Thousands of Latin American volunteers joined the ranks of the Ukrainian army and, shoulder to shoulder with Ukrainians, defend Ukraine from Russian aggression. The Ukrainian people honor them and are grateful to them for their heroism and sacrifice. But it is worth saying that at different times many Ukrainians contributed to the formation and development of the countries of the South American continent. On the occasion of the 34th anniversary of Ukraine's Independence, we will tell you about three natives of Ukraine whose names are inscribed in the history of various Latin American countries.

Colombia, Peru, Venezuela

Miguel Rola Skybitsky (1793-1847) - a participant in the war for the independence of the Spanish colonies in South America, an associate of Simon Bolivar.

Born into a noble family in the village of Korchivka in the Ukrainian region of Volyn (now Khmelnytskyi oblast). After receiving his education, he became a military engineer. At the age of 30, through Sweden and England, Skybitsky Skebitsky reached Latin America and volunteered for the army of Simón Bolívar. He distinguished himself and was wounded in the decisive battle for independence from Spain - the battle on the Ayacucho plateau in Peru on December 9, 1824. For courage and heroism, he received the highest military decoration - the Order of the Liberator (Orden del Libertador) - personally from the hands of Bolívar. Soon he became an officer of his staff.

Starting his service as a lieutenant, Skybitsky rose to the rank of engineer-lieutenant colonel of the Federative Republic of Gran Colombia. He was responsible for the construction of fortifications and, among other things, developed the first project of the Panama Canal, which began to be built more than half a century later.

In 1830, after Bolívar's death, he became an associate of the first President of Venezuela, José Antonio Paes, and worked in the main department of the navy. In the same year, in the port of Maracaibo, Skybitsky built the Villa "Ukraine", which later became the Hotel "Ukraine".

In 1831, he resigned and left for Paris. He spent several years in France, carrying out diplomatic missions for the President of Venezuela. He arranged a meeting with his sister and left for Austria, but there he was arrested and extradited to the Russian police. For his service in the Colombian Republican troops, the Russian imperial authorities sent Skybitsky into exile in the north. After 10 years, Skybitsky was allowed to return to his ancestral estate. He tried to go abroad but was arrested and died in a Russian prison.

In 2020, a monument to Miguel Rola Skybitsky was erected near the military college in the Peruvian capital of Lima, on which the words are carved: "Friendship. Faith. Dignity".

Argentina

Jorge Polanski (1892-1975) – a leading Argentine geologist.

Born near the city of Lviv (now the center of Lviv oblast), which was then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, in the family of a Greek Catholic priest. He studied at the universities of Vienna and Lviv. He participated in the First World War and the Ukrainian National Liberation Wars. In the 1920s and 1930s he taught geography and geology in various primary schools.

Polanski arrived in Buenos Aires in 1947 as a refugee after World War II. Despite the fact that he had a doctorate, he initially had to work in the mines. But this did not stop him on the path to great achievements. He joined the national geological survey of Argentina, where his work in the Andes brought revolutionary discoveries. He studied the processes of glaciation and proved that the Andes have the highest level of snowline fluctuation in the world. This discovery changed the perception of the world's mountain systems!

In 1956, Jorge Polyanski became a professor at the University of Buenos Aires, where he wrote the first geology textbook in Argentina and many other scientific works that gained international recognition, and trained many geologists.

His contribution to science was recognized by membership in the National Academy of Sciences of Argentina and the award of the National Prize of Argentina in 1964. His tombstone reads: "Professor Jorge Polyanski – a teacher, scientist, patriot and humanist, who fought for his native Ukraine, enriched the geology of Argentina with his work...".

Brazil

Clarice Lispector (1920-1977) - an outstanding Brazilian writer.

She was born into the family of a small businessman in the town of Chechelnik in the Ukrainian region of Podillia (now Vinnytsia oblast). Fleeing the horrors of war and pogroms, her parents and children soon left Ukraine, and in 1922 the family settled in Brazil. Therefore, Clarice later said that she never had time to walk on the land on which she was born with her own feet.

The girl showed an early interest in books and writing. She wrote her first story at the age of 9. Despite difficult financial conditions, Clarice received a good education and entered the prestigious law faculty of the University of Rio de Janeiro. She worked part-time by giving private Portuguese lessons and working in the editorial office of a newspaper.

In 1944, her debut novel "Along with the Wild Heart" was published, which literary critics praised for its "sensitive interpretation of adolescence". The book was said to be the best novel ever written by a woman in Portuguese. Lispector's greatest success was brought by the collection of stories "Family Ties", in which she comprehensively reflected the problems of women.

In total, the writer's creative output includes 8 novels, 8 collections of stories, literary articles, and translations into Portuguese of works by English-speaking writers. Her works have been translated into many languages and repeatedly filmed. Clarice Lispector was awarded several national prizes and awarded the Order of Cultural Merit of Brazil.

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Now heroic volunteers from various countries of South America have inscribed their names in the history of Ukraine and are writing a new, perhaps the most important, page in the history of Ukrainian-Latin American relations.