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Levko Chykalenko

Levko Chykalenko (1888–1965) was a Ukrainian civic and political figure, archaeologist, full member of the Shevchenko Scientific Society (NTSh) and the Ukrainian Free Academy of Sciences (UVAN). He was the son of the renowned Ukrainian patron Yevhen Chykalenko. In 1920, as part of a military delegation of the Directorate of the UNR, he traveled to Crimea for negotiations with Petro Wrangel.

Overview

Levko Chykalenko was born in 1888 into the family of the Ukrainian landowner and patron Yevhen Chykalenko. He belonged to the Ukrainian Social Democratic Workers' Party (USDRP). In 1917 he became secretary of the Ukrainian Central Rada (Tsentralna Rada), whose convening was initiated by his father, and later a member of the Small Rada (Mala Rada). In 1919 he was a research fellow of the Academy of Sciences and a teacher of geography and natural science at the First Ukrainian Gymnasium named after T. H. Shevchenko in Kyiv. In 1920 he served as an adviser to the Minister of Internal Affairs.

From August to October 1920, Levko joined the military delegation of the Directorate of the UNR that traveled to Crimea for negotiations with Petro Wrangel. For this mission he received the credentials of an artillery centurion (sotnyk) and acted as a civilian representative competent in Cossack and political matters. During the trip through Romania, Yalta, and Sevastopol, Chykalenko communicated with consul Pavlo Horyanskyi, General Vasyl Kyrii, ministers Petro Struve and Aleksandr Kryvoshein, writer Arkadii Averchenko, and representatives of the USA and France. He described his journey in detail in his memoirs "A Journey to Crimea in 1920".

In the autumn of 1920, Levko Chykalenko left for Poland, later living in Czechoslovakia, France, Germany, and the USA. He died in New York in 1965. His remains were reinterred in Ukraine, in the village of Pereshory in the Odesa region, in 1998.

Key Details / Subtopics

  • Family and origins: son of Yevhen Chykalenko, a Ukrainian civic leader, landowner, and patron.
  • Political activity: member of the USDRP, secretary of the Central Rada (1917), member of the Small Rada, adviser to the Minister of Internal Affairs (1920).
  • Scientific activity: archaeologist, disciple of Khvedir Vovk, full member of the NTSh and UVAN, research fellow of the Academy of Sciences (1919).
  • Diplomatic mission to Crimea (1920): participation in the UNR diplomatic delegation; author of extensive memoirs about meetings in Yalta and Sevastopol.
  • Emigration and reinterment: Poland → Czechoslovakia → France → Germany → USA (New York); reinterred in the village of Pereshory in 1998.