovna Stepaniv, and Olena Stepaniw-Daschkewytsch) was an
Austro-Hungarian
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 ...
and
Ukrainian
Ukrainian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Ukraine
* Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe
* Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine
* So ...
soldier, public figure and economist. She is popularly known as the first female officer in the Ukrainian army.
Life
Stepaniv was born in
Vyshnivchyk,
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 ...
) in 1892. In 1912, she attended a meeting organised by
Konstantyna Malytska for the "Women's Committee" 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 ...
to prepare for war. Others at the meeting were
Olena Zalizniak,
Maria Biletska and
Olha Basarab
Olha Basarab ( uk, Ольга Михайлівна Басараб; 1 September 1889 – 12 February 1924) was a Ukrainian political activist and member of the Ukrainian Military Organization who conducted both charitable and humanitarian work that ...
.
They recommended that the money raised from the "National Combat Fund" be used to fund 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 ...
.
During the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
she was a student at
Lviv University. While still a student she was given the command of a platoon. She claimed that she joined the Ukrainian Sich Riflemen by dressing as a man. Her disguise was spotted and it was debated as to whether she should be detained; she was saved when
Volodymyr Starosolsky intervened and persuaded the recruiters to enroll her.
[ Some of these details changed when she retold the story. It has been estimated that only 34 Ukrainian women made it to the front including Stepaniv and her friend Hanna Dmyterko.][
Stepaniv was also present at the battle for Makivka with the Legion of Ukrainian Sich Riflemen and was rewarded by being promoted to second lieutenant and awarded a medal for bravery.] She became the best-known female Ukrainian soldier. The women soldiers were reported on internationally, and postcards of them were distributed, but it was Stepaniv who gained the greatest profile. Ferenc Molnár, a journalist and playwright, reported seeing women sharp shooters serving alongside men, wearing uniforms and gaining medals and promotions. According to one source, Stepaniv, Sofia Halechko and Iryna Kuz were the first women to fight on equal terms with men in the 20th century, but another source cites other examples.[
Stepaniv was taken prisoner by the Russians after she, and others, stayed behind to cover a retreat at ]Bolekhiv
Bolekhiv ( uk, Болехів, translit=Bolechiw; pl, Bolechów; yi, באָלעכאָוו) is a regional city in Kalush Raion, Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast (province) of Ukraine. It was once home to a large Jewish community, very few of whom s ...
. She was held in Tashkent as a prisoner of war, where she stayed until 1917. She helped organise the 1918 uprising in Tashkent, as she was a member of the legion's Supreme Military Board. From 1918 to 1919 she again commanded a platoon, this time in 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 force of the West Ukrainian People's Republic.
When the war was over, Stepaniv returned to education and gained a doctorate. In 1927, she attended the 2nd Congress of Ukrainian natural scientists and physicians. In 1930, she published a book recording the years 1912–14. This was one of the 75 publications she made during her life.
Stepaniv began teaching at a gymnasium established by the Basilian sisters 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 ...
; she remained there until 1935, when the Polish leaders of the order stopped her teaching. She then took a job with the Ridna Shkola society,[ which had championed the Ukrainian language since 1881. She also worked for the Audit Union of Ukrainian Co-operatives][ and was a well-known personality.][
Stepanivny Street in Lviv in 2013
In 1942, Stepaniv led the statistics department in Lviv. She gathered and published data and it was said that the publications were intended to embarrass the country's occupiers.] During the war she was working at Lviv University but after the war ended she was sent to a labour camp in Mordovia in 1949, because of her Ukrainian patriotism. She was held there until 1956.
Private life
Stepaniv married Roman Dashkevych, who was a lawyer and a general-khorunzhyi (general-ensign) of the Ukrainian People's Army
The Ukrainian People's Army ( uk, Армія Української Народної Республіки), also known as the Ukrainian National Army (UNA) or as a derogatory term of Russian and Soviet historiography Petliurovtsy ( uk, Пет ...
. In 1926, their son, Yaroslav Dashkevych, was born.[
]
Death and legacy
Stepaniv died 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 ...
in 1963.[ Fictionalized biographies of her exist.]
In 1991, a street in Lviv, Oleny Stepanivny Street, was renamed after her, citing her as the first woman to become a commissioned officer in the Ukrainian army.
In October 2002 the Yelizaveta Chaikina
Yelizaveta Ivanovna Chaikina (russian: Елизавета Чайкина; 28 August 1918 – 23 November 1941) often referred to as Liza Chaikina, was the Secretary of the Kalinin Komsomol Penovsky underground committee, a Soviet partisan detachm ...
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, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...
was renamed to Olena Stepaniv street.[}]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stepaniv, Olena
1892 births
1963 deaths
20th-century Ukrainian historians
20th-century Ukrainian women writers
People from Ternopil Oblast
Ukrainian Galician Army people
Ukrainian women historians
Ukrainian women in World War I