Sonia Finds Out the Mystery of Galagany Family

Hello there, dear readers and friends!

Sonia is back to you with a thrilling story about an old Cossack family Galagany, how they became rich, their family curse, betrayal, mysterious deaths and noble redemption.

My story started in the fall of 2021. Our small family crew went in search of the mini-sculpture dedicated to the Galagany family. We did not have the slightest idea who was this family, but this is exactly what the "SHUKAI Project" is about - to find a mini-sculpture and learn the story. 😉

Searching Attempt #1 and #2

Three years later, I vividly recall our searching because we could not find it!

We had the address but were not sure what building exactly, so we explored two or three buildings of the 18th-9th century, similar in style and color but all in vain. We almost gave up and returned to look one more last time when Nick noticed it - on the facade between windows. It was like the "perception filter" from Doctor Who! 🙂

Their story on the site of the project was like another article from the school textbook. One of the most famous noble dynasties from the north of present Ukraine. They lost their son
... opened a collage for youth. I read it and forgot. It was featureless enough that I lost not only my knowledge about them but also the photos I took for my post on that day.

Recently, I decided to finish this story as my collection will not be complete without it. I refreshed my memories beforehand, took Sonia and we headed to the spot. Attempt number two.

According to the website, "It was in this building that the Collegium of Pavlo Galagan was located. Today, it houses the National Museum of Ukrainian Literature, where you can see the real library of the collegium."

Hmm, Literature Museum. Sonia is always curious about new places. Besides, our days home alone are pretty boring so nothing can be worse. Eventually, I must confess that I liked it so much that (as it often happens) I went ahead and learned even more.

This is how the story was relayed right from the beginning.

Wealth and Betrayal

At the time of the establishment of the collegium, the Galagany family was very rich. They actually owned a whole block in the very center of Kyiv. Unlike the families Sonya learned about in our previous search, this family did not become rich through sugar production.

Collegium of Pavlo Galagan. Now the National Museum of Ukrainian Literature

The entrance to the Literature Museum (former collegium) is on the right, doors with columns and a portico.

Let's start from Ivan Mazepa. Being under the patronage of the Moscow Tsar Peter I, he conducted a course on the restoration of the Cossack state (now Ukraine). Mazepa was highly educated, intelligent and smart. He was in good relations with the Russian Tsar Peter I for almost 20 years. But when he realized what the tsar's future reforms and war would mean for Ukraine, Mazepa betrayed the Moscow tsar. The Great Northern War between Moscowy and the Swedish Empire was going on, and in 1708 Mazepa with the Cossack army sided with the Swedes. Tsar Peter was shocked.

Ignat Galagan was a Cossack colonel. And so he decided to betray Mazepa and go over to Peter's side. It was in 1708. Mazepa lost his main battle at Poltava, and the consequences were horrible for Ukraine. Since that, it has been under Moscow's rule for almost 300 years. And Galagan, in return, received a reward from the tsar Peter I - lands that belonged to Ivan Mazepa.

The Curse

Great wealth as a reward for betrayal brought misfortune. According to legend, a Cossack-Harakternik (a Zaporozhian Cossack who possessed magical powers) cursed the Ignat Galagan's family. It meant that their genus would end.

Meanwhile, Ignat Galagan used the received reward well, thanks to which his descendants became even richer. They held various government positions in the Russian Empire, and one was even participated in the coronation of Empress Elizabeth in Moscow.

His grandson Pavlo built a marvelous palace in the village of Sokyryntsi on the presented lands. He established a large and beautiful park in English style with a small lake, a bridge in the Gothic style, a gazebo for tea on the shore of the lake. He had a wife and 5 kids.

Nick and I saw the palace and park in fall of 2021 during our 1-day tour around 3 most beautiful spots on the north of the country. I never share my photos except for one brief post. Their time has come only now.

Sokyryntsi is 3 hrs of driving from Kyiv, or 180 km.

In Soviet times, it was turned into an agricultural school. Not the worst fate though. Now there is an agricultural lyceum. Inside the once luxurious rooms are models of tractors.

The building in empire style is gorgeous. The palace was the center of family estates. A small paradise, lands, money, everything for the happiness of the family.

If it was not the family curse.

Three of five children die one after another. Parents go crazy. They do everything to protect the other 2 children, a girl and a boy. Pavlo Galagan becomes so superstitious that he installs two statues of the ancient Roman goddesses Hera and Ceres in his luxurious backyard. They were supposed to protect their children from spells.

Unfortunately, he could not protect himself. 5 years after the construction of the palace, the father of the family goes to St. Petersburg but dies on the way.

His son Grygoriy inherits all the property including the palace in Sokyryntsi. And for him the family curse came true.

As for me, he was the most unfortunate. Unlike his ancestor Ignat who took the side of Moscow Tsar, Gygoriy was a Ukrainophile and philanthropist. Being a landowner himself, he actively advocated the abolition of serfdom. He cared about the peasants in the villages he owned. After the arrival of the Bolsheviks, their palace was not looted by the locals, this was a unique case.

The Last Descendant

Gygoriy marries a young woman from another ancient and wealthy Cossack family - Kochubei. The mini-sculpture depicts this married couple.

There is a legend that their first three children died at birth. And then someone advised them as soon as the next child is born, to take the first person they meet as a godfather for the baby. So they did, and the baby survived. His name was Pavlo. (popular name, hehe).

The boy was the meaning of life for his father. The father had great hopes for his son, but a terrible tragedy happened. In 1869, when Pavlo turned 16, the family went to celebrate Easter at the family estate, and there Pavlo unexpectedly fell ill. He was all on fire, and no one knew whether it was meningitis, typhus, or some other disease. The estate was too far from the railway station, and there was no doctor anywhere in the area... The boy died before the eyes of his helpless parents. In five days, the last of the Galagan family died. The curse came true.

The father Grygoriy almost went crazy from sudden grief. The wife proposed the idea of founding an educational institution in memory of their son. So they did, and it helped them cope with their loss.

In 1871, Grygoriy Galagan founded a college with free education. It was the first educational institution of its kind in the Russian Empire. When entering, preference was given to intelligent children who had lost their parents, from a family of priests. But only those who had reached the age of 16 - the age at which his son died - could enter. Soon the collegium became one of the best private educational institutions in Kyiv. Some of the pupils were supported entirely by Grigory's funds.

In addition, Grygoriy founded the Savings and Loan Society named after Pavlo Galagan - the first savings and loan society in Ukraine, a kind of people's cooperative bank where ordinary peasants could be served.

Perhaps this was the way how Grygoriy tried to atone for the sins of his ancestor.

After the death of 16-year-old Pavlo Galagan, the male line of the Galagans was cut off, so all the estates passed to the descendants on the female line - to the Lamsdorfs. They now live in France and still preserve the memory of their ancestors in the double surname Lamsdorf-Galagan.

As I mentioned above, the collegium is now a Literature Museum. The feature of it is the library of the Pavlo Galagan Collegium, which has been preserved almost in its original form.

I took these pictures with my smartphone. But actually, it is really impressive. I was so impressed by the interior that I came here again with Nick. We took a guided tour, you won't believe how cheap is it, so cheap that it's a shame. And they have a tour in English. Just keep in mind, it definitely worth its time. Actually, we paid for the approximately 1-hour tour but got a 2-hours story and it could last longer but we had to go...

This is a small chapel that was a part of the building. Once, Ivan Franko the great Ukrainian poet, novelist, translator, scientist, public and political figure.