{"id":215261,"date":"2026-04-13T14:45:59","date_gmt":"2026-04-13T11:45:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/golossokal.com.ua\/?p=215261"},"modified":"2026-04-13T14:45:59","modified_gmt":"2026-04-13T11:45:59","slug":"mykhaylo-havrylko-skulptor-sichovyy-strilets-i-iazychnyk-iakoho-chervonoarmiytsi-spalyly-zhyvtsem-u-toptsi-parovoza-v-poltavi-1920-roku","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/golossokal.com.ua\/en\/istoriia\/mykhaylo-havrylko-skulptor-sichovyy-strilets-i-iazychnyk-iakoho-chervonoarmiytsi-spalyly-zhyvtsem-u-toptsi-parovoza-v-poltavi-1920-roku.html","title":{"rendered":"Mykhailo Havrylko \u2014 the Sculptor and Ukrainian Sich Rifleman Who Journeyed from Paganism to Christianity Before Being Burned Alive by Bolsheviks in 1920"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Among the figures of the Ukrainian Sich Riflemen<\/a> \u2014 a formation that had deep roots in the Sokal region<\/a> as well \u2014 Mykhailo Omelianovych Havrylko (1882\u20131920) holds a special place. He was a talented sculptor, poet, military organizer, and at the same time a man of extraordinary worldview who traveled a path from pagan beliefs to the Christian faith. His tragic death \u2014 being burned alive in the firebox of a locomotive at the Poltava railway station in the autumn of 1920 \u2014 became one of the most horrific crimes of Bolshevik terror against Ukrainian patriots.<\/p>\n

In the well-known 1915 photograph taken in the village of Hnylche near Ternopil<\/a>, Sub-Ensign Havrylko is depicted \u2014 one of the founders of the Sich Riflemen, an experienced and gifted commander.<\/p>\n

\"\u041f\u0456\u0434\u0445\u043e\u0440.
Sub-Ensign Mykhailo Havrylko<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This photo was first published by researcher Vasyl Lopukh on his online resource dedicated to the Legion of Ukrainian Sich Riflemen.<\/p>\n

It is hard to imagine that during the First World War<\/a> (also read on Holos Sokalshchyny<\/a>), this combat officer led his unit into attacks against Russian troops, offering prayers to Dazhboh, asking for protection for his warriors, and calling on Svaroh to destroy the enemy with lightning. Yet it was precisely such pagan beliefs that set Havrylko apart among his comrades \u2014 he sincerely believed in the power of ancient Ukrainian mythology and advocated a return to the culture of the ancestors.<\/p>\n

Mykhailo Havrylko\u2019s military career covered several stages of the liberation struggle. He held the post of chief of staff of the Gray Division<\/a> of the Army of the Ukrainian People\u2019s Republic<\/a> \u2014 a Cossack-rifle formation created from Ukrainian prisoners of war of the Russian army in Austrian camps. Like other cultural figures of that era<\/a>, Havrylko combined artistic talent with a fighting spirit. Later, he led partisan detachments in the Poltava and Chernihiv regions, everywhere demonstrating the resolve and courage of a true commander.<\/p>\n

The rise of Mykhailo Havrylko\u2019s life began in Galicia, namely in Lviv<\/a>, where he arrived in 1907, fleeing persecution by the Russian authorities. The reason was his organization of a student strike in Saint Petersburg, where he was studying at the School of Technical Drawing. He was expelled from there with a \u201cwolf ticket\u201d and imprisoned. Havrylko was born on September 5, 1882, in Kozatski Khutory near the village of Runivshchyna in the Poltava region<\/a>, into a family of Cossack origin.<\/p>\n

Having settled in Lviv, Mykhailo Havrylko established close cooperation with scholars of the Shevchenko Scientific Society<\/a> \u2014 one of the oldest scholarly institutions in Ukraine, founded in 1873 in Lviv. At the expense of the Society, and also thanks to a scholarship from the outstanding writer and public figure Nataliia Kobrynska<\/a> \u2014 the founder of the women\u2019s movement in Galicia \u2014 he studied at the Department of Sculpture of the Krak\u00f3w Academy of Fine Arts<\/a>. It was during this period that Havrylko created several designs for a monument to Taras Shevchenko<\/a>, which became an important part of his artistic legacy \u2014 the so-called Shevchenkiana. Over the course of seven years, Havrylko perfected his craft in Austria and Paris in the studio of the famous French sculptor \u00c9mile Antoine Bourdelle<\/a> \u2014 a student of the great Auguste Rodin, one of the most outstanding monumental sculptors of the early twentieth century.<\/p>\n

With the outbreak of the First World War, Mykhailo Havrylko joined the \u201ciron\u201d platoon of the Sich Riflemen. Beginning in May 1915, he was almost continuously engaged in prolonged and bloody battles with the Russian army. The geography of his military path is impressive:<\/p>\n