Family of Yulia Tymoshenko

Family of Yulia Tymoshenko
Place of originRussian Empire, Soviet Union, Ukrainian, Latvian

The family of Yulia Volodymyrivna Tymoshenko (Юлія Володимирівна Тимошенко), née Hrihyan (Грігян), former Prime Minister of Ukraine, is Ukrainian on her mother's side, and Latvian and Jewish on her father's side. Her ancestry was of some relevance during her campaign of 2009–2010, Tymoshenko herself has self-identified as "Ukraino-Latvian" (україно-латишка), "both for ten generations".[1][2] while her opponents drawing attention to her Jewish grandfather was described as a political "smear".[3][4] A detailed account of her family history was published in 2008 by Dmytro Chobit.[5]

Tymoshenko's parents were both born in Ukraine and are, therefore, Ukrainian as defined by the Law on Citizenship of Ukraine and by the Ukrainian Constitution.[6][7][8]

  1. ^ Ukraine's Gold-Plaited Comeback Kid, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (23 September 2008)
  2. ^ (in Ukrainian) Тимошенко - україно-латишка Archived 2005-11-03 at the Wayback Machine, Ukrayinska Pravda (2 September 2005)
  3. ^ Campaign gets dirty: Leaflets smear Tymoshenko as ‘Jew’, Kyiv Post (5 February 2010)
  4. ^ "Debate rages over whether Ukraine presidential hopeful is Jewish". Haaretz. Archived from the original on 8 December 2009. "Tymoshenko also received a dose of Jewishness in the campaign; the nationalist right labeled her "the Jewish woman with the braid." Not a flattering nickname. While rumors about Tymoshenko's Jewishness died down, those regarding Yatsenyuk are multiplying. Commentators in Ukraine see that as proof of their accuracy."
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference mak-info was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ "Citizenship". Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine. Archived from the original on 2008-11-13. Retrieved 2008-04-18.
  7. ^ "Law on Citizenship of Ukraine". Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine. Archived from the original on 2008-12-04. Retrieved 2008-04-18.
  8. ^ Gender bias, anti-Semitism contributed to Yanukovych's victory, Kyiv Post (18 March 2010)