Viktor Kurmanovych ( uk, Віктор Йосипович Курманович; 26 November 1876, Velyka Vilshanytsia near

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 ...

Galicia and Lodomeria The Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria,, ; pl, Królestwo Galicji i Lodomerii, ; uk, Королівство Галичини та Володимирії, Korolivstvo Halychyny ta Volodymyrii; la, Rēgnum Galiciae et Lodomeriae also known as ...

Austro-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 ...

– 18 October 1945,

Odessa Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrativ ...

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

) was a Ukrainian politicianEncyclopedia of Ukraine
and military leader. Kurmanovych was born into a family of the

Greek Catholic The term Greek Catholic Church can refer to a number of Eastern Catholic Churches following the Byzantine (Greek) liturgy, considered collectively or individually. The terms Greek Catholic, Greek Catholic church or Byzantine Catholic, Byzantine Ca ...

priest in the village of Velyka Vilshanytsia in Galicia. After the local elementary school, he was enrolled into the Infanteriekadettenschule Lobzow (Cadet school). Upon graduating from the cadet school, Kurmanovych studied at the Austrian Military Academy 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 ...

which he finished in 1912. His first assignment was in the Headquarters of General Staff of the Austrian Army, where he served in the department of intelligence. In 1914, Kurmanovych was caught by the Russian operatives for spying and imprisoned. Soon in 1915, he was exchanged for some Russian officer and commissioned some Austrian units on the Italy and Bokovyna front-lines until 1918. With the fall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Kurmanovych pledged his allegiance to the government of West Ukraine. Kurmanovych was appointed the commander of the Zhovkva Group of Halych Army (HA) and later the Southern Group. After a short while he was included to the ''Supreme Command of HA'' and promoted to

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

. Kurmanovych served as the Chief of Staff from February 13 - June 7, 1919 simultaneously performing duties of a State Secretary. When the Halych Army was forced beyond the

Zbruch The Zbruch ( uk, Збруч, pl, Zbrucz) is a river in Western Ukraine, a left tributary of the Dniester.Збруч
...

river, Kurmanovych's units joined 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� ...

and he was promoted to

Brigadier General Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...

. On August 11, 1919 he became the Quartermaster General at the General Bulawa (Military Council). However, Kurmanovych ran into disagreements with other military specialists in the Headquarters as well as the ongoing

typhus Typhus, also known as typhus fever, is a group of infectious diseases that include epidemic typhus, scrub typhus, and murine typhus. Common symptoms include fever, headache, and a rash. Typically these begin one to two weeks after exposure. ...

epidemic, in September he left for

Baden bei Wien Baden (German for " Baths"; Central Bavarian: ''Bodn''), unofficially distinguished from other Badens as Baden bei Wien (Baden near Vienna), is a spa town in Austria. It serves as the capital of Baden District in the state of Lower Austria. Loc ...

, in

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

. In 1921-1922, Kurmanovych was interned in Deutsch Gabel (

Sudetenland The Sudetenland ( , ; Czech and sk, Sudety) is the historical German name for the northern, southern, and western areas of former Czechoslovakia which were inhabited primarily by Sudeten Germans. These German speakers had predominated in the ...

). In 1923 he worked at the automobile factory. Kurmanovych cooperated with Mykola Kapustiansky to organize the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN). From 1933 to 1938 he lived in

Free City of Danzig The Free City of Danzig (german: Freie Stadt Danzig; pl, Wolne Miasto Gdańsk; csb, Wòlny Gard Gduńsk) was a city-state under the protection of the League of Nations between 1920 and 1939, consisting of the Baltic Sea port of Danzig (now Gda ...

, after that moved to the Carpathian Ukraine. In April 1945 Kurmanovych was arrested by the Soviet military counter-intelligence

SMERSH SMERSH (russian: СМЕРШ) was an umbrella organization for three independent counter-intelligence agencies in the Red Army formed in late 1942 or even earlier, but officially announced only on 14 April 1943. The name SMERSH was coined by Josep ...

and transferred to the

. He died in the

NKVD The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (russian: Наро́дный комиссариа́т вну́тренних дел, Naródnyy komissariát vnútrennikh del, ), abbreviated NKVD ( ), was the interior ministry of the Soviet Union. ...

prison hospital of

References

*Aleksander Kolańczuk - "Ukraińscy generałowie w Polsce, emigranci polityczni w latach 1920-1939. Słownik biograficzny", Przemyśl 2009, {{DEFAULTSORT:Kurmanovych, Viktor 1876 births 1945 deaths People from Lviv Oblast People from the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria Ukrainian Austro-Hungarians Ukrainian diplomats Ukrainian nationalists Ukrainian people of World War I Austro-Hungarian military personnel of World War I Ukrainian Galician Army people Ukrainian people of the Polish–Ukrainian War Generals of the Ukrainian People's Republic Ukrainian politicians before 1991 Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists politicians Ukrainian people who died in Soviet detention