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Alexander Dukhnovych, Adolf Dobriansky, Ioannikii Bazilovich, Ivan Churhovich, Arsenii Kotsak, Ioann Rakovskyi, Viktor Kimak, Julius Stavrovskyi-Popradov, Ivan Silvai

Rusyn national awakening (Rusyn: русиньске народне возроджіня, rusyn'ske narodne voztodzhinya) was a process that shaped the national identity, culture, and literature of the Rusyn people within Austria-Hungary between the 1840s and 1890s. Its leaders sought to inspire national consciousness among the population living in the northeastern borderlands of Hungary and to promote greater autonomy for the Rusyn nation within the Hungarian kingdom. These leaders, known as national awakeners, were primarily educated clergy, politicians, and writers.

Unlike other Slavic national revivals, where most awakeners embraced nationalism, Rusyn awakeners were divided by the influences they supported. Russophiles advocated for the integration of Rusyns into the Russian nation, with prominent figures such as Alexander Dukhnovych, Alexander Pavlovich, and, in his later years, Adolf Dobriansky. In contrast, Rusynophiles emphasized the cultural and linguistic uniqueness of the Rusyns in relation to other Slavic peoples, represented by figures like Mikhail Luchkay, Victor Dobriansky, and Gregory Žatkovich. The dominance of Russophiles during this period hindered the development of a standardized Rusyn literary language, focusing instead on fostering national awareness among the Rusyn population.

The revival was preceded by a brief Rusyn Enlightenment. Key figures of this period included Bishop Andriy Bachinskyi, who implemented educational reforms in Subcarpathian Rus, introducing Rusyn as a language of instruction in schools. Toward the end of his life, Bachinskyi established a diocesan archive and library, which fostered a circle of Rusyn intellectuals, including Ioannikii Bazilovich, Ioann Kutka, Arsenii Kotsak, and Ioann Pastelii.

The Rusyn National Revival began in the 1830s and reached its political peak during the Hungarian Revolution of 1848–1849. Adolf Dobriansky led delegations that twice presented memoranda to Emperor Franz Joseph I, seeking recognition of the Rusyns as a distinct nation within Hungary. While these efforts achieved some short-term political success, the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 marked the decline of political activism within the revival movement.

Literary activities during the revival were more enduring. Through the efforts of literary societies, numerous historiographical, didactic, and poetic works were produced, with Alexander Dukhnovych playing a leading role. However, Dukhnovych’s preference for the Russian language and the constructed hybrid language known as Iazychie over a standardized Rusyn literary language influenced his contemporaries, who followed his example.

The end of the Rusyn National Revival is generally placed in the late 1890s, coinciding with the onset of large-scale emigration to North America and increased Magyarization in Hungary. The last purely revivalist works were produced by figures such as Eugen Fencik and the so-called Magyarons, a group of Rusyn intellectuals aligned with Hungarian culture, who published the weekly Kelet.

Following the conclusion of the revival, extensive emigration to the United States and Canada ensued, followed by a renewed phase of Rusyn political activity after the incorporation of Subcarpathian Rus into Czechoslovakia.

Rusyn Elightenment

Andriy Bachinskyi, one of the greatest Rusyn Enlightenment figures, was a bishop of the Mukachevo Eparchy, translator, and the founder of the episcopal archive and library in Uzhhorod.

Following a series of wars in the mid-18th century, Austrian Empress Maria Theresa initiated sweeping reforms to modernize the Habsburg Monarchy. This period coincided with the spread of the Enlightenment, a philosophical movement emphasizing reason and progress, which influenced all aspects of life.

In 1777, Maria Theresa enacted a new educational reform for Hungary. Bishop Andriy Bachinskyi was tasked with implementing this reform in Subcarpathian Rus. Under his leadership, Rusyn was introduced as a language of instruction in Uzhhorod schools and became the official language of the bishopric’s administration. Bachinskyi also published a translation of the Bible in Iazychie, an artificially constructed language combining Church Slavonic and Rusyn. Toward the end of his life, he established a diocesan archive and library, fostering a circle of Rusyn intellectuals, including Ioannikii Bazilovich, Ioann Kutka, Arsenii Kotsak, and Ioann Pastelii.

These figures are regarded as the first Rusyn awakeners, although their efforts did not gain widespread support at the time. Bazilovich authored historiographical works on the Rusyns and the Mukachevo Eparchy, Kotsak wrote five grammar textbooks for Church Slavonic, Kutka created the first Rusyn primer and a catechism in Rusyn, and Pastelii produced historical works and elegies, such as Elegy in Honor of Emperor Joseph II, Historia Diocesis Muncasiensis, and De origine Ruthenorum.

Just before the onset of the Rusyn National Revival, two prominent figures emerged: Mikhail Luchkay and Ivan Churhovich. Churhovich promoted Rusyn national awareness through sermons in churches and at the Uzhhorod Gymnasium. He also sought to establish a Rusyn printing press and newspapers. Luchkay, by contrast, focused on writing, producing works in Latin and Iazychie rather than in Rusyn. In the 1830s, Luchkay authored Grammatica Slavo-Ruthena, History of Carpathian Rusyns, and a Rusyn-Latin-Hungarian-German dictionary.

Other intellectuals of the period were captivated by Pan-Slavic ideas. Figures such as Ivan Orlai, Yuriy Venelin, and Joann Fogarashi-Berezhanin were among the first to advocate for unifying the Hungarian Rusyns with the Russian nation. Their ideology stemmed from the self-identification of Rusyns with terms like "Rusyn" and "Rusnak," which shared a linguistic root with "Rus," symbolizing Russia and its traditions. This perspective has persisted among some Rusyn nationalists, including contemporary figures like Dimitry Sydor and Petro Getsko.

In 1847, during the rise of Magyarization policies in Hungary, some priests from the Mukachevo Eparchy supported the Hungarian nationalist Lajos Kossuth. However, the Greek Catholic priest Alexander Dukhnovych from Prešov opposed Magyarization, focusing instead on education and the preservation of his native language.

That same year, Dukhnovych published a school textbook, Reader for Beginners (Rusyn: Knyzhytsia chytalnaia dlia nachynaiushchykh). Unlike his predecessors, who primarily wrote in Church Slavonic, Dukhnovych chose to write in Prosta Mova, the vernacular language understood by common Rusyn peasants. This marked a significant step toward making education accessible to the wider population.