Mykhaylo Petrovych Drahomanov

Mykhailo Petrovych Drahomanov Михайло Петрович Драгоманов
Mykhailo Drahomanov
Born	(1841-09-18)September 18, 1841 Hadiach, Poltava Governorate, Russian Empire
Died	July 2, 1895(1895-07-02) (aged 53) Sofia, Bulgaria
Occupation	Economist and historian
Nationality	Ukrainian

Mykhailo Petrovych Drahomanov (Ukrainian: Михайло Петрович Драгоманов; September 18, 1841 in Hadiach – July 2, 1895 in Sofia) was a Ukrainian political theorist, economist, historian, philosopher, ethnographer and public figure in Kyiv.

Born to a noble family of Petro Yakymovych Drahomanov who was of a Cossack descent, Mykhailo Drahomanov started his education at home, then studied at the Hadiach school, Poltava senior school and Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv. He was also an uncle of Ukrainian poet Larysa Kosach (Lesya Ukrainka) and brother - Olha Drahomanova-Kosach (Olena Pchilka). Drahomanov's uncle, Yakiv Drahomanov, was a member of the Decembrist movement and political prisoner for participating in the secret Society of United Slavs. His wife was the famous actress Ludmila Dragomanova. The couple had one daughter, Lidia Shishmanova.

During the transferring of Taras Shevchenko remains from Saint Petersburg to the Taras Hill, Drahomanov gave a speech over his tomb when it stopped in Kyiv.

Drahomanov lectured at Kyiv University from 1870 to 1875, but because of the repressions against the Ukrainian movement peaking up in 1876 with Ems Ukaz was forced to leave the Russian Empire and emigrated to Geneva. In emigration he continued his political, scholarly and publishing activities. In 1885–95, he was a professor at the University of Sofia to his son-in-law Ivan Shishmanov. Drahomanov wrote the first systematic political program for the Ukrainian national movement. He himself defined his political convictions as "ethical socialism," and was deeply impressed by socialist literature as a teenager.