50 years since the birth of Oleksa Haivoronskyi, a historian, TV presenter, photographer, writer, and one of the leading promoters of the history of Crimea

In the context of our ongoing collaboration with the Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance, we are pleased to share with you new material about Oleksa Haivoronskyi, a prominent Ukrainian historian.

The history of Crimea is both fascinating and colorful. It intersects the paths of many peoples and cultures, from the Greeks to the Ottomans. However, for a considerable period, the study of Crimea was conducted on the peninsula itself, based on Russian narratives. Oleksa Haivoronskyi was one of the key figures who helped to challenge the long-held misperceptions about the history of Crimea.

Oleksa Haivoronskyi was born on April 30, 1974, in Bakhchysarai. He spent his childhood and most of his life in the city. He studied at the Faculty of History in the Simferopol University. After graduation, he worked at the Bakhchysarai Historical-Cultural and Archaeological Museum-Preserve and wrote articles for Crimean newspapers. Subsequently, he became the author of the ATR TV program Walks in Crimea with Oleksa Haivoronskyi, which is dedicated to the historical and cultural monuments of the Crimean peninsula.

Oleksa Haivoronskyi was the author of many books on the history of Crimea, including Constellation of Gerai: Short Biographies of Crimean Khans, Lords of Two Continents, and two volumes of books about Crimean Khans, for which he received the Bekir Çoban-zade Prize. 

Haivoronskyi conducted extensive research and taught the history of the Crimean Khanate from the perspective of the state itself, rather than the Russian falsifications that have been previously presented. In 2005, he highlighted the issue of Russian appropriation of Crimean history:

“The Ukrainian view of Crimea has not yet been formed. Our history textbooks and our public consciousness look at Crimea with a foreign view that originated in another country.”

Haivoronskyi was a true patriot of Ukraine. Upon the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian war and the occupation of the peninsula, he declined to obtain Russian citizenship and deliberately refrained from cooperating with the occupation administrations. However, he was unable to leave Crimea due to his profound connection to this land. 

“Even though he was a Ukrainian speaker, he specifically published all the works on the history of the Crimean Khanate in Russian, because he realized that Crimean Tatars in Crimea were just beginning to learn Ukrainian. He wanted to make the history of Crimea accessible to Crimeans.” Kyivan artist Yurii Nikitin recalls, he is co-creator of the exhibition Genghis Khans of Ukraine with Haivoronskyi, Oleksa wrote about the history of the Crimean Tatars at a time when there was no interest in it.

Following the occupation of the peninsula, Haivoronskyi’s TV program was terminated, but he continued to disseminate information about the history of Crimea. In late 2015, the historian released a calendar for the following year, “Khan’s Ukraine,” which included photographs and historical essays about the monuments and memorial sites of the Crimean Khanate. In 2016, he published a collection of his essays, The Country of Crimea. In 2017, Haivoronskyi presented “Essays on the Monuments of the Crimean Khanate” at the “Book Forum Lviv.” The following year, the Ukrainian translation was published worldwide. In addition to numerous historical works, he also wrote the script for the first Crimean Tatar fairy tale film, Khydyr Dede. In 2018, he returned to broadcasting with the Crimea.Realities YouTube channel, releasing a series of programs with Haivoronskyi under the general title Crimean Khanate. 

Oleksa Haivoronskyi devoted his life to the study of the history of the Crimean Tatars and the period of the Crimean Khanate. On September 27, 2023, after a long illness, he passed away.

*the material is based on published memories of Oleksa Haivoronskyi’s friends and acquaintances