Promethean movement. A political movement of opposition to the Soviet government, named after the mythical god Prometheus (a symbol of the struggle of all enslaved nations for freedom), that emerged in Europe in the 1920s among émigré communities of nations under Soviet rule. It was formed as the Promethean League of Nations Subjugated by Moscow (commonly known as the Promethean League) in 1925 after a conference of representatives of various governments-in-exile and national committees based in Paris, Warsaw, Bucharest, Istanbul, Helsinki, and Prague. Its headquarters was set up in Warsaw. The league’s first executive included president Roman Smal-Stotsky of Ukraine and two vice-presidents, W. Mustapha Bei of Azerbaijan and J. Salakaya of Georgia. The league consisted of Azerbaijani, Buriat, Caucasian mountain peoples’, Crimean Tatars’, Don Cossacks’, Georgian, Idel-Ural Tatar, Ingrian, Kazakh (see Kazakhstan), Kirghiz (see Kirgizia), Komi, Kuban Cossack (see Kuban Cossack Host), Mari, Mordovian (see Mordovia), Tadzhik (see Tadzhikistan), Turkmen (see Turkmenistan), and Ukrainian representatives. Armenians and Belarusians were not represented. The league claimed to speak for up to 80 million people. Its most concrete undertaking was a campaign to block the admission of the USSR into the League of Nations. In connection with this campaign it sent memorandums and other materials to all attending delegations. The Promethean League’s representative in Geneva was Mykola Livytsky. The league sponsored a congress in Warsaw in 1935 which was attended by 200 delegates and specialists in the nationalities question in their respective countries.
(Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine)
Славістична збірка. – Випуск 1: Збірка статей за матеріалами Перших Міжнародних наукових Соханівських читань (м. Київ, 18 листопада 2014 р.). – Київ, 2015
