Vinnitsa

Vinnitsa

a city in central Ukraine: passed from Polish to Russian rule in 1793. Pop.: 353 000 (2005 est.)

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Vinnitsa 

a city; administrative center of Vinnitsa Oblast, Ukrainian SSR. Located on the luzhnyi Bug River. Railroad junction. Population, 212,000 (1970; 92,900 in 1939).

Vinnitsa was first mentioned in sources under the year 1363 as a Lithuanian fortress. After the Union of Lublin in 1569 it came under Polish rule. In the 15th and 16th centuries the city suffered destructive raids by the Tatars. It has been part of Russia since 1793. Before the October Revolution, Vinnitsa was a trade center of Podolia, with food and handi-craft industry. The Vinnitsa Armed Uprising of soldiers and workers from Oct. 28 (Nov. 10) to Nov. 2 (15), 1917, led to the establishment of Soviet power in the city. In the spring of 1918, Vinnitsa was captured by the German occupation forces. Soviet power was restored in June 1920. Vinnitsa was occupied by the fascist German troops from 1941 to 1944 and was liberated on Mar. 20, 1944.

Vinnitsa has enterprises of the food industry (oil and fat, fruit canning, and meat industry), light industry (shoes, garments, knitwear, haberdashery, and other factories), the chemical industry (a chemical combine), machine building, and metalworking. The large plants of the city produce electrical equipment, ball bearings, machine assemblies, and instruments. There is production of building materials (plant producing bricks and reinforced-concrete items). There is an abundance of gardens and parks, with many new public and residential buildings. Vinnitsa has medical and pedagogical institutes; branches of the Kiev Polytechnical and Trade and Economics institutes; railroad-transportation, construction, and electronic-equipment technicums; a secondary specialized polytechnic; and musical and medical colleges. There is a museum of local lore and the M. M. Kotsiubinskii Literary-Memorial Museum. Other cultural institutions are a music and drama theater, a puppet theater, and a philharmonic society. The N. I. Pirogov Estate Museum is located in the village of Pirogovo, 5 km from Vinnitsa.