Avgustyn Voloshyn

Who was Avgustyn Voloshyn?

Avgustyn Ivanovych Voloshyn was a Ukrainian politician, teacher, and essayist. He was president of the independent Carpatho-Ukraine, which existed for one day on March 15, 1939.

Voloshyn was born on March 17, 1874 in Kelechyn, Transcarpathia. He studied at Uzhhorod School of Theology and at Budapest University. He became a Greek Catholic priest, from 1924 a Papal chamberer. He was professor of mathematics at Uzhhorod Teacher Institute from 1900 to 1917. In 1918, he became head of the Subcarpathian National Council, which in 1919 asked Czechoslovakia to confederate Transcarpathia into Czechoslovakia. This was realised in Autumn 1919. In 1925, he was voted as MP in Houses of Parliament in Prague. In October 1938, he was the head of the Subcarpathian Autonomous Region. During the total destruction of Czechoslovakia by Hitler's Germany, he tried to preserve Carpatho-Ukraine independence and became president of Carpatho-Ukraine for a few hours with the help of the rest of the Czechoslovakian army and made to the Kingdom of Romania a proposal for unification, but he was refused and one day later the region was invaded by the Hungarians. On March 19, 1939, Voloshyn under the protection of last Czechoslovakian troops retreated to the Romanian Kingdom's border, which was Czechoslovakia's ally. Subcarpathia was occupied by Hungary.