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Pecherska Lavra monastery. He was a natural linguist, had a perfect command of the Greek language, and was well read and knowledgeable in world history and architecture. Thanks to his abilities and intelligence, in the he was sent, in the fall of 1857, to Athens to minister at the church of the Russian Embassy in Greece. In Athens he became interested in Kolokol (The Bell), a paper published in London by A. Herzen and N. Ogaryov, two Russian writers and revolutionaries. For some years, Humnytskyi himself was a regular contributor to Kolokol. In his articles, he advocated the abolition of serfdom and the division of monastic estates among the peasants. His anti- government articles greatly irritated the czarist regime. Russian czarist spies apprehended Humnytskyi in February 1869 as he was mailing a manuscript to Herzen. Within a half hour he was in chains, scheduled to be shipped to Ukraine and turned over to Russian Orthodox Church authorities for punishment. The expected punishment for his crime was exile to the northern Solovetsky Monastery by the White Sea, but during his transit from Greece, Humnytskyi's friends in Constantinople, led by O. Honchar, bribed the guard and thus freed him. In March 1860 Andriy Humnytskyi arrived in London under the assumed name of Ahapius Honcharenko, a name he was to use till the end of his life. In London he began working as a typesetter for Kolokol. When Taras Shevchenko died in St. Petersburg on March 10, 1861, Honcharenko published a moving eulogy of the poet in Kolokol. It was the only article ever published in the newspaper in Ukrainian. Honcharenko did not remain in London for long. He traveled extensively and eventually emigrated to the United States, arriving in Boston on January 1, 1865 and becoming one of the earliest Ukrainian immigrants in the United States. That same year he married Albina Citti, a young American girl of Italian ancestry. In 1867, Czar Alexander II sold Alaska to the United States. Honcharenko decided to move to San Francisco, then considered the American gateway to the new territory. There, on March 1, 1868, he began publishing the Alaska Herald. Published twice monthly, the newspaper was a vehicle for articles condemning the cruelty of the people governing Alaska to the natives and for articles critical of czarist autocracy and imperialism. The articles were written primarily in English and Russian, occasionally in Ukrainian. In the first issue of the Alaska Herald, Honcharenko published "Curious Ideas of the Poet Taras Shevchenko". The article contained his own translations of passages from "The Caucasus" , denouncing the Russian Empire for its notorious colonial policies. Compared to later translations now familiar in the literary world, Honcharenko's was a rather rough rendering of Shevchenko's work into English, but it is noteworthy as the earliest known published English-language Shevchenkiana. In subsequent issues of the newspaper, Honcharenko published long extracts in the original Ukrainian from other works by Shevchenko. In issue five, he reprinted his eulogy to Shevchenko which had first been published in Kolokol. In June 1868, "Svoboda" was added as a subtitle to the newspaper masthead. The newspaper was published regularly until May 1872, then issued sporadically until June 1, 1873 when Honcharenko's failing health curtailed his activities as publisher. He sold his print shop and purchased a strip of land in the Hayward Hills of California where he retired. Naming his estate "Ukraine", Honcharenko spent his later years farming and attending to his apiary. He died on May 5, 1916, impoverished and nearly forgotten. Today Honcharenko has a place in the history of Ukraine as the man who first published a translation, albeit fragmented and rough-hewn, of Shevchenko's work in English. He is also remembered as a staunch fighter against tyranny, a believer in democracy and freedom for all people. His legacy includes an enigma which has yet to be resolved by scholars of Shevchenkiana. In his personal correspondence, particularly in letters to Lviv to Ukrainian writer Mykhailo Pavlyk, Honcharenko often cited Shevchenko's poetry. Of special interest is a letter to Pavlyk dated December 15, 1895. In the letter, Honcharenko writes, "I have no books in Ukrainian except for the Kobzar which Shevchenko himself sent me to London in 1860." The letter, now preserved in the Central Historical Archives of Lviv, raises perplexing questions. Did Shevchenko know Honcharenko? Did the two ever meet? It is a mystery that may never be solved. *Author's addendum: The California State Historical Resources Commission recently named the Reverend Ahapius Honcharenko's ranch and burial place a California Historical Landmark. Unveiling of the landmark plaque and interpretive posters is scheduled to take place in the spring of 1998. ’’НАШЕ ЖИТТЯ”, БЕРЕЗЕНЬ 1998 15
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