Kiev or Kyiv?
Kiev Rus or Kievan Russia?
Evelina Rioukhina, UNECE
“Promenade” along the streets and through the history of Kiev, the venue of the Fifth Ministerial Conference “Environment for Europe”, May 2003.
To answer these questions we have to go back in the history of Russia
and Ukraine. The word “Russia” looks and sounds very familiar
to many of us, but not everyone knows “Rus”. Which of these
two words is right? Many foreigners associate the word “Russia”
with its capital Moscow. Those who are interested in history know that
Moscow was founded in 12th century (precisely,
in 1147 by the Kiev Prince Yuri Dolgoruky), and before that time Russia
was called Rus and the first Rus State was Kiev Rus.
Kiev Rus or Kievan Russia?
The chronics says the following: Kiev Rus (in some sources Kievan Rus)
is the medieval State of the Eastern Slavs. It was the earliest predecessor
of modern Ukraine, Russia and Belarus. Flourishing from the 9th
to the 12th centuries, it included nearly
all of present-day Ukraine and
Belarus and part of NW European Russia, extending as far N as
Novgorod and Vladimir. According to the Russian Primary Chronicle, a
medieval history, the Varangian Rurik established himself at Novgorod (c.862) and founded a dynasty. His successor,
Oleg or Oleh (d. c.912), shifted his
attention to the south, seized Kiev (c.879). According to some of the
theories, the Varangians were also known as Rus or Rhos; it is possible
that this name was early extended to the Slavs of the Kiev State, which
became known as Kiev Rus. Other theories trace the name Rus to a Slavic
origin, or even to Sanskrit Ros (meaning beautiful, light-haired, and
red).
Oleg united the Eastern Slavs and freed them from the suzerainty of
the Khazars. His successors were
Igor or Ihor (reigned 912–45) and Igor’s widow, St.
Olga or Olha, who was regent until about 969. Under Olga’s son,
Sviatoslav or Svyatoslav (d. 972), the
Khazars were crushed, and Kiev power was extended to the lower Volga
and N Caucasus.
Christianity was introduced by Prince Askold (c.860), and Kiev Rus
adopted Greek Orthodoxy from the Byzantines under the reign of
Vladimir the Great or Volodymyr the Great (reigned 980–1015).
The reign (1019–54) of Vladimir’s son, Yaroslav
the Wise, represented the political and cultural apex of Kiev Rus. After
his death the State was divided into principalities ruled by his sons;
this soon led to civil strife. The last efforts for unification were
made by Vladimir Monomakh or Volodymyr Monomakh (reigned 1113–25)
and his son Mstislav, but the perpetual princely strife and the devastating
raids of the nomadic Cumans soon ended
the supremacy of Kiev. In the middle of the 12th century a number of local centers of power developed: Galich in the
west, Novgorod in the north, Vladimir-Suzdal in the northwest, and Kiev
in the south. The final blow to the Kiev State came with the Tatar-mongol
invasion (1237–40). The economy of the Kiev State was based on
agriculture and on extensive trade with Byzantine, Asia, and Balkans.
According to scholars the history of the Kiev State is the common heritage
of modern Russians, Ukrainians, and Belarusians, although their existence
as separate peoples has been traced as far back as the 12th
century.
Kiev or Kyiv?
First, let us see the history of the name itself. Archeological excavations
show evidence of the first settlements on the territory of Kiev 15,000
to 20,000 years ago. Legend has it that at the end of the 4th
and the beginning of the 5th centuries, three
brothers, Kiy, Shchek, and Khoriv, and their sister, Lybid, founded
a town and named it after their elder brother Kiy, as “Kyiv”
(or “Kiev”).
Which of the two names is right? Both names have their own right. Perhaps,
more precise will be to recognise the following: “Kiev” as
the name accepted and used internationally, and “Kyiv” as
the name considered as local one. Brief document support to comment
the above.
The resolution of the Ukrainian Commission for Legal Terminology No.
