oleksa dovbush, hutsul legend

it is a known fact that oleksa dovbush (ukrainian: олекса довбуш; romanian: alexa dovbuş) was an opryshok. opryshoks, like haiduks of the balkans, are considered bandits by some and heroes by others. the truth lies somewhere in the middle. fighting the authorities, no matter the reason, was enough to make you a model for the oppressed classes of those times, especially in multiethnic states, where outlaws were of the occupied ethnic groups.

oleksa dovbush was born in 1700 in the village of pechenizhyn (печеніжин) in the polish administered pokuttya. the village still exists, with the same name, inhabited by hutsuls, in the kolomyja raion of the ivano-frankivs'k oblast' (ukraine).

he led a band of up to 50 men, with his brother, ivan. many places are related to his name, as peasants have beautiful words for the outlaw and stories of stealing from the rich and giving to the poor are still told.

not even two-thousand-men expeditions of the polish didn't capture dovbush. he was hidden and helped by the hutsuls in all the villages of hutsulschyna (nowadays, still inhabited by hutsuls, comprises some of these regions: pokuttya, bukovina, maramuresh, zakarpattya). he ended up betrayed by an opryshok of his own, like many of the outlaws of the balkans and eastern europe, and died in kosmach, 24 august 1745. i am an easterner and i consider betrayal one of our main issues.

the story of oleksa dovbush inspired ukrainian folklore, literature and art, and he's regarded as a national hero. paintings, sculptures, novels and even a 1959 movie, are dedicated to him.

go here for further reading (in ukrainian)

19th century depiction of oleksa dovbush