Supreme Ruthenian Council
1848 political council in Galicia
Supreme Ruthenian Council (Ukrainian: Головна Руська Рада, romanized: Holovna Ruska Rada) was the first legal Ruthenian political organization that existed from May 1848 to June 1851.
Proclamation
It was founded on 2 May 1848 in Lemberg (today Lviv), Austrian Empire, as the result of the 1848 Spring of Nations and in response to the establishment of the Polish Central National Council, which claimed itself to be the representative body of the whole Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria. Established on the premises of Saint George's Cathedral, the metropolitan cathedral of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, in its manifesto of 10 May 1848 the council declared the unity of all 15 million Ruthenians (Ukrainians) and declared them to be a distinct people from both Poles and Russians.
Political demands
The organization's political program consisted of three main demands:
Division of Galicia into two separate administrative units: western for Poles and eastern for Ukrainians (originally proposed by governor Stadion in 1847);
Unification of all Ukrainian lands of Galicia, Subcarpathia, and Bucovina into one province;
Introduction of school lectures and publication of government statements in Ukrainian language.
Composition
Supreme Ruthenian Council consisted of 30 members who were representatives of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church and intelligentsia. Head of the council was bishop of Premissel Hryhoriy Yakhymovych, followed by canon Mykhailo Kuzemsky. Yakhymovych's assistants were Mykhailo Kuzemsky and Ivan Borysykevych. The council consisted of several departments and developed 34 branches around Galicia.
Political activities
On 15 May 1848, with financial support of Austrian authorities, the Supreme Council started publishing Zoria Halytska, the first Ukrainian newspaper, which would be issued until 1857.
Three members of the organization attended the Prague Slavic Congress in June 1848.
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