The original of the Constitution of Pylyp Orlyk, which arrived from Sweden to Kyiv on August 10 for a temporary display as part of the celebration of the 30th anniversary of Ukraine’s Independence, will be exhibited at the St. Sophia Cathedral in the center of Kyiv until mid-November.
“Everyone will be able to see this historical document at St. Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv from August 16 to November 14, 2021,” the website of the President’s Office of Ukraine reported.
The message notes that the document is considered one of the first constitutions in Europe and, although it never received real force, “it remained in history as an original legal landmark, which for the first time in Europe substantiates the possibility of the existence of a parliamentary democratic republic.”
“The arrival of the document, which for the first time proclaimed Ukrainian independence, to the territory of independent and sovereign Ukraine, was another step in restoring the historical continuity of Ukraine from the times of Rus, the Cossack state, the Ukrainian People’s Republic to this day. Modern Ukraine embodies the aspirations and dreams of all past generations fighters for independence,” the President’s Office said.
As reported, at the end of June, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky announced that the original of the first Ukrainian Constitution of Pylyp Orlyk of 1710 will be brought to Kyiv for the first time in 311 years from Sweden to the 30th anniversary of Ukraine’s independence. Earlier it was expected that the Constitution would arrive on August 16, a week before Ukraine’s Independence Day.
The Constitution of Pylyp Orlyk – Pacts and Constitutions of Rights and Freedoms of the Zaporizhia Host – a constitutional treaty of Hetman of Ukraine Pylyp Orlyk with the foreman and the Cossacks, which determined the rights and obligations of all members of the Zaporizhia Cossack Army. The Constitution was concluded on April 5, 1710 in the city of Bender during the election of Orlyk as hetman. On behalf of all the foremen and the Cossacks, Orlyk constitution was signed by Zaporozhian Cossack Kosh otaman Kost Hordiyenko. It should have been ratified by the Swedish king Charles XII in the event of his victory in the Northern War. It was written in Latin and Old Ukrainian. The Constitution consists of a preamble and 16 articles. The Ukrainian-language original of the Constitution is kept in Moscow in the Russian State Archive of Ancient Documents.
A Latin-language copy of the 18th century is kept in the Stockholm National Archive of Sweden (“Deeds of the Cossacks” folder). The document got into the archive after excavations on agricultural land. It was found in an earthen pot, rolled up in a scroll. According to Swedish scientists, the document was rewritten by Pylyp Orlyk for presentation to diplomats of European states.
