The Rusin “Robin Hood” - Andrij Savka

Abstract

This article is devoted to Andrij Savka, a famous Rusin (Lemko) garnas - the leader of the Beskidniks (opryshki) robber detachment, a well-known leader of the insurrectionary and people's liberation movement in southern Poland and a hero of Eastern European folklore from Dukla (Poland). This valuable collection of little-known biographical information about this iconic figure focuses on the reasons why Savka became a robber, organized his own gang (Bursa) in the Beskydy Mountains and subsequently joined the Podhale Peasant Uprising of 1651 with his illustrious squad under the leadership of the Polish officer Aleksander Leon Kostka-Napierski. The main reason was the strong feudal oppression by the local Polish gentry, which forced the Rusin peasants to defend their interests, rights, and freedoms with deadly force, to fight against national and religious discrimination, serfdom, and oppression. The author emphasizes that Savka acted not in his personal and selfish interests, but out of a desire to help the commons. He distributed the property seized from magnates, landlords, and priests to poor Rusin peasants, for which he was dubbed as “Lemko Robin Hood”. The article thoroughly examines the significant role played by Savka and other famous Lemko rebels - Vasil Bayus and Vasil Chepets - in the people's liberation struggle that unfolded in Lesser Poland, Galicia and Subcarpathia and was supported by Hetman Bohdan Khmelnytsky and his associates. The author highlights the reasons why the Podhale Peasant Uprising of 1651 failed, with its leaders captured and put to death. He concludes that Savka played a progressive role in the history of the Rusins, in which he epitomizes courage and determination in the struggle for freedom and justice.