Velykyi Bychkiv

"Nagybocskó" redirects here. For the nearby Romanian commune that bears this name in Hungarian, see Bocicoiu Mare.

Velykyi Bychkiv (Ukrainian: Великий Бичків; Rusyn: Великый Бичкôв; Hungarian: Nagybocskó or Nagybocska; Romanian: Bocicoiu Mare; Slovak: Veľký Bočkov, Bočková) is a town in the Rakhiv Raion (district) of Zakarpattia Oblast (Transcarpathian province), in the west-most part of Ukraine. It has a population of 9,423 and lies 36 kilometres east of Tiachiv, where the river Sopurka meets the Tisza River.

History

The village was first mentioned in 1358, by the name Buchku. Its name is derived from a Slavic word meaning "bull". Before 1556 Bosckai family owned the village. From 1556 it belonged to the Báthory family. By 1711 a mansion already stood here. After the failed revolution led by Francis II Rákóczi, Germans settled down in the area. The village had three parts: Nagybocskó and Kisbocskó ("Greater" and "Smaller" Bocskó), which form today's Velykyy Bychkiv, and Németbocskó ("German Bocskó") across the river (this forms today's Bocicoiu Mare in Romania).

In 1910 the village had 5955 inhabitants: 3078 Ruthenians, 1646 Hungarians and 1177 Germans by the primary language, or 3374 Greek Catholic, 1266 Roman Catholic and 1163 Jewish people by religion. It belonged to the Hungarian county of Máramaros. After World War I it belonged to Czechoslovakia, before being ceded to the Ukrainian SSR in 1945.

Velykyi Bychkiv has a chemical, sulfuric acid and table salt factory, as well as a sawmill. In 1930 a forest railway line was built. Velykyi Bychkiv was accorded the current urban-type settlement status in 1947.

Famous people

• János Balogh, biologist, member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, was born here on February 19, 1903.
• Ottó Korvin, politician, a founder of the Communist Workers' Party, was born here on March 24, 1894.
• Theodore Romzha, Greek Catholic bishop of Mukačevo, was born here on April 14, 1911.
• Ivan Yaremchuk, soviet football player, was born here on September 13, 1962

References

• History of Velykyy Bychkiv from Velykyy Bychkiv official web-site. (Ukrainian)
• Velykyy Bychkiv, at Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada portal (Ukrainian)
• This article is based on a translation of the equivalent article from the Hungarian Wikipedia on 19 February 2007.

Coordinates: 47°58′00″N 24°00′54″E / 47.9667°N 24.015°E / 47.9667; 24.015