Melen, Teofil

Melen, Teofil [Мелень, Теофіль; Melen', Teofil'], b 1879, d 28 May 1915 in Yezupil, Stanyslaviv county, Galicia. Civic and political leader and publicist. As a student at Lviv University he was active in Ukrainian affairs and the Osnova student society and a contributor to Moloda Ukraïna. Upon graduating he became a leading member of the Ukrainian Social Democratic party and editor of its semimonthly Volia (Lviv). He helped organize the peasant strikes in Galicia in 1902. In 1914–15 he represented his party on the Supreme Ukrainian Council. Melen helped recruit soldiers for the Ukrainian Sich Riflemen and served as head of the Press Office of the Ukrainian Sich Riflemen. A supporter of the General Ukrainian Council, he contributed articles and reports from the battlefront to its Vistnyk. He served as a courier in the Ukrainian Sich Riflemen and was killed in action.

[This article originally appeared in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine, vol. 3 (1993).]