Benedict XV

Benedict XV (secular name: Giacomo Della Chiesa), b 21 November 1854 in Pegli, Italy, d 22 January 1922 at the Vatican. Benedict XV was pope from 1914 to 1922. Sympathizing with the Ukrainian struggle for independence (1917–20), he received a mission of the Ukrainian National Republic, headed by Count Mykhailo Tyshkevych, at the Vatican (1919–20) and sent a visitator, Giovanni Genocchi, to study conditions in Ukraine and to organize relief.

[This article originally appeared in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine, vol. 1 (1984).]