Markovych, Dmytro

Markovych, Dmytro [Маркович, Дмитро; Markovyč] (pen name: Olenin), b 8 November 1848 in Poltava, d 9 December 1920 in Vinnytsia, Podilia gubernia. Jurist, civic and co-operative movement activist, and writer; nephew of Opanas Markovych. He served as a court official in various localities of the Russian Empire—in Kherson, the Kuban, and Warsaw. In the early 1900s he retired to his estate in Mykhalkivtsi, Volhynia, and devoted himself to community service, co-operative and zemstvo affairs, and political activity. He became a member of the Society of Ukrainian Progressives. After moving to Vinnytsia he edited the weekly Podil’s’ka volia (1917). During the Ukrainian struggle for independence (1917–20) he served as general procurator under the Central Rada, judge of the General Court of the Ukrainian National Republic, senator under the Hetman government, and minister of justice in Serhii Ostapenko's cabinet under the Directory of the Ukrainian National Republic. His stories first appeared in the almanac Step (1886) and were collected later under the title Po stepakh ta khutorakh (Through the Steppes and Homesteads, 1898; 2nd edn 1908). His complete works were published in two volumes in 1918–19, and republished in Kyiv in 1991.

[This article was updated in 2013.]