Партійний «націоналіст». Парадокси Петра Шелеста
Party “nationalist”. Petro Shelest’s paradoxes.

Author(s): Yuriy Ivanovich Shapoval
Subject(s): Political history, History of Communism
Published by: Інститут політичних і етнонаціональних досліджень ім. І. Ф. Кураса НАН України
Summary/Abstract: Petro Shelest has a special place in the political history of Ukraine of the XX century. Having gone through a difficult life path, in 1963 he became the first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine. He supported Khrushchev and his political line, but he was among those who brought L. Brezhnev to power. He opposed the "Prague Spring" of 1968 and at the same time he blocked the total suppression of dissent in Ukraine. He recognized Stalin's authority and at the same time he demanded that the Moscow leadership adhere to the officially declared principles in relations between the centre and the then union republics. He was against the dismantling of the USSR and at the same time he contributed to the strengthening of Ukrainian national traditions, respect for Ukraine's past. What is the secret of such Petro Shelest’s duality? Who and how created for him the image of an "excessive" Ukrainian patriot and even a "nationalist"? How did his fate develop after he was sent for a "promotion" to Moscow and then subjected to political and ideological ostracism?

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