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Semen Hryzlo | |
|---|---|
| Born | c1887 Katerynopil,Kiev Governorate,Russian Empire |
| Died | (1921-03-03)3 March 1921 near Novoselytsya village,Kiev Governorate,Ukraine |
| Allegiance |  Russian Empire (?-1917) Ukrainian People's Republic (1917-1921) |
| Service | Black Sea Fleet Free Cossacks |
| Years of service | ? - 1921 |
| Rank | Colonel |
| Unit | Zvenyhorod Kosh |
| Commands | Kanyboloto Kurin Zvenyhorod Kosh |
| Battles / wars | World War I Potyemkin's Uprising Ukrainian–Soviet War |
Semen Hryhorovych Hryzlo (Ukrainian:Семен Григорович Гризло; 1887? – 3 March 1921) was aUkrainian military and civil activist, one of the organizers of theFree Cossacks military formations, and a participant in the uprising on thebattleship Potemkin (Borets za Svobodu).
Semen Hryzlo was born sometime in the late 1880s in the town ofKaterynopil,Zvenigorod uyezd, in theKiev Governorate, and worked as a scribe and teacher at a local rural school.[citation needed]
Later Hryzlo was drafted into theBlack Sea Fleet, where he served on the battleshipPotemkin. For his participation in the Potemkin mutiny of 1905, Hryzlo was exiled toSiberia. At the start of 1917 he returned home and became a member of theUkrainian Socialist Revolutionary Party. Hryzlo was an active participant in the cultural life of the village of Husakove in the Zvenigorod uyezd.[citation needed]
He was one of the first who military organisers of theFree Cossacks, becoming theotaman (military commander) of theKaniboloto Kurin in March 1917. At the firstCongress of the Free Cossacks of Zvenigorod uyezd in April 1917 Hryzlo was elected the Kosh Otaman. In June 1917 he was delegated toKiev for the 2nd All-Ukrainian Military Congress representing Zvenigorod uyezd.
Hryzlo was one of the organizers the 1st All-Ukrainian Congress of the Free Cossacks that took place on 3 October 1917 inChyhyryn where he was elected as a generalosavul of Free Cossacks. About that time he had some 20,000 cossacks loyal to him personally.[citation needed] In February 1918 his troops forced the artillerymen of the 2nd Corps of theRussian Guard to lay down their arms, and later forced the surrender of the 6th and the 7thdragoon regiments of the Russian cavalry.[citation needed] In February 1918 the Hryzlo's Cossacks were successful in defeating several units of the 8th Russian Army near the rail station ofBobrynsk.[citation needed]
At the end of 1918 Hryzlo was in charge of anarmored train operating inVolyn. He later came under the command the Northern Front of theUkrainian People's Army led byotamanVolodymyr Oskilko. DuringOskilko's Uprising, Hryzlo supported his commander. After the mutiny he returned home to theCherkasy land where he wagedguerrilla warfare against the Bolsheviks' presence, reestablishing the Free Cossacks formations.
Hryzlo was an active participant of theKholodny Yar Ukrainianpartisan movement cooperating with Ivan Gonta (real nameIvan Lyuty-Lyutenko). In the vicinity ofMokra Kalyhirka the united forces of Hryzlo and Gonta defeated the "execution division" of theRed Army.[citation needed] By the end of 1920, Hryzlo had allied with the otamans Kvitkovski and Petro Dereshchuk under the leadership ofAndri Huly-Hulenko. As members of the Kholodny Yar they managed to defeat the 45th and the 47th Soviet Infantry divisions, selected units of the 1st Cavalry Army, andGrigory Kotovsky's brigades.
Over the time Hryzlo also cooperated with such military leaders asPylyp Khmara,Larion Zahorodni, and others. On 3 March 1921 near the village of Novoselytsya nearZvenyhorodka Hryzlo was ambushed and then surrounded by several squads of the Red Army where he perished. He was buried in the Zvenyhorod cemetery.