Central Ruthenian People's Council

Central Ruthenian People's Council (Центральна Руська Народна Рада; Tsentralna Ruska Narodna Rada). A political organization of Transcarpathian Ukrainians, which was formed in 1919 from an association of local people’s councils in Khust, Uzhhorod, and the Prešov region. Its first president was Rev Avhustyn Voloshyn. On 8 May 1919 the council adopted a resolution on the autonomy of Transcarpathia and its union with Czechoslovakia and sent a delegation to Prague. Eventually, the Russophile faction in the council left and formed a parallel Central Ruthenian People's Council. The original council functioned for the duration of the interwar Czechoslovak Republic as a coalition of non-Communist Ukrainian groups and individuals. In 1938 it was reorganized into the Central Ukrainian People’s Council and played a key role in bringing about the autonomous state of Carpatho-Ukraine. In January 1939 the functions of the council were assumed by the Ukrainian National Alliance (Transcarpathia).

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