Mal

The death of Igor of Kiev, as ordered by Mal. A miniature in the Radziwiłł Chronicle, late 15th century. Mal (died 946) was a Drevlian prince, and was the leader of the 945 revolt against Igor of Kiev. Immediately following the revolt, which led to Igor's death, Mal attempted to marry the widowed Olga of Kiev. In foreign sources, he bears the name of "Niskinia" (according to Jan Długosz), and "Malditt" (according to Sigmund von Herberstein). Mal's name is attributed to the Ukrainian city of Malyn.

According to Russian historian Vasily Tatishchev, the Ioachim Chronicle states that Mal was a "Drevlian Prince, the son of Niskinia".

The component "mal" was part of a number of Celtic names, such as Gaulish "Malorix", or Old Irish "Cathmal".

The revolt of 945 The Primary Chronicle states that after the Prince of Kiev, Igor, after collecting tribute from the Drevlians once already, had returned again to collect more from the tribe. The Drevlians, led by Mal, had decided to resist.

After the death of Igor, Mal attempted to propose marriage to the newly-widowed Olga. Due to a similarity in names, Prozorovskiy identified Mal with "Malko Lyubechanin", the father of Malusha, the housekeeper of Princess Olga and the mother of Prince Vladimir, and her brother Dobrynya.

Prozorovskiy believed that it was the hypothetical princely origins of Malusha and Dobrynya that later provided them with a special position at court, and gave Malusha and Prince Svyatoslav's son Vladimir the opportunity to become the Grand Prince, despite the fact that he was "робичичем", the son of a slave. Dobrynya became the governor in Novgorod, where Vladimir and Malusha were soon sent.

Monument A monument to Mal was established in 2005, in the Ukrainian city of Korosten, to commemorate the 1300th anniversary of the town.

In popular culture

A fictitious portrayal of Mal makes an appearance in the 18th century play, "Olga", by playwright Yakov Knyazhnin. In The Legend of Princess Olga (1983; USSR) by Yuri Ilyenko, Viktor Demertash plays the role of Mal. Pages of Russian History, the Land of Ancestors. (1994; Russia), by director Alexander Guryev.