ROZHANKOVSKYI TEODOR LONHYNOVYCH (February 14, 1875, Sokal — April 12, 1970, Weehawken, New Jersey, USA) — Ukrainian scholar, judge, jurist, political and military figure, the first commander of the Ukrainian Sich Riflemen (USS) Legion, otaman of the Ukrainian Galician Army, military attaché of the Ukrainian People’s Republic mission in Prague.
Origins and Education
Teodor Rozhankovskyi was born on February 14, 1875, in the city of Sokal, Lviv region. He came from an ancient Ukrainian noble family from Boykivshchyna — the ancestral home of the Rozhankovskyi family was the village of Rozhanka in the Skoliv area. His father was Dr. Lonhyn Rozhankovskyi (1836–1917), a lawyer and public figure; his mother was Osypa (1841–1929), the daughter of a priest, Osyp Shukhevych.
He studied law (according to some sources, at Lviv University; according to others, at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków).
Public and Political Life
Before 1914, Teodor Rozhankovskyi worked as a judge in the city of Turka and was an organizer of public life in the Turka district. As a respected public figure, he was elected as a deputy to the Galician Diet (9th convocation, from 1913, representing the 20th district of the IV curia, after the death of his predecessor, Dr. Yosyf Hanchakovsky) from the Ukrainian National Democratic Party. He was a member of the “Ukrainian-Ruthenian Parliamentary Club.”
In the 10th convocation of the Galician Diet, Rozhankovskyi was a member of the “Ukrainian Parliamentary Club.”
USS, UGA, UNR
At the beginning of World War I, Teodor Rozhankovskyi became a member of the Combat Directorate and the first commander of the Ukrainian Sich Riflemen Legion (August 1914). When he firmly opposed the decision of the Austro-Hungarian army command to send untrained riflemen against the advancing Russian forces, he was removed from command of the Legion. Overall, Rozhankovskyi commanded the Legion for approximately two weeks.
From October 1914 to November 1918, Rozhankovskyi served as commander and deputy commander of the USS Kish (rear base), responsible for recruiting, training, and cultural-educational work.
During the Western Ukrainian People’s Republic’s struggle for independence, Teodor Rozhankovskyi became an otaman of the Ukrainian Galician Army and commander of the Stanyslaviv Military District (1918–1919). As a deputy to the Galician Diet, he became a member of the Ukrainian National Council of the ZUNR. In 1919–1920, Rozhankovskyi served as military attaché of the Ukrainian People’s Republic mission in Prague.
In Emigration
After the end of the Ukrainian liberation struggles, Teodor Rozhankovskyi lived in Galicia, working as a lawyer in Lviv. During the interwar period, in 1924, he became the head of the “Tur” Hunting Society.
After World War II, he emigrated — first to Prague, and later to the United States.
Teodor Rozhankovskyi died on April 12, 1970, at the age of 95, in Weehawken, New Jersey, USA. He was buried at St. Andrew’s Cemetery in South Bound Brook, New Jersey.