Place:Kirovohrad, Kirovohrad, Kirovohrad, Ukraine

source: Family History Library Catalog

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Kropyvnytskyi is a city in central Ukraine on the Inhul river with a population of . It is an administrative center of the Kirovohrad Oblast.

Over its history, Kropyvnytskyi has changed its name several times. The settlement was known as Yelysavethrad after Empress Elizabeth of Russia from 1752 to 1924 as well as simply Elysavet. In 1924 it became Zinovievsk in honour of the Bolshevik revolutionary and Politburo member Grigory Zinoviev (1883-1936), who was born there. Following the assassination of the First Secretary of the Leningrad City Committee of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) Sergei Kirov (in office 1926–1934), the town was renamed Kirovo in Kirov's honour on 7 December, 1934—a name-change similar to those of numerous other localities throughout the USSR (including present-day Kirov in Kirov Oblast, Kirovakan, Kirovabad, as well as multiple instances of Kirovsk, Kirovo, Kirovsky and other derivatives).

Concurrently with the formation of the Kirovohrad Oblast on 10 January, 1939, and to distinguish it from the Kirov Oblast in central Russia, Kirovo was renamed Kirovohrad, a name it maintained until 2016.^[1] Due to mandated decommunization the name of the city then changed to Kropyvnytskyi, in honour of the writer, actor and playwright Marko Kropyvnytskyi (1840–1910), who was born near the city.^[1] However the Kirovohrad Oblast was not renamed because it is mentioned in the Constitution of Ukraine – only a constitutional amendment could change the name of the oblast.

During the Ukrainian presidential election of 2004 the city achieved country-wide notoriety due to mass election fraud committed by local authorities and after that became known as District 100 (its community number according to the Central Elections Committee). Notable figures born in the city include Grigory Zinoviev, Volodymyr Vynnychenko, Arseny Tarkovsky, Afrikan Spir, Marko Kropyvnytskyi, and others.

History

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

18th and 19th century: from military settlement to trade centre

The history of the city beginnings dates back to the year 1754 when Fort St. Elizabeth was built on the lands of former Zaporizka Sich in the upper course of the Inhul, Suhokleya and Biyanka Rivers. The fort was built in 1754 by the will of the empress Elizabeth of Russia and it played a pivotal role in the new lands added to Russia by the Belgrad Peace Treaty of 1739. In 1764 the settlement received status of the center of the Elizabeth province, and in 1784 the status of chief town of a district, when it was renamed after the fort as Yelyzavethrad.

The Fort of St. Elizabeth was on a crossroads of trade routes, and it eventually became a major trade center. The city has held regular fairs four times a year. Merchants from all over the Russian Empire have visited these fairs. Also, there were numerous foreign merchants, especially from Greece. Developed around the military settlement, the city rose to prominence in the 19th century when it became an important trade centre, as well as a Ukrainian cultural leader with the first professional theatrical company in either Central or Eastern Ukraine being established here in 1882, founded by Mark Kropyvnytsky,^[2] Tobilevych brothers and Maria Zankovetska.^[2]

Early 20th century: famine and pogroms

Elizabethgrad was ravaged by famine in 1901 and its residents suffered more due to poor government response. The region is extremely fertile. However, a drought in 1892 and poor farming methods which never allowed the soil to recover, prompted a large famine that plagued the region. According to a 1901 New York Times article, the Ministry of the Interior denied that the persistence of famine in the region and blocked non-State charities from bringing aid to the area. The reporter wrote, "The existence of famine was inconvenient at a time when negotiations were pending for foreign loans." The governor of the Kherson region, Prince Oblonsky, refused to acknowledge this famine. One non-resident and non-State worker entered Elizabethgrad and provided the New York Times with an eyewitness account. He observed: general and acute destitution; deaths from starvation; widespread typhus (shows poverty), and little to no work to be found in the region.

Elizabethgrad was located in the Pale of Settlement and, during the 19th century, had a substantial Jewish population.

Elizabethgrad was subjected to several violent pogroms in the late 19th and early 20th century. In 1905 another riot flared, with Christians killing Jews and plundering the Jewish quarter. A contemporary account was reported in the New York Times on December 13, 1905.

Russian revolution and civil war

During the Russian Civil War, the city witnessed intense fighting.

On 7 May 1919, paramilitary leader, and former divisional general in the Red Army, Nikifor Grigoriev, launched an anti-Bolshevik uprising. On 8 May 1919, he issued a proclamation "To the Ukrainian People" (До Українського народу), in which he called upon the Ukrainian people to rise against the "Communist imposters", singling out the "Jewish commissars" and the Cheka. In only a few weeks, Grigoriev's troops perpetrated 148 pogroms, the deadliest of which resulted in the massacre of upwards of 1,000 Jewish people in Yelisavetgrad, from 15 to 17 May 1919.^[3] In total, about 3,000 Jews died in the city.

The Soviet Red Army eventually reconquered the city in 1920.

Soviet rule

During Soviet rule, the city economy was dominated by such enterprises as Chervona Zirka Agricultural Machinery Plant (current name Elvorti; which once provided more than 50% of the USSR need in tractor seeders), Hydrosila Hydraulic Units Plant, Radiy Radio Component Plant, Pishmash Typewriter Plant (de facto defunct nowadays) and others.

In World War II Kropyvnytskyi was occupied by Nazi Germany from 5 August 1941. It was subsequently recaptured by Soviet forces on 8 January 1944.

Architecture

From 1878 to 1905 Oleksandr Pashutin served as mayor of the city. Under his administration, advances were made in the areas of education and medicine, construction of the water-supply system and several public buildings, the introduction of the first tram and the establishment of numerous marketplaces. Kropyvnytskyi is noted for the quality of its architecture, with European-style sculptures and antique windows. A range of classical and modern monuments, Moorish and Baroque palaces, and buildings that combine Gothic, Rococo and Renaissance motives are extant to this day. Today a high level of building technology of Kropyvnytskyi's masters encourages further construction and restoration.

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