Early years Kedrowsky was born in
Kherson into a family of landowners originally of
Prussian origin. His father's and mother's families had considerable land holdings along the
Inhul and
Inhulets rivers. He began his studies at home with his two younger brothers, and mastered Greek, German and a number of Slavic languages. After his father's death, he and his brothers lived on the estate of their maternal grandfather Mykola Lyps'kyi. In his autobiography "Outlines of the Past" («Обриси минулого») Kedrowsky wrote that the family spoke mainly in
Ukrainian, and that his grandfather gave him Ukrainian-language books. In 1905, Kedrowsky and some of his peers came under the influence of the
Ukrainian Socialist Revolutionary Party, which argued that social liberation was not possible without Ukrainian national liberation. Several revolutionary groups were formed by Kherson youth. They adhered to the political program of the
Socialist Revolutionaries, but were under the influence and leadership of
Ukrainophiles. The groups staged performances of Ukrainian plays as propaganda campaigns among the Ukrainian peasantry, but these were soon banned, and many of the group members were arrested. Kedrowsky escaped arrest by illegally leaving the country in early 1907. Kedrowsky graduated from the Kherson
Realgymnasium, and completed his education at the Naval School. However, his Ukrainian anti-Imperial activism (especially among sailors) prevented him from obtaining a position with the
Imperial Russian Navy. He moved to
Odesa, where he studied at the
Imperial Novorossiya University from 1907 to 1911, obtaining a degree in statistics and economics. After graduating, Kedrowsky married fellow Kherson native Marta Odarik.
Early political life Since his youth, Kedrowsky belonged to the Central Committee of the
Ukrainian Socialist Revolutionary Party, and was a member of the Kherson
Hromada. From 1911 to July 19, 1914 he worked in the Kherson
Zemstvo as an employee and then the head of the Statistical Division. In his autobiography, he described the Zemstvo as a citadel of Ukrainophiles. The Board sought permission from the government for the teaching of the Ukrainian language in public schools, and that all public libraries distributed Ukrainian books. While at the Zemstvo, Kedrovskiy conducted a study that revealed the loss of literacy among people whose schooling was in Russian, but who later had no access to literature written in their native Ukrainian. Based on these results, Kedrowsky conducted a review of public education in the
Kherson gubernia for 1910 and non-school educational activity in 1912. For this work, Kedrowsky received a silver medal on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Zemstvo. The statistical work of the Ukrainian Zemstvos became the basis of a bill on the need to teach children in their native language which was introduced in the Fourth
State Duma, but which did not pass due to the outbreak of
World War I. Every summer during 1912–1914 Kedrowsky had the responsibility of organizing 6-week general education courses for teachers at rural schools in the Kherson gubernia. Under the guidance of members of the Kherson
Hromada, Kedrowsky structured the courses in a way that introduced about five hundred teachers to the basics of Ukrainian Studies. This had to be done carefully, however, because the curricula and lecturers had to be confirmed by the Imperial Ministry of Education, whose representatives were instructed to ensure that there was no anti-Russian "sedition".
Russian military service On July 19, 1914 Kedrowsky was drafted into the
Imperial Russian Army, serving in the 48th infantry reserve regiment. From August 1914 to January 1915 he took part in battles against the German army in
East Prussia. He was awarded the
Order of St. George for bravery in battle. From July 1 to November 1, 1915 he attended the Odesa Military Cadet School, which he graduated at the top of his class and received the rank of
praporshchik. From December 1, 1916 to June 15, 1917 he served as a gunnery commander in the
Caucasian Native Mounted Division, which fought on the Galician and Rumanian fronts against Austrian, German, and Ottoman troops. Shortly afterwards, the commanders of the division forced Kedrowsky to leave, due to his pro-Ukrainian sentiments and his attempts to form a Ukrainian unit within the division. In December 1919 he began a string of diplomatic assignments as UNR ambassador to
Latvia,
Estonia and
Finland. In 1920 he was a UNR delegate at the Russian-Polish peace negotiations that lead to the
Treaty of Riga, and in 1921 was a special military representative of the Directory and personal representative of Petliura to the Turkish government. At the beginning the War, his wife Marta and their four children lived in Kherson with her parents. By the early 1920s, their children and the entire Odarik family had died, and Marta had rejoined her husband in the
Baltics.
Exile After the complete occupation of Ukraine by the Bolsheviks, a return by Kedrowsky and his wife to their homeland would have been suicidal. Instead, they settled in
Baden,
Austria, where he held the presidency of the Ukrainian Fellowship of Supporters of the
League of Nations, and was elected vice-president of the Association of Ukrainian Journalists in Europe. In December 1923, Kedrowsky and his wife immigrated to the
United States. He first found employment in the residential building construction industry, and became active in Ukrainian-American organizations. In the late 1920s, he was a member of the School Council of the Association of Ukrainian American Organizations, which sought to reform and standardize the teaching of the Ukrainian language to Ukrainian-American children. Later, he purchased a farm in New Jersey, and worked as a film producer for the
Ukrainian Canadian Motion Picture Company, as well as producer-director of Ukrainian live theater productions. Kedrowsky served as co-editor of the
Svoboda newspaper from 1926 to 1933. In March 1932, his wife Marta died, and in October 1932 Kedrowsky married Katherine Schutock (Shattuck). Katherine was a graduate of
City College, and was active participant in the Ukrainian-American community, being a charter member and treasurer of the
Ukrainian National Women's League of America. Their son George was born in 1936. From 1941 to 1955 he worked for the
General Cable Corporation in
Perth Amboy, and from 1955 to 1963 he worked for the
United States Department of State and served as the chief of the Ukrainian Service of the
Voice of America. He died in
Metuchen, and is buried in St. Andrew Memorial Cemetery in
South Bound Brook, NJ. ==Documentary heritage==