Mykhailo Drahomanov

Mykhaylo Drahomanov was the uncle of a famous poetess, Lesya Ukrainka. He greatly influenced her intellectual and political development. Throughout her life, Lesya Ukrainka considered Mykhailo Dragomanov her mentor and teacher. He introduced her to the ideas of Western liberalism and socialism and encouraged her to develop her independent thinking.

While pursuing an academic career, Drahomanov contributed to the founding of the Ukrainian secret society, Hromada of Kyiv (later known as the Old Hromada), and rose to a position of leadership within it. In 1859, in the Russian documents, Old Hromada was named "the center of the Ukrainophilia movement." The community included various scholars, such as ethnographers and anthropologists, statistical scientists, and legal theorists.

In May 1876, Alexander II issued the Ems Ukaz (Ems decree), which prohibited all Ukrainian language publications and public performances, shut down the Ukrainian Geographical Society, and formally banished prominent Ukrainian nationalists, including Drahomanov himself. The Old Hromada responded by appointing Drahomanov to represent the Ukrainian national movement abroad. In May 1876, Drahomanov left Ukraine.

In numerous works and the Hromada newspaper, Mykhailo Drahomanov described his views on the Ukrainian national movement and its development and declared the need to make it more European. He actively advocated Ukrainian culture, most of all Ukrainian literature and writers. Drahomanov also supported political movements inside Ukraine, especially in the Western part of the country. 

Drahomanov spent his last years working as a professor at Sophia University in Bulgaria and passed away in 1895.