Portrait of Olena Stepaniv and Sofiya Halechko, 2023
Artist: Hanna Ren’kas
Olena Stepaniv
(1892–1963)
Ukrainian historian, geography teacher, public figure, and military leader. She is known globally as the first woman officially enlisted in military service as an officer.
It’s well known that we, as women, can be not only mothers, friends, and colleagues across different fields but also inventive, not merely obedient. We can be responsible individuals, not just followers of someone else’s will but creators, organisers, and drivers of our own ideas. We know how to be decisive, sharp, resilient, persistent, and uncompromising.
Olena Stepaniv was admired by her contemporaries for her ‘angelic face and a steel spirit’. She inspired songs, and stamps bearing her likeness were sold across Europe.
At the outbreak of World War I, she joined the Ukrainian Sich Riflemen, leading a women’s platoon. Despite restrictions on women serving on the front lines, Olena secured her position with the help of influential friends. After the war, she returned to her work as a scholar and educator on Ukrainian history and geography.
From 1919 to 1921, she studied at the University of Vienna, where she earned her doctorate. Olena authored around 75 articles, though some may have been lost or remain in the archives of Soviet repression institutions. Most of her writings were scholarly and journalistic in nature.
Sofia Halechko
(1891–1918)
Ukrainian public figure, officer of the Ukrainian Sich Riflemen, and scout.
My dreams have come true — I work for Ukraine, forging a better fate... I left behind books, studies, the peaceful old city of Graz, forgot about family, exams, the whole world… Wings shot forth from my shoulders as I fly to meet the golden sun. Will it burn me, or will it warm me with its fire?
Born in Nowy Sącz, Poland, to a Polish-Ukrainian family, Sofia later moved with her family to Lviv, where she began to explore Ukrainian history and culture. She pursued higher education in Graz, Austria, where she joined the Ukrainian society ‘Sich’ and the scout organisation ‘Plast’. She also represented the General Medical Association.
When World War I began, Sofia took Red Cross courses and received military training. She also bought her own military uniform and joined the Ukrainian Sich Riflemen, initially serving as a medic, before taking on roles as a scout, riflewoman, and platoon leader. Her courage, especially in the Battle of Makivka, earned her two ‘For Bravery’ medals. Between battles, Sofia studied military tactics, which she grasped with ease. However, despite her training and abilities, she, like many women, was dismissed from military service after the war ended.