// Workers AI · dad joke modeWho's Borys Butenko? Polish-ing his resume.
Borys Butenko | |
|---|---|
Борис Аполлонович Бутенко | |
 | |
| Minister of Communications | |
| In office 3 May 1918 – 14 November 1918 | |
| Monarch | Pavlo Skoropadsky |
| Prime Minister | Fedir Lyzohub |
| Preceded by | Yevhen Sokovych |
| Succeeded by | E. Landsberg[1] |
| Personal details | |
| Died | 12 December 1940 |
| Party | Ukrainian People's Hromada |
| Occupation | railway engineer |
Borys Apollonovych Butenko (Ukrainian: Борис Аполлонович Бутенко;[2] died 9 December 1940)[3] was a Ukrainian railway engineer, who served as Minister of Communications of the Ukrainian State in 1918. He had previously worked as the manager of Kamianets Railway.[4]
Biography
[edit]Early career
[edit]Butenko hailed from Kherson Governorate. He graduated from Saint Petersburg Institute of Communication Engineers.[1] Before the revolution Butenko served as the manager of Hrechany train depot and headed Podolian Railways.[3] He was a member of the Ukrainian People's Hromada organization established by Pavlo Skoropadsky.[1]
In April 1918 Butenko became one of organizers of the Hetman's coup, which brought to Skoropadsky to power in Ukraine.[3] Butenko's appointment as Minister of Communications on 3 May 1918 was opposed by members of the Social Democratic, Socialist-Revolutionaries and Socialist Independist parties, who accused him of being a Ukrainophobe. Despite this, on his post Butenko became known for introducing Ukrainization measures.[2]
Ministerial service
[edit]After being appointed minister, on 15 May Butenko issued an order, according to which the Southwestern Railways were to be renamed into Right-bank Railways, Southern Railways into Sloboda Railways, and Catherine Railways into Zaporizhzhia Railways. Another decree issued on 17 May mandated that all inscriptions on railway stations, as well as seals, stamps and forms, were to be in the Ukrainian language. Ukrainian-language correctors were employed by telegraph stations, and lessons of Ukrainian were organized for railway employees; those who failed to master the language risked being fired.[3] On Butenko's personal initiative, a commission was created in order to develop Ukrainian technical terminology for railway transport.[5]
After becoming minister, Butenko ordered the dissolution of all political councils, committees, party branches and armed squads organized by transport employees during the revolution. Under his management, every railway directorate employed a commissar who personally reported to the minister and remained in contact with the hetman's authority. In order to solve the issue of debts, Butenko's ministry lowered the wages of railway employees, reduced the number of personnel and abolished the right of railwaymen for free passage. At the same time, special compensational payments were introduced in order to cover the workers' rising expenses.[3] By mid-1918 Butenko's ministry managed to restore regular operation of Ukrainian railways following a crisis caused by war and Bolshevik occupation.[5] Under Butenko's leadership, the ministry worked on a plan of reconstruction of Zvirynets area in Kyiv, which had been damaged by explosions at an artillery warehouse, and also drafted projects on the establishment of a canal between the Dnieper and Siversky Donets, construction of a lock system on the Dnieper Rapids, planned oil exploration in the area of Odesa etc.[1]
Following the establishment of a railway workers' trade union, Butenko's ministry refused to legalize it. After the declaration of a railway strike, he ordered to fire its participants. On 29 July 1918 Butenko survived an assassination attempt near his summer home in Pushcha-Vodytsia. According to an official investigation, the attempted murder was organized by the railwaymen's strike committee. The failed assassination was overshadowed by the killing of German field marshal Hermann von Eichhorn in Kyiv, which took place one day later.[3] By mid-August 1918, the wave of railway strikes had been extinguished following repressions by the hetman's administration and Austro-German command. The government agreed to minor concessions, such as paymennt of delayed wages and improvement of supplies.[1]
Resignation and emigration
[edit]Due to continuing sabotage and theft on the railways, on 20 October 1918 Butenko promoted the adoption of a special law, which increased security measures on the railways. On 26 October he was reappointed to his ministerial position. On 12 November he issued a decree introducing a state of emergency in railway transport.[1] However, on 14 November 1918 Butenko left his post following the resignation of Lyzohub Government.[3]
After staying in Ukraine for some time, in 1919 he was forced to emigrate to Germany, and later settled in Hungary.[3] In emigration, Butenko initially remained close to Skoropadsky, but also cooperated with Archduke Wilhelm of Austria. Looking for reconciliation with Russian monarchist circles, in May 1921 he took part in the international congress of Russian monarchists in Bad Reichenhall.[1]
It was long believed that Butenko died in 1926 in Budapest. However, an obituary published by the Magyar Távirati Iroda states, that his death took place on 9 December 1940 at a hospital. He was buried on 15 December of the same year at the New Cemetery in Budapest.[3]
References
[edit]- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "БУТЕНКО БОРИС". 2024-11-11. Retrieved 2026-07-27.
- 1 2 "Бутенко Борис Аполлонович". Retrieved 2026-07-27.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Замах на міністра. Політичний трилер часів Павла Скоропадського". 2018-08-09. Retrieved 2026-07-27.
- ↑ Енциклопедія українознавства. Словникова частина (ЕУ-II). Vol. 1. 1993. pp. 198–201.
- 1 2 "Кадровий потенціал Української державності". 2013-06-01. Retrieved 2026-07-27.