Denying Rusyn Identity: The "Ruthenian" Word

The argument is senseless and boils down to a fact that "Rusyn/Ruthenian" is a parent superset from which Ukrainians, Belarusians and modern day Rusyns descended. I never saw a Ukrainian who's claiming the exclusive right to own the "rusyn/ruthenian" identity. Nobody ever denied that Belarusians descended from same Ruthenian origins as modern day Ukrainians. Still Belarusians themselves used "Litvin" identity, as they shared noble class from Grand Duchy of Lithuania, while Ukrainians kept rusyn identity and struggled for unification of rusyn people in their own state, which eventually got a name Ukraine. A lot of Ukrainian writers/thinkers/historians/statesmen used the word interchangeably. Ruthenian identity is bigger than present day nations. It's not exclusive for any present day nations, it's our shared ancestry.

My family came from Austrian Galicia and they were called Ruthenians, but over time this term died, nowadays most of the descendants that came from the region are called only Ukrainians.

Ukraine! recognize Rusyn people and their language as a indigenous people to Rusyn Lands. What a double standard while recognizing Crimean Tatars but not Rusyns. Their self-governing right has to be recognized and protected as well.

We are with you Rusyn brothers!

From what I know all East Slavs where called called Rus (Slavic endonym) and Ruthenian (Latin exonym) at various points in history. Belarus literally means White Rus. Russia literally means Land of the Rus. Rusyn has the Rus in it. Ukrainians aren't the only Ruthenians and that term is very out of date anyways.

This is interesting as always!! Can’t wait for the next video

Spot on! From where I am from Slovakia has accepted us, rusyns, and for that reason we call ourselves slovaks unless we’re talking about the details. Ukrainians always felt the need to call us ukranian. They even came to our parts of our land (slovakia) and forced our schools to teach ukrainian as main language. My parents walked extra kilometers to different schools cos of that. My dad also burnt his ukrainian passport that was forced onto him despite living in slovakia. He went to the police station after and told them he lost it and that he had a slovak one. Cheers!

Those, who had done the ethnic map of the Austro-Hungarian empire was politically incorrect. While calling Ukrainians "the Ruthenians", these maps show that Ukrainians=Ruthenians lived (and live to this day) in the Trascarpathian region of Ukraine and in other parts of different countries, which is now called "Carpato-Ruthenians". But there is another way : we can assume that all Galicia and Bukovina regions are HOLLY-CARPATHORUTHENIAN LANDS! P. S. The term "Kievan Rus" was invented by Russian historians in XIX century, which wanted to show, that there was other periods in the history of Rus'

I think Galeotto wrote about hungarian king Matthias Corvinus (2. half of the XV. century), that "he knew many slavic languages, learned czech to talk without interpreter with the Czechs, polish to talk with the Poles, the tot language to talk with the Slavonians* and RUSYNIAN to talk with the RUSYNS". It means, that then (XV cent.) Rusyinians were a rather important ethnic group in the Hungarian kingdom. (*in Hungarian "tót" as an ethnic/language group means Slovakian and also Slavonian...)

Really appreciated this video

I saw Old Ruthenians nearly lifelike in a museum in Belarus near the Polish border where there is a zoo with lynx and bison. They were hunting with crossbows and had lavish costumes probably nobility. They wore mustaches and no beards and wore feathers in their hats.

I like that you included the Ukrainian and Rusyn word for "Rusyn". Branching off of that though, it is evident that the term "Rusyn" is more similar to the Ukrainian term "Rusini" than the Rusyn term "Rusnak". Therefore, shouldn't we as a people call ourselves "Rusnak" instead? After all, it is the correct word in the Rusyn language.

My grandfather immigrated to Canada in 1927 and my grandmother followed in 1928. On the immigration records he claimed he was Ruthenian and she said Ukrainian but of course the Country was then called Poland. That is the first time I even heard of someone being Ruthenian I thought they were both Ukrainian. I also thought it must of been political in his mind and he was making a point not to say Ukrainian. His family were Cossacks. So I am learning lots in the last year.

@LWH / ЛЗI please be aware that there are also people of Rusyn origins that identify themselves as Ukrainians or at leat have as their mother or secondary language the standard Ukrainian and still accept and even support the Rusyn national movement. Like me, for example

Carpathian Ruthenians and Ukrainians from Galicia come from the White Croat tribe. In the article about Transcarpathia in the Polish Wikipedia it is written that in the 9th century the White Croats had a principality in Transcarpathia with its capital in Uzhhorod, which was under the influence of Kievan Rus. It is also written there that Hungarian rule was consolidated there only at the beginning of the 13th century, that attempts were made to settle this then wild and uninhabited province with settlers from Germany, but regardless of this, the colonization of Transcarpathia by settlers from Galicia continued. The Vlachs migration was of a mixed ethnic nature and since the Vlachs in Moravia retained their Vlach identity, and no one in the Prešov region and Lemko region considers themselves a Vlach, it means that the Vlachs did not stay there, but went further and reached Moravia, or possibly there stay a small admixture of them, which assimilated. In the times of Austria-Hungary, on Austrian ethnic maps, both Carpathian Ruthenians and Ukrainians from Galicia were marked as one nation the Ruthenen.

Another great video. Self-naming is an important element of national identity. To deny this is one of the means of assimilation. Every nation should have the right to decide its own name.

I never heard the term Ruthenian from my Ukrainian grandmother who immigrated from Galicia in 1910.

my great grandpa was living in poland in 1924 and was called Ruthenian or beliruski in a area thats called now a days Brest Voblasts

A great video and an interesting topic. What I so far knew that in Austria-Hungary they were called Ruthenians (Ruthenisch, rutén) officially, even in Bukovina and Galicia based on the 1910 census. Maybe because the Ukrainian nation was formed at the end of WW1, and the Rusyns much much earlier. Just a little additives, I didnt find Rusyn nationality or mother language even in the 2011 Romanian census, they just mark them as Ukrainians, but most of them live in the historical Máramaros annexed by Romania, which is a Rusyn land.

Have you thought about creating a discord server ?