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Serhiy Ostapenko | |
|---|---|
Сергій Остапенко | |
 Ostapenko in 1918 | |
| 4thChairman of People's Ministers | |
| In office 13 February 1919 – 9 April 1919 | |
| President | Directorate |
| Preceded by | Volodymyr Chekhivsky |
| Succeeded by | Borys Martos |
| Minister of Trade and Industry | |
| In office 26 December 1918 – 13 February 1919 | |
| Prime Minister | Volodymyr Chekhivsky |
| Preceded by | Sergei Mering |
| Succeeded by | Office disestablished |
| Minister of Agitation and Propaganda | |
| In office 6 February 1919 – 9 April 1919 | |
| Prime Minister | Volodymyr Chekhivsky |
| Preceded by | O. Nazaruk |
| Succeeded by | T. Cherkasky |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1881-11-18)18 November 1881 Troianiv [uk],Russian Empire (nowUkraine) |
| Died | 1937 (aged 55–56) |
| Political party | UPSR (1905-1919) |
| Alma mater | Kyiv Commercial Institute (1913) |
Serhiy Stepanovych Ostapenko (Ukrainian:Сергі́й Степа́нович Оста́пенко; 18 November [O.S. 6 November] 1881 – 1937) was a Ukrainian economist, statesman, and political activist. In early 1919 he served as Chairman of the Council of People's Ministers ofUkrainian People's Republic, a position equivalent to the present-day office ofPrime Minister of Ukraine.
Ostapenko was born in November 1881 in the village ofTroianiv [uk], nearZhytomyr. Ostapenko was born into a family of poor peasants and his father had another job as a freight transporter. From 1893 to 1897, Ostapenko attended the local elementary school, after which, he enrolled into an agrarian middle school inBilokrynytsia ofKremenets uyezd.
In 1904, he started working as a teacher in a two-grade school of Turiysk ofKovel uyezd. In 1905, Ostapenko was arrested for being a member of theUkrainian Socialist-Revolutionary Party. He spent the next three years in jail for "political reasons", as he claimed. After his release, Ostapenko had some trouble of finding employment. He graduated from the Vladimir Cadet Corps after final tests in 1909 and the same year enrolled into the Economic school ofKyiv Commercial Institute (nowKyiv National Economic University). Upon his graduation in 1913 he was sent to Germany for extended studies in Economics.
In 1913 he returned to Ukraine where he found the job as head of the Bureau of Statistics inBalta uyezd ofPodolia Governorate. In 1914 Ostapenko was transferred toKharkiv where he headed the Bureau of Statistics for the Mining Industry ofSloboda Ukraine. Later he returned toKyiv where he worked as a private-docent in the Kyiv Commercial Institute until 1917.
In January 1918, Ostapenko was appointed as an economic adviser to the Ukrainian economic commission ofVsevolod Holubovych for the negotiations inBrest-Litovsk (seeTreaty of Brest-Litovsk (Ukraine–Central Powers). On 14 March 1918 he worked to the trade commission ofMykola Porsh for the goods exchange with theCentral Powers and responsible to the Council of People's Ministers.
During the times of theUkrainian State Ostapenko was included to theSerhiy Shelukhin's economic commission of the Ukrainian peace delegation during the negotiations with the delegation of theSoviet Russia in Kyiv. These negotiations took place from 23 May through 7 October 1918. Concurrently, he lectured in political economy, economical geography, and others for various schools in Kyiv.
After theDirectorate of Ukraine forcedPavlo Skoropadskyi to emigrate, Ostapenko, being a member of the Ukrainian SR party and was appointed to the socialist government ofVolodymyr Chekhivsky as the minister of trade and industry. In February 1919 when the government of Ukraine had to relocate out of Kyiv toVinnytsia with the advancingBolshevik forces, Ostapenko discontinued his membership with the Ukrainian SRs. After the resignation of several ministers from the government he was performing the duties of the minister of political agitation and propaganda. On February 6, 1919 he participated as the representative of the Ukrainian government in the negotiations with the Chief of staff of the French military forces of Colonel Freidenberg (seeEntente intervention) at the railroad station ofBirzula, nearOdesa. The Ukrainians were requesting from the representatives of theEntente recognition of the sovereignty of Ukraine, allowing it to participate at theParis Peace Conference, and several other important factors. After the negotiations brought no results the government of Chekhivsky resigned.
TheDirectorate of Ukraine requested Ostapenko who was appointed to find the understanding (?) with the members of theEntente to form another government. His government was composed mostly out of more liberal-democratic representatives, but as the government did not bring any real results in the short period of time in couple of months it was replaced by the government of more socially orientedBorys Martos. Ostapenko found no place in the new government was found and he moved for couple of months toGalicia.
After some successes at the Bolshevik front and the liberation ofPodolia, he moved toKamianets-Podilskyi that since June 1919 served as the temporary administrative center of theUkrainian People's Republic until the end of 1919. Still unable to find a job, Ostapenko applied to theKamyanets-Podilsky State University that was hiring numerous professors and private-docents in various fields.
On 18 July 1919 the minister of educationAnton Krushelnytsky accepted his application by the reference of the University's firstrectorIlarion Ohienko. Ostapenko became a private-docent at the Department of Statistics of the University's Jurisprudential School and started his work in October 1919. On 5 November 1919 the council of the University's professors asked him to lecture the political economy beside his classes of statistics. On 25 February 1920 Ostapenko was confirmed as the permanentdocent of the Department of Political Economy and Statistics. In May 1920 the governorate administration published his booksThe course of statistics and demographics of 3,500 releases andThe important characteristics of the Ukrainian ethnicity in comparison to other ethnics of 1,500.
By the end of 1920 Ostapenko relocated toKyiv. In May 1921 the Supreme Extraordinary Tribunal began the hearing of the affair of Ukrainian SRs on which Ostapenko was invited as a witness. However, by the proposition ofDmitry Manuilsky he was placed amongst the ones under trail. Ostapenko plead not guilty and was given five years ofcorrectional labor camps. Later unexpectedly the sentence was changed and he was forced to work by specialty instead ofkatorga, due tohis value as a scientific force.[1] Further his fate is not known. There are speculations that 1931 he was arrested by theNKVD and perished in the labor camps (according to theEncyclopedia of Ukraine) sometime in 1937.[2]
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