Pannonian Rusyns

❧

Wikipedia

Pannonian Rusyns
Панонски Руснаци
Панонски Русини
Panonski Rusini
Total population
c. 12,800
Regions with significant populations
 Serbia11,483 (2022)[1]
 Croatia1,343 (2021)[2]
Languages
Slovak (Pannonian Rusyn)
Religion
Eastern Catholicism
Eastern Orthodoxy
Related ethnic groups
Slovaks, Ukrainians, other East Slavs

Pannonian Rusyns (Pannonian Rusyn: Русини, romanized: Rusynŷ), also known as Pannonian Rusnaks (Pannonian Rusyn: Руснаци), are ethnic Rusyns from the southern regions of the Pannonian Plain (hence, Pannonian Rusyns). Their communities are located mainly in Vojvodina, Serbia, and Slavonia, Croatia. In both of those countries, they are officially recognized as an ethnic minority.[3][4]

Pannonian Rusyns are descendants of 18th-century migrant communities, that came from northeastern (Carpathian) regions,[5] still inhabited today by other groups of (Carpathian) Rusyns, who live in southwestern Ukraine, northeastern Slovakia, southeastern Poland, northern Romania, and northeastern Hungary.[6]

Name

In some non-Slavic languages, Pannonian Rusyns are sometimes also referred to by certain archaic exonyms, such as Pannonian Ruthenes or Pannonian Ruthenians,[7] but those terms are not used in the native Rusyn language.[8] Such terms are also imprecise, since Ruthenian and related exonyms have several broader meanings, both in terms of their historical uses and ethnic scopes, that are encompassing various East Slavic groups.[9][10]

Geographical Pannonian adjective is used as a neutral term of convenience, since the previous geographical ethnonym (Yugoslav Rusyns) became obsolete after the breakup of Yugoslavia.[11] In order to avoid confusion, the term Pannonian Rusyns is used in modern English terminology as a descriptive regional ethnonym for Rusyn communities in all of those regions,[12] similar to the way the term North American Rusyns is used to refer to the Rusyn diasporas in the United States and Canada.

History

Colonization

During the 18th century, state authorities of the Habsburg monarchy initiated several programs of re-population and colonization of various regions that were recently liberated from the Ottoman rule. Since 1745, groups of Rusyns from north-eastern Carpathian regions of the Kingdom of Hungary (eastern parts of modern Slovakia and Carpathian regions of modern Ukraine) started to migrate towards southern regions, including Bačka, Srem and Slavonia. The first group settled in the village of Kula in Bačka (modern Serbia), as attested by the 1746 census.[13][14]

Saint Nicholas Cathedral, seat of the Byzantine Catholic Eparchy of Ruski Krstur, whose adherents are mainly Rusyns

During the following years, process of Rusyn colonization was intensified, and on 17 January 1751, regional administrator of Bačka, Franz Joseph von Redl signed an agreement with Mihajlo Munkači from the village of Červenovo, in the county of Bereg, allowing the arrival of 200 Rusyn families from the north-eastern Hungarian region known as the "Upper-Land" (Rusyn: Горнїца) to the village of Krstur (Rusyn: Керестур) in Bačka. In the same year, Munkači managed to settle many Rusyns from the Hungarian counties of Munkačka, Ungvar, Saltmars and Ogačka in Krstur. Ruski Krstur had 2,000 inhabitants by the end of the 18th century. The same administrator signed another agreement on 15 May 1763 with Peter Kiš from Kerestur, allowing the arrival of 150 Rusyn families from the "Upper-Land" to the village of Kucura (Rusyn: Коцур) in Bačka. Kiš, however, failed to bring 150 Ruthenian families to Kucura. In 1763, 41 Rusyn families came to Kucura, and in 1767, another 47 Rusyn families came.[15] Both agreements, from 1751 and 1763, contained special clauses, requiring that Rusyn colonists in terms of their religious affiliation have to be Eastern Catholics.[16] The State Chamber wanted Kucura to be a purely Catholic settlement, and in 1777 they ordered the Serbs, who were almost half of the population of Kucura, to move to Obrovac. In 1792, 258 Rusyn families already lived in Kucura.[15]

