Ilnytsky, Vasyl

Ilnytsky, Vasyl [Il’nyc’kyj, Vasyl’], b 22 April 1823 in Pidpechary, Stanyslaviv county, Galicia, d 15 April 1895 in Pidpechary. Ukrainian Catholic priest, pedagogue, historian, and writer. A graduate of Lviv University and Vienna University, he was consecrated in 1848. That same year he became a member of the Supreme Ruthenian Council. From 1868 to 1892 he was principal of the Academic Gymnasium of Lviv. Using pseudonyms, such as Denys, Denys iz-nad Sereta, and Podolianyn, Ilnytsky published many popular articles on the history of Kyivan Rus’ and the Cossack period, and several monographs such as Starodavnyi Zvenihorod (Ancient Zvenyhorod, 1861), Starodavna Trebovlia (Ancient Terebovlia, 1862), and Perehliad iuzhno-ruskoi istorii od r. 1337–1450 (A Survey of South-Ruthenian History from 1337 to 1450, 1875). He also wrote popular accounts of his travels and novelettes such as Rohnida-Horislava: Povist’ istoricheska s X stolitiia (979–986) (Rohnida-Horyslava: A Historical Novelette from the 10th Century [979–986], 1860), Horbatyi: Povist’ nachertana na pidstavi znaidenoho pamiatnyka (The Hunchback: A Novelette Based on a Discovered Monument, 1877), and Svaty (The In-Laws).

[This article originally appeared in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine, vol. 2 (1988).]