Oleksander Petrovych Hrekov | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | (1875-12-04)4 December 1875 Glukhovsky uezd,Russian Empire |
| Died | 2 December 1958(1958-12-02) (aged 83) Vienna,Austria |
| Allegiance |  Russian Empire(1905–1917) West Ukrainian People's Republic(1917–1921) |
| Service | Imperial Russian Army Ukrainian Galician Army |
| Years of service | 1905–1921 |
| Rank | Major General Otaman |
| Battles / wars | |
Oleksander Petrovych Hrekov (Ukrainian:Олександр Петрович Греков; 4 December 1875 – 2 December 1958) was a general of theImperial Russian Army andUkrainian People's Army. He was a commander-in-chief of the army of theWest Ukrainian National Republic during thePolish-Ukrainian War and architect of theChortkiv offensive in which theUkrainian Galician Army advanced 120 km (75 mi) against the Polish army.
Hrekov was born into a Russian family whose estate was nearHlukhiv in Sopychi,Chernigov Governorate. Today most of the territory belongs to the village of Sopych,Hlukhiv Raion, on the border with theRussian Federation. His father Petro Havrylovych Hrekov was a lawyer and a large landowner of theChernigov Governorate and his mother was Maria Hryhorivna Preobrazhenska. According to family legend, the Hrekov's family were descendants of a Greek who was part of the delegation accompanyingSophia Paleologue as she moved toMuscovy in 1472 when marryingIvan III of Russia, Grand Prince of Moscow. The Hrekov family attained the status of nobility as a reward for their service toPeter the Great.[1]
On the insistence of his father, Hrekov completed the law school ofLomonosov Moscow State University in 1897. Later, after surprising enrollment into the Moscow military school, he graduated it in 1899 and theNicholas General Staff Academy in 1905 after three years of study (along with another Ukrainian generalVolodymyr Sinclair).
Beginning in 1905 Hrekov served in theLeib-GuardEgersky Regiment. From 1908 he taught political and military history at the military academy. Prior toWorld War I at first (1907) he served at the 3rd Grenadier Division (Moscow) and later (1908) relocated toSaint Petersburg to the 1st Guard Division. There Hrekov received his first award, theOrder of Saint Stanislaus of III degree, as well as promotion to captain. Along with his military service the future general was giving lectures in the Pavel Infantry School (uchilishche). Since 1910 Hrekov worked at the headquarters of thePetersburg Military District. In 1910 he also received an assignment of the first adjutant of Guard forces, similar to the chief of Guard intelligence. One of his duties was working to protect the royal family ofNikolai II. In 1911 he was promoted tolieutenant colonel and received his second award, theOrder of Saint Anna of III degree. In 1912 Hrekov defended his dissertation on theHistory of military art, becoming an extraordinary professor which today is acandidate of sciences. Hrekov also became a professor of the Military Art Department atNikolas Academy General Staff. At the start of theFirst World War he was appointed as the chief of staff for the 74th Infantry Division which was stationed at the rear. There Hrekov met with another future Ukrainian generalMykola Yunakiv. After a request to send him to the frontlines, Hrekov was appointed as the chief of staff for the 1st Guard Division. In 1915 he was promoted tocolonel. In April 1917 he distinguished himself in fighting nearTarnopol and was awarded theOrder of St. George of IV degree. The same year Hrekov was promoted to general.
Following the October Revolution, and the end to both the Empire and the Provisional Government, in December 1917 he came to serve Ukraine. His first assignment was as the commander of the 2nd Serdyuk Division which was only starting to form and at that time consisted of a small officer corps. One of Hrekov's first remarkable subordinates on the side of theUkrainian People's Army was ColonelPetro Bolbochan. At one time the Soviet Prime-MinisterVladimir Lenin was offering 50,000 rubles in silver for the head of colonel Bolbochan.[citation needed] During the same time Hrekov was appointed the chief of the Kyiv Military District and was partially involved in the formation of theSich Riflemen Halych-Bukovyna Kurin (Battalion) led byYevhen Konovalets. The unit became the main supporter of theCentral Rada andMykhailo Hrushevsky. After the fall of Kyiv early in 1918 Hrekov retired from the Ukrainian People's Army. From December 1918 until January 1919 he was assigned to undertake negotiations with French forces occupyingOdessa on behalf of theDirectorate of Ukraine. After a conflict with Petliura and leftist Ukrainian politicians, he was forced to resign his post and on 16 May 1919 assumed command of theUkrainian Galician Army offered to him byYevhen Petrushevych.
The Galician army, faced against the better equipped theHeller's Army, was pushed fromLviv all the way toHusyatyn atZbruch river. Hrekov's presence there electrified the Galician soldiers, who were on the verge of defeat at the hands of the Poles during theirwar against them; many veterans of that war recalled the period under his command as the high point of their war experience.[2] Under Hrekov's command, between 9 June and 5 July the army of the West Ukrainian People's Republic experienced its greatest success during theChortkiv offensive, when the Poles were thrown back over 200 km (124 mi). Soon, however, the Polish forces were able to recover half of their yielded territory and stabilize the frontlines. As a result, Hrekov became quite popular among the Ukrainians of easternGalicia. Following a conflict with the leadership of theWest Ukrainian National Republic (it is rumored that the head of the West Ukrainian National Republic was pressured by Petliura to let Hrekov go, because Petliura feared Hrekov's popularity and disliked his opposition to Petliura's socialist policies[3]) Hrekov and his family left for Romania in July 1919.
In 1920 he moved toVienna. While there, he edited the journal "Ukraina" but adopted a pro-Polish orientation that discredited him in the eyes of much of the Ukrainian émigré community. In the 1930s he became close to a circle of Russian émigrés but at the end of that decade returned to the Ukrainian community, where he tried in vain to create an organization of "Ukrainian cossacks." Arrested by the Sovietoccupation authorities in 1948 he was taken toLukyanivska Prison inKyiv, he was exiled to theOzerlag camp of theGulag before being released in 1956, whereupon he returned to Vienna.
Currently a street inLviv is named after Hrekov.
Oleksander Hrekov married Natalia Ivanivna Kabat in 1905, the daughter of aHofmeister of the Higher Court, a secret adviser and senator. His wife's family was of Hungarian descent. They had a son Oleh (1914–1942) and a daughter Yelyzaveta (1906-?).
Hrekov had two sisters, Anna and Yulia, as well as three brothers: Kostiantyn who became an attorney, Hryhoriy who was a military officer, and Mykola who was an engineer and railway specialist.
| Preceded by | General Bulava Otaman | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by GeneralOsetsky | Minister of Defense 1919–February 1919 | Succeeded by |
| Ukrainian People's Republic (1918–1921) |  | |
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| Ukraine (since 1991) | ||
*Acting Chief | ||
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