5, Protocol No.1 of October 14, 1995 explains the local name: “On
the basis of expert analysis by the Ukrainian Language Institute under
the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine regarding the Roman-letter
correspondence to the Ukrainian language geographic name of Kiev, taking
into account that the spelling Kyiv is indeed in the modern practice
of Ukraine’s international communication, proceeding from the urgent
need to standardize the recreation of Ukrainian proper names through
Roman letters in the context of Ukraine’s integration into the
world legal realm, based on point 6 part 4(b) of the Provision on the
Ukrainian Commission for Legal Terminology approved by decree No 796
of the President of Ukraine on August 23, 1995 «Regarding the
Provision on the Committee for Legislative Initiatives under the President
of Ukraine, on the Ukrainian Codification Commission and on the Ukrainian
Commission for Legal Terminology», the Commission has approved:
To acknowledge that the Roman spelling of Kiev does not recreate
the phonetic and scriptural features of the Ukrainian language geographical
name, and to confirm that spelling of Kyiv as standardized Roman-letter
correspondence to the Ukrainian language geographical name of "Кив”.
Note d’information terminologique No. 15/Rev. 1 “Noms de quelques
capitals” (issued in French only), New York, March 1996 gives the
following spelling and explanatory comment: “Vous trouverez ci-après
les noms de capitales (anglais/français) de quelques pays nouvellement
indépendants ou dont l’organisation politique ou territoriale
a récemment change, ainsi ceux pour lesquels l’usage est
parfois encore incertain. La présente révision reflète
les changements orthographiques expressément demandés
par certains pays depuis octobre 1994 et replace donc la Note d’information
ter- minologique No. 15. Les noms en français (dernière
colonne) coïncident avec l’usage recommandé par l’Institut
géographique national (France) (1992)”. The following page
in four columns is self-explanatory:
| Country | Capital city in UN usage | Non-UN variant of local usage | Capitale (en français) |
| Ukraine | KIEV | KYIV | KIEV |
Kiev today
Today Kiev, capital of Ukraine, is a scenic city of close to 3 million
people, situated on the Dnieper (Dnipro) River. After its greatest period
of ascendancy during the 9th and 12th
centuries (described above), the city of Kiev was a great center of
trade and trade routes. The city of Kiev was damaged by Tatar- molgols
(by Batu Khan) in 1240 and the political and cultural life of Kiev Rus
was transferred to the North-West.
Kiev suffered severely during the World War II. The human and material
losses were so high, that Ukraine, even being one of the republics of
the then-USSR, was accepted as a full member of the United Nations (24
October 1945). The city hit the headlines in April 1986, when the nuclear
reactor at nearby Chernobyl exploded, bringing the most tragic ecological
disaster. On 24 August 1991, Ukraine proclaimed its independence. And
despite wars, suffering, and ecological disasters, Ukrainian spirit
and national identity have been preserved. Despite of the fact that
many irreplaceable architectural and art treasures, especially in Kiev,
had been destroyed, extensive restoration of the last years has revived
much of historic Kiev.
Today we are fortunate to admire the chef-d’oeuvres of art and
architecture of Kiev, which are world treasures. Some of them: the St.
Sophia Cathedral, where the princes of Kiev were crowned in the years
of Kiev’s grandeur, and its outstanding mosaics and frescoes (11th
century), the Golden Gates, the St.Vladimir Cathedral, the Church of St. Andrew; the Kiev-Pecherskaya
Lavra; the vast historical complex with its cathedrals, churches, monastery,
and the caves with their unique catacomb churches, and as the Bell Tower;
date back to 1037. Kiev represents the treasure of the modern art as
well. And today while visiting Kiev, we have a feeling to be in the
city; which is “ancient and forever young”.
From 21-23 May 2003, Kiev is the venue for the Fifth Ministerial Conference “Environment for Europe”, city will receive high-level guests from all European countries, and delegations from all over the world. The programme is filled with important events, and rich in cultural and social aspects. This is a big honour to me to provide assistance to some of the events during this Conference, and precious opportunity to visit this so beautiful city again. I was in Kiev in a golden fall, and in a white winter, but never in May. Before going I asked my Ukrainian colleague and friend: “What is special about Kiev in May?” Tanya told me: “Do not miss to take a “promenade” along the streets of my native city to see the chestnuts trees in full blossom. The chestnut flower is a symbol of Kiev. When the chestnut trees are in blossom, it is unforgettable and it only happens in May!”
(My special thanks to Tanya Apatenko, UNECE, who helped me to write the historical part of the article).