Mal (prince)

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. Mal's attempt failed. On two different occasions, Olga killed his ambassadors, who proposed a marriage between the two, on two separate occasions. The following year, she went to war against the Drevlians and defeated them. The last center of resistance was the city of Iskorosten, which is now known as Korosten. == Dmitri Prozorovskiy's hypothesis ==

In 1864, Russian historian and Dmitri Prozorovskiy wrote a hypothesis that Mal survived Olga's plot and campaign against the Drevlians, and ended up settling in the town of Liubech. 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. == See also ==