Kropyvnytskyi
Kirovohrad (Ukrainian: Кіровоград, Russian: Кировоград, translit. Kirovograd) is a city in southern Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Kirovohrad Oblast (province), as well as the administrative center of the surrounding Kirovohradsky Raion (district) within the oblast. The city itself is also designated as its own separate raion within the oblast.
The current estimated population is 239,400 (as of 2004).
History
The history of Kirovohrad starts from that of Fort of St. Elizabeth. This fort was built in 1754 by the order of empress Elizabeth Petrovna and it played a pivotal role in the new lands added to Russia by the Belgrad Peace Treaty of 1739. In 1764 the settlement received status of the center of the Elizabeth province, and in 1784 the status of chief town of a district, when it was renamed after the fort as Yelizavetgrad.
The Fort of St. Elizabeth was located on the crossroads of trade routes, and it eventually became a major trade center. The city has held regular fairs 4 times a year. Merchants from all over the Russian Empire have visited these fairs. Also, there were a lot of foreign merchants, especially from Greece.
Kirovohrad (Yelizavetgrad at the time) was a site of one of the first pogroms in Russia after the death of Alexander II.
The first Ukrainian theater was built in Kirovohrad, which was founded by M. Kropyvnytsky, I. Karpenko-Karyy, M. Zankovetska, P. Saksahansky and M. Sadovsky.
Former names
Kirovohrad has changed its name many times:
- 1784 — Elisavetgrad (after empress Elizabeth Petrovna of Russia; Alternative spellings Elizabethgrad, Elizavetgrad, and Yelisavetgrad)
- 1924 — Zinovyevsk (or Zinovievsk), after Grigory Zinoviev
- 1934 — Kirovo (after Sergei Kirov)
- 1939 — Kirovograd
- 1991 — Kirovohrad (Ukrainian spelling)
Famous people from Kirovohrad
- Olesya Dudnik, Soviet gymnast
- Moses Gomberg, a chemist
- Boris Hessen, a historian of science
- Andrei Kanchelskis, a Russian-Ukrainian footballer
- Arkadi Maslov, a Communist politician
- Heinrich Neuhaus, a Soviet pianist and pedagogue of German extraction
- African Spir (or Afrikan Spir), a philosopher
- Alexei Stepanovich Suetin, a Soviet-Russian International Grandmaster of chess and an author
- Grigory Zinoviev, a Bolshevik revolutionary and a Soviet Communist politician
External links
- rks.kr.ua - Kirovohrad Web Directory
- rks.kr.ua - Kirovohrad Daily News Template:Uk icon/Template:Ru icon
- housatonic.net - Outrages Upon Jews in Russia, May 6, 1881
- gorod.kr.ua - Kirovohrad's portal: photos, news, information, etc. Template:Ru icon