The Chair of the Committee on
Ukraine’s Integration into the EU took part in the unveiling ceremony
of a monument to Vasyl Vyshyvany, a prominent Ukrainian, Archduke
Wilhelm von Habsburg of Austria, who died for Ukraine at the age of 53
in Lukyanivska prison. A monument to Vyshyvany was unveiled in the
center of Kyiv, near the Lukyanivska pre-trial detention center, in the
square at 39, Illenka Street.
Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze noted that Vasyl Vyshyvanyi was one of the
heroes who had laid the foundations of Ukraine’s independence of today:
“For me personally, it does not matter whether he was descended from
the Kyivan princes, or had Austrian or Ukrainian roots. It is important
for me that Ukraine was for him above all. It is important that the
Ukrainian idea can capture a person so much that he is ready to die
it”.
The Chair of the Committee thanked the organizers and initiators of the
monument. The square at 39, Ilyenko Street is also planned to be named
after Vasyl Vyshyvany.
Sculptors Mykhailo Horlovy and Oleksandr Furman worked on the bust of
Vasyl Vyshyvany, and the architectural solution was of the creative
workshop “Architecton”. The creation of the monument united the efforts
of a large number of organizations and patrons: “World Vyshyvanka Day”,
“Music Battalion”, “National Museum of Ukraine”, “PanEurope Ukraine”,
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, historical club “Holodnyy Yar” and others.
Archduke Wilhelm Franz Joseph Karl von Habsburg-Lothringen came from
the Austrian imperial Habsburg family. The name Vasyl Vyshyvany was
given to him by Ukrainian soldiers during the First World War. Vasyl
became famous for his military and diplomatic talents, poetry and love
for Ukraine. He was a colonel of the Legion of Ukrainian Sich Riflemen
and the Army of the Ukrainian People's Republic. The Archduke fought
for the independence of Ukraine. In 1947, Wilhelm Habsburg was arrested
as a member of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists underground.
Vasyl Vyshyvany died in Lukyanivska prison on August 18, 1948.