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Serhii Konashevych

Ukrainian journalist, publicist, local historian, researcher of the history of Crimea, and a regular contributor to the newspaper "Krymska svitlytsia."

Overview

Serhii Konashevych is one of the leading authors and researchers of the newspaper "Krymska svitlytsia," who covers the historical, cultural, and socio-political ties between Crimea and mainland Ukraine. In his publications he explores little-known pages of Crimean history, the deconstruction of russian and Soviet myths, the derussification of Ukrainian given names and surnames, the history of the Liberation Struggle of 1917–1921, the religious and church history of the peninsula, centers of Ukrainian education in Crimea, the reconstruction of Crimean cities with the participation of the Ukrainian SSR, as well as the problems of preserving Ukraine's cultural heritage under occupation.

Key Details / Subtopics

  • Journalistic and research activity: Author of dozens of articles in the newspaper "Krymska svitlytsia" (publisher — Andrii Shchekun), devoted to the history of the Cossacks in Crimea, the course of the Ukrainian Revolution of 1917–1921, and the fate of Ukrainian figures and military personnel.
  • Deconstruction of imperial myths: In his materials he refutes Soviet and russian narratives (in particular the russification of surnames, such as the transformation of the Ukrainian sailor Petro Kishka into "Koshka" or the artist Mykola Samokysha into "Samokysh," attempts to commemorate Wrangel, the myth of the exclusively "russian reconstruction" of Sevastopol, as well as the myth of the absence of Uniate traditions in Crimea until the late 1980s).
  • Research on the postwar reconstruction of Sevastopol: In the article "Who Rebuilt Sevastopol" (Kym vidrodzhenyy Sevastopol) (2018) based on documents and the press of "Sovetskyi Krym," he examined the decisive role of the Ukrainian SSR (the supply from Kyiv of power stations, timber via the Dnieper, subordination to the Kherson economic council) in the restoration and renovation of Sevastopol after World War II.
  • Research on the liberation struggle, educational institutions, and figures: He studied the activity of the Directorate of the UNR in Crimea, Levko Chykalenko's journey to Crimea in 1920, visits of UNR military missions to Sevastopol, the history of the Zdolbuniv Women's Gymnasium of Baroness Eleonora von Taube in Kerch and the attempt to found the Kerch Polytechnic Institute in 1918, the history of Cossack cemeteries near Perekop (based on lithographs by Karlo Bossoli), and the Cossack campaigns of Hetman Mykhailo Doroshenko.
  • Church and religious history: He researched the history of the Florentine Union in Genoese Caffa, the Kherson and Fulian Uniate dioceses of the 15th century, Eastern-rite bishops, and the written testimonies of Stanislav Bendljevich about the Greek Catholic church in Yevpatoria.
  • Protection of cultural heritage: He covered the state and problems of the Lesya Ukrainka Museum in Yalta, monuments of Crimean archaeology, and the activity of Ukrainian public organizations and parishes in Crimea.