Olena Stepaniv

Olena Ivanivna Stepaniv (; 7 December 1892 – 11 July 1963; also known as Olena Stepanivna, Olena's father Ivan Stepaniv served as the village priest, and his ancestors were said to have moved to the locality from Podillia fleeing religious persecution. Ivan was active in civic life of the Ukrainian community, promoting the creation of Prosvita reading halls and participating in the Sich, Sokil and Plast societies. Olena's mother Mariya-Mynodora descended from the noble Gineyt-Kuncewicz family.

Military service During the First World War she was a student at Lviv University. While still a student she was given the command of a platoon. She claimed that she joined the Ukrainian Sich Riflemen by dressing as a man. Her disguise was spotted and it was debated as to whether she should be detained; she was saved when Volodymyr Starosolsky intervened and persuaded the recruiters to enroll her. Italian press of the time compared Olena to an Amazon, and her portraits became popular around Europe and even in America. She was held in Tashkent as a prisoner of war until 1917. She helped organise the 1918 uprising in Tashkent, as a member of the legion's Supreme Military Board. Her brother Ananiy, who also served in the Galician Army, fell in battle in 1919. This was one of the 75 publications she made during her life. She also worked for the Audit Union of Ukrainian Co-operatives During the war she was working at Lviv University. After the end of the war, in 1947 she was accused by Yaroslav Halan and other supporters of the Soviet regime of collaboration with the Nazis.

In 1991, a street in Lviv, Oleny Stepanivny Street, was renamed after her, citing her as the first woman to become a commissioned officer in the Ukrainian army. In 1992 centenary of her birth was celebrated, and a local award for female educators, scientists and activists in Lviv was named in her honour.