Hnat Stefaniv

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Hnat Stefaniv (1895-1949) was a colonel of the Ukrainian Galician Army and the army of the UNR. Born in the village of Topoivtsi near Horodenko (now Ternopil oblast) Stefaniv rose to the rank of major in the Austro-Hungarian army. In the November retreat of 1918 he was the organizor and commendant of the Zolochiv area in the Western Ukrainian National Republic. From November 9 to December 10. In 1918 he was elevated to the rank of colonel and commanded the Ukrainin Army i Lviv. Under his leadership the Ukrainian forces fought the Polish forces in Lviv, but after the arrival of reinforcement were forced to leave the city November 22. Later he joined the army of the UNR where he commanded the Hutsul regiment, the additional brigade of the rifleman's division and the commander of the cavalry in the First Winter campaign. In 1920 he became the commander in exile of the Ukrainian armies. In 1920 he went over with a group under General Kraus to Czechoslovakia and there headed the diplomatic mission of the WUKR in Uzhhorod. Until 1939 he lived in Transcarpathia, then in Vienna, and Germany (from 1944) where he died.