Kyiv Commune

Kyiv Commune (Київська комуна; Kyivska komuna). A group of Kyivan populists that existed from September 1873 until the end of 1874 when it had to stop its activity as a result of mass arrests. Ideologically, it was mainly influenced by M. Bakunin. The commune recruited its members (they numbered approximately 30) from among the intelligentsia and the students of Kyiv University; they included Volodymyr Debohorii-Mokriievych and Yakiv Stefanovych. The members propagated populist and socialist ideas among the workers and peasants of the Kyiv region, Poltava region, and Podilia region, and the group maintained ties with populist circles in Kharkiv, Odesa, Saint Petersburg, and elsewhere.

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