Rusins, Rusyns, Ruthenians?

[Elaine Rusinko]

Lemkos are defined (in the Encyclopedia of Rusyn History and Culture) as 
the furthest western ethnographic group of Carpatho-Rusyns. Many Lemkos 
identify as Rusyns -- the Lemko Society (Stovaryshynia Lemkiiv 
http://www.stowarzyszenielemkow.pl/modules/sections/index.php?op=viewarticle&artid=89 
) is a founding member of the World Congress of Rusyns and a permanent 
member of its executive council. However,  there are also Lemkos in 
Poland who identify as Ukrainians 
(http://www.lemkounion.republika.pl/kwartalnik.html).

The World Congress of Rusyns and almost all Rusyn organizations today 
are emphatically neutral when it comes to religion. In the US, the 
leading Rusyn grass-roots organization is the Carpatho-Rusyn Society 
(www.c-rs.org).

To expand on V. Boitchenko's comment ("It's not so simple"), I would add 
that there is *nothing *simple about Rusyns, Rusins, Ruthenians, Lemkos 
.... And to be sure, one cannot generalize based on any single local 
situation. Anyone interested in the complexities of the subject and 
Rusyn scholarly point of view should see the Encyclopedia of Rusyn 
History and Culture (2002, 2003). Some Encyclopedia entries are posted 
here: http://www.rusyn.org/

ER
 

Iryna Prykarpatska wrote:

>Not all Lemko people will agree if they are referred to as Rusyny. The name
>Rusyn was used by Polish people to identify all those who attended Greek-
>Catholic or Orthodox church (церкву) but not Roman-Catholic church (костьол)
>as Polish do. But there is a strict division between Rusyny and Lemky along
>the language criteria.
>It should be kept in mind that Rusyns do not identify themselves as Lemky as
>well Lemky do not identify themselves as Rusyny. These are two separate
>ethnic groups that have very strong affinity with each other due to East
>church tradition (practice of religion along Greek tradition) as opposite to
>West church tradition (practice of religion along Roman tradition), but they
>are still different.
>
>2007/12/14, V. Boitchenko <tompkins440 at verizon.net>:
>  
>
>>The situation in the US is very similar. Many old towns on the East Cost
>>have two churches (often across the street from each other), a Uniate and
>>a
>>Russian Orthodox, with parishioners usually coming from the same
>>background
>>(Poland and Slovakia), often cousins. Uniates identify themselves as
>>Ukrainians, and Orthodox identify as Lemko (Rusyns). vb
>>
>>    
>>

-- 
Elaine Rusinko
Associate Professor of Russian
Department of Modern Languages
University of Maryland Baltimore County
1000 Hilltop Circle
Baltimore, MD 21250

410-455-2109
rusinko at umbc.edu


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