Vasyl Vasylovich Markus was born on December 27, 1922 in the village of Bedevlya in Tyachiv Oblast, now Zakarpattia Oblast. He became a political scientist, historian, lawyer, publicist, scientist, editor and publisher, as well as a public and political figure of the Ukrainian diaspora.
This was reported by Oleksandr Panchenko
In his youth, Vasyl Markus joined the Ukrainian nationalist underground in Transcarpathia. Mykhailo Oros in memory "What happened before Kovner and after him?" wrote: "...We studied the history of Ukraine and read underground literature. And also about the history of the Ukrainian Military Organization of the OUN... The Khust Organization of the Youth of the OUN was headed by Vasyl Markus, a very erudite young man and a talented poet...".
In May 1942, Vasyl Markus was arrested and a Hungarian military court sentenced him to five years in prison for participating in the work of the youth nationalist underground, which operated under the leadership of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists in Transcarpathia. It was the so-called "Kovner affair", in which more than 100 people, mostly school youth, took part.
In the verdict of the military tribunal of July 17 and 22, 1942, it was noted that all the defendants belonged to the same group, which set itself the goal of liberating Zakarpattia from Hungary and creating an independent Ukrainian state. In the reasons for the sentence, it was written: "The defendants declared that Transcarpathia has always been Ukrainian territory and will remain so, therefore Transcarpathia, if necessary, must be separated from Hungary and annexed to Ukraine by means of an armed uprising and a revolutionary path."
Volodymyr Kryshenyk in the book "Catching up with the past. His History" wrote about these events: "We could not bring Transcarpathian OUN to the Galician level. Lack of experience and knowledge. But the fact that we were not afraid of brutal repressive regimes, I consider a feat. We were the first in Transcarpathia not to ask for autonomy from the occupiers, but to fight for an independent Ukraine."
After his release from prison in 1943, Vasyl Markus studied at the Faculty of Philology of Budapest University, where he studied Slavic Studies. In 1944, he was a delegate to the First Congress of People's Committees of Zakarpattia Ukraine, which on November 26 adopted the Manifesto on the reunification of Zakarpattia with Ukraine.
In 1945, Vasyl Markus left his native land, escaping persecution for his Ukrainian patriotism. After that, he obtained higher legal and political education at universities in Germany, Switzerland, Belgium and France.
In 1948, Markus was one of the leaders of the Catholic student body "Obnova". In 1948, he received the scientific degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the Ukrainian Free University. In 1951, he studied at a university in Switzerland.
In 1951–1958, Vasyl Markus worked in the Shevchenko Scientific Society and in the editorial office of the "Encyclopedia of Ukrainian Studies" in Sarcel, France. In 1953, he headed the Ukrainian delegation at the World Congress of the Laity in Rome and worked closely with the vice-president of the Ukrainian Main Liberation Council, Father Ivan Hrynyoh.
In 1956, in Paris, Vasyl Markus defended his doctoral thesis on law "The Accession of Transcarpathian Ukraine to Soviet Ukraine, 1944-1945". In the same year, his work was published as a separate book in French in the Belgian city of Leuven. The Ukrainian translation was published in Kyiv in 1993.
In 1959, the second French-language monograph of Vasyl Marcus was published in Paris - "International Relations in Soviet Ukraine, 1918-1923". In 1959–1962, he taught Russian language and culture at US universities.
In 1962, Vasyl Markus became a professor and teacher of political science at Loyola University in Chicago. He worked there as a professor of political science until 1988.
Among his works are "L'incorporation de l'Ukraine sucarpathique a l'Ukraine sovietique" (1956), "L'Ukraine sovetique dans les relations internationals...1918–1923" (1959), "Questions of the National Policy of the USSR" co-authored with Y. Z. Pelenskyi (1960), as well as other works, numerous articles, in particular about the OUN and UGVR, and reviews in the Ukrainian and foreign press.
In 1965, Vasyl Markus became a US citizen.
Vasyl Markus was a member of the editorial board and the author of many articles in the "Encyclopedia of Ukrainian Studies", and was also a member of the editorial boards of "Ukraine: A Concise Encyclopedia" and "Encyclopedia of Ukraine". Since 1988, he was the chief editor of the "Encyclopedia of the Ukrainian Diaspora".
In 1993, Markus published the work "Political and State-Legal Evolution of Ukrainian Zakarpattia" in Uzhhorod, and "The Union of Berestets from a Modern Perspective" in Kyiv in 1995.
In 1994, Vasyl Markus became a foreign member of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. In 1994–1995, he worked as a chief researcher at the Institute of Sociology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine.
In 1994, with his participation and support, the first publication on the trials of Ukrainian nationalist youth was published in Uzhgorod - "Transcarpathia in July 1942: For Ukrainian Transcarpathia".
In 1995, the "Grazhda" publishing house in Uzhgorod published a collection of poems and translations by Vasyl Markus "Memories" under the pseudonym Vasyl Marko.
Vasyl Markus was also a member of the Political Council of the OUN abroad and an active figure in the Foreign Representation, later - the Ukrainian Main Liberation Council. He was a member of the Shevchenko Scientific Society, the Ukrainian Free Academy of Sciences, the Ukrainian Historical Society, the American Political Science Society and other organizations.
Over the years of scientific work, Vasyl Markus wrote and published more than 300 reviews, articles, materials and reviews in the foreign scientific press. He was also co-editor of the journal "Ukrainian Independent" in Munich and co-editor of the journal "Ukrainian Diaspora" in Kyiv and Chicago.
Vasyl Markus died on October 15, 2012 in Chicago.
Photo: Oleksandr Panchenko
Author: Danylo Pievchev