Symon Petliura, a prominent Ukrainian political figure, military man and publicist, was born on May 22, 1879 in Poltava, in the family of a burgher with deeply rooted Ukrainian traditions. His first life steps in our city played a key role in his formation as a leader and patriot of Ukraine.
In Poltava, there are many objects related to Simon Petliura, which are important cultural and historical monuments:
A memorial plaque was installed in 2018 on the site of the former Petliur bypass. The family lived in their own one-story wooden house covered with bricks. The head of the family, Vasyl Petliura, was a coachman, and his mother, Olga (née Marchenko), ran the household and raised the children. The couple gave birth to twelve children, three of whom died in childhood. There was a small summer house, a barn and a well in the manor's yard. After the shooting of the two youngest sisters in 1937, no one lived in the house, but it survived the IIWorld War. Petliura's house was demolished in 1960, and in 2007, the last buildings on the territory of the settlement were destroyed.
The building of the Poltava Theological Seminary (now Poltava State Agrarian University). Symon Petliura received his primary education in the church parish school, graduating as the first student, then entered the theological seminary. He was fond of history, choral singing, playing the violin, and literature. He sang well, played in plays. He read Shevchenko's "Kobzar" and the works of Kotliarevskyi. Since 1898, he belonged to a secret Ukrainian self-education group. Petliura was dismissed from the seminary three times. Twice he was saved by the intercession of Poltava Bishop Hilarion and Senate Chief Prosecutor Sluchevskyi. The last time, two weeks before the end of the seminary, he was released because of the revolutionary and "Mazepa" spirit, with a "wolf ticket", closing the way to higher educational institutions of the then empire. In 2006, a memorial plaque was unveiled on the building of the former seminary where Symon Petliura studied.
In 2016, by order of the head of the Poltava Regional State Administration, one of the central streets of Poltava, where the Petliur family estate was located, was renamed in honor of Symon Petliura.
At the end of 2020, a decision was made to erect a monument to Symon Petliura in Poltava. In connection with this, an open architectural competition was announced for the construction of a monument to Symon Petliura in the city of Poltava (2020-2021). Authorized members of the competition commission chose the winning project. The installation of the monument is planned on the street. Simon Petliura near the modern building of Regional center of aesthetic education of students.