As the population grew, many families from Krstur and Kucura migrated to the town of Novi Sad in 1766 and 1767. According to data from the 1767 census there were about 2,000 Rusyns in Bács-Bodrog County (which then was part of Habsburg Monarchy and today comprises Bačka region in Serbia and Hungary). Later, Rusyns settled in Šid and Vajska, and in the early 19th century in Vukovar, Ilok, Jankovci, Grabovo, Miklusevci, Marinci, Rajevo Selo, and Osijek.[17] In Petrovci, Rusyns started to settle in 1833, and later in Bačinci in 1834.[18] In 1836, the first Ruthenian Greek Catholic parish was founded in Petrovci in modern-day Croatia.[17]

Yugoslavia

Monument dedicated to Rusyn educator and poet Petro Kuzmyak (1816–1900) in Ruski Krstur, Serbia

After the dissolution of the Austria-Hungary in 1918, southern Pannonian regions became part of the newly formed Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, known since 1929 as the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. Since it was a South Slavic country, position of various Slavic minorities (including local Rusyns) was improved significantly, particularly in the fields of their cultural development and elementary education. During the interwar period, several Rusyn cultural organizations and periodical publications were established.[19][20]

After the World War II, in the socialist Yugoslavia, Rusyns were officially recognized as a distinct ethnic minority, and their legal status was regulated in Yugoslav constituent republics of Serbia and Croatia. In the 1963 Constitution of the Socialist Republic of Serbia, Rusyns were designated as one of seven (explicitly named) ethnic minorities,[21][22] and the same provision was implemented in the Statute of Vojvodina (an autonomous province of Serbia) that was adopted in the same year. Further on, the 1969 Constitutional Law regulated the status of Rusyn language as one of five official languages in Vojvodina.[23]

During the same period, Rusyn ethnic minority was also recognized in the Socialist Republic of Croatia, by the Constitutional Amendment IV, that was adopted in 1972.[24] That provision was confirmed by the new 1974 Constitution of the Socialist Republic of Croatia, that recognized not only local Rusyns but also local Ukrainians, thus designating them as separate and distinct ethnic minorities.[25]

In terms of their cultural development in socialist Yugoslavia, Rusyns had several institutions and organizations. As early as in 1945, а publishing house, called the Rusyn Word (Rusyn: Руске слово) was founded in Novi Sad. It became the main center for publication of Rusyn newspapers, literary works, and school textbooks. In the same year, Rusyn high school was opened in Ruski Krstur. In 1970, the Society for Rusyn Language and Literature (Rusyn: Дружтво за руски язик и литературу) was established in Novi Sad. Since 1972, Rusyn studies were initiated at the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Novi Sad, and the lectureship for Rusyn Language and Literature (Rusyn: Катедра за руски язик и литературу) was established in 1983.[26][27]

Contemporary period

Flag of the National Council of the Rusyn Ethnic Minority in Serbia
Flag of the National Council of Rusyns in Croatia

After the breakup of Yugoslavia (1991–1992), its successor states continued to recognize Rusyns as a distinct ethnic minority. In Croatia, Rusyns are officially recognized as an autochthonous ethnic minority and as such, they elect a special representative to the Croatian Parliament, shared with members of eleven other ethnic minorities.[28]

In Serbia, recognition of Rusyn ethnic minority and its language was confirmed by the provincial statutes of Vojvodina. Since 2002, Rusyns in Serbia have their autonomously elected representative body, the National Council of the Rusyn Ethnic Minority (Rusyn: Национални совит рускей националней меншини), headquartered in Ruski Krstur. The Department of Rusynistics (Rusyn: Одсек за русинистику) was established at the Faculty of Philosophy University of Novi Sad in 2002. In 2008, the Institute for Culture of Rusyns in Vojvodina (Rusyn: Завод за културу войводянских Руснацох) was founded in Novi Sad.[29][30]

Demographics

Pannonian Rusyns mostly live in the province of Vojvodina (Serbia) and in the region of Slavonia (Croatia). Currently, the number of Pannonian Rusyns declines and total population in both countries is estimated to be less than 13,000. The main reason for this is the economic migration, since the increasing number of Rusyns move to western countries, particularly Canada.[31]

According to data from the 2022 census, there are 11,483 ethnic Rusyns in Serbia. In terms of religious affiliation, 94.9% declared as Christians (75.4% Catholics, 18.5% Eastern Orthodox, and 0.7% Protestansts).[32] The village of Ruski Krstur in the Kula municipality is the only settlement with Rusyn ethnic majority and is a cultural centre of Rusyns in Serbia. Villages with a Rusyn ethnic plurality include Kucura in the Vrbas municipality, and Bikić Do in the Šid municipality. There is a considerable concentration of Rusyns in Novi Sad, where there is Greek Catholic parish church of St. Peter and Paul.

