Gente Rutheni, Natione Poloni: The Ruthenians of Polish Nationality in Habsburg Galicia (The Peter Jacyk Centre for Ukrainian Historical Research Monograph Series, 9)

Polish historians and political leaders have often used the term gente Rutheni, natione Poloni to characterize figures of Ruthenian/Ukrainian descent who viewed themselves as part of a Polish political or national community. The duality and hybridity of these figures’ identity have excluded them from traditional Polish and Ukrainian national narratives. Adam Świątek has given us the first fully encompassing work examining the persons, organizations, and ideologies of this group from the end of the eighteenth to the beginning of the twentieth century. Based on a thorough examination of sources and literature, his monograph provides a nuanced account of how the concept and group were transformed and functioned in Habsburg Galicia. The volume is essential reading for all those interested in Polish-Ukrainian relations and those who wish to study varying national identities and historical concepts in the Galician crownland over the long nineteenth century. By undertaking an examination of a concept and group that did not succeed with the advent of modern nationalism, he enriches our understanding of the Habsburg world and modern Polish and Ukrainian nationhood.

Adam Świątek is Assistant Professor in the Department of History at the Jagiellonian University in Cracow, Poland. He is also the author of numerous articles in the field of modern Polish history and of a book on Jan Matejko and the Ruthenians.