Villages with Rusyn ethnic majority or plurality in Serbian province of Vojvodina

There are also Rusyn communities in Slavonia (Croatia), forming a majority in the village of Petrovci, Bogdanovci municipality, in Vukovar-Srijem county.

Serbia (2022 census)[33]
Croatia (1991 census)

Language

Rusyns in Serbia and Croatia consider their linguistic variety, known as Pannonian Rusyn, to be one of four standardized versions of the Rusyn language,[34] while some linguists also classify it as a microlanguage. They are using a standardized version of Rusyn Cyrillic alphabet.[35]

Rusyn is one of the six official languages of provincial administration in Vojvodina, while in Croatia it is officially used in two settlements.[36]

Notable people

References

  1. ↑ Republički zavod za statistiku (Serbia); Kovačević, Miladin, eds. (2023). Nacionalna pripadnost: podaci po opštinama i gradovima (PDF). Popis stanovništva, domaćinstava i stanova 2022. godine. Beograd: Republički zavod za statistiku. ISBN 978-86-6161-228-2.
  2. ↑ Stanovništvo prema narodnosti po gradovima/općinama, Popis 2021.
  3. ↑ National Council of the Rusyn National Minority (Serbia)
  4. ↑ Savez Rusina Republike Hrvatske
  5. ↑ Jankulov 1961.
  6. ↑ Magocsi 2015.
  7. ↑ Sakač 2019, p. 1-18.
  8. ↑ Рамач, Фејса & Међеши 1997, p. 447-448.
  9. ↑ Magocsi 2011, p. 177.
  10. ↑ Magocsi 2015, p. 2-5.
  11. ↑ Fejsa 1998, p. 56-67.
  12. ↑ Medješi 1993, p. 143.
  13. ↑ Barić 2007, p. 90.
  14. ↑ Fejsa 2015, p. 193-194.
  15. 1 2 Gavrilović, Vladan (2012). Počeci naseljavanja Rusina u Bačku (in Serbian). Novi Sad, Serbia: Filozofski fakultet Novi Sad. pp. 21–22. ISBN 978-86-6065-144-2.
  16. ↑ Лабош 1979, p. 182-205.
  17. 1 2 "Rusini obilježili svoj dan. U Hrvatsku su stigli prije 200 godina". www.index.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 2024-06-02.
  18. ↑ Лабош 1979.
  19. ↑ Biljnja 1987.
  20. ↑ Magocsi 2015, p. 242-243.
  21. ↑ Службени гласник (1963): Устав Социјалистичке Републике Србије
  22. ↑ Катунин 2015a, p. 232-233.
  23. ↑ Уставни закон Социјалистичке Аутономне Покрајине Војводине (1969)
  24. ↑ Narodne novine (1972): Amandmani na Ustav Socijalističke Republike Hrvatske
  25. ↑ Narodne novine (1974): Ustav Socijalističke Republike Hrvatske
  26. ↑ Trier 1999, p. 63, 67.
  27. ↑ Harasowska 1999, p. 2.
  28. ↑ "Pravo pripadnika nacionalnih manjina u Republici Hrvatskoj na zastupljenost u Hrvatskom saboru". Zakon o izborima zastupnika u Hrvatski sabor (in Croatian). Croatian Parliament. Retrieved 2011-12-29.
  29. ↑ National Council of the Rusyn National Minority (Serbia)
  30. ↑ Filozofski fakultet u Novom Sadu: Rusinistika
  31. ↑ "Blic Online | Reportaža | Sa bačke crnice na led i sneg Kanade". Archived from the original on 2009-03-06. Retrieved 2009-02-28.
  32. ↑ Лађевић 2014, p. 192, 194.
  33. ↑ http://pop-stat.mashke.org/serbia-ethnic-loc2022.htm
  34. ↑ Fejsa 2018, p. 367–378.
  35. ↑ Fejsa 2017a, p. 165–178.
  36. ↑ "Europska povelja o regionalnim ili manjinskim jezicima" (in Croatian). Ministry of Justice (Croatia). 2011-04-12. Archived from the original on 2013-12-27. Retrieved 2012-02-08.

Other sources