This identity emphasized a strong awareness of their Ruthenian origins while simultaneously acknowledging their belonging to the "Polish political nation".
[c] Later research, however, has shown that Orzechowski did not use the exact phrase gente ruthenus, natione polonus.
[4] The closest formulation he used was gente Roxolani,[d] natione vero Poloni or, as he described himself, homo ex Ruthenis ortus, Romano tamen ritu.
[6] This self-identification became widespread in Galicia in the 19th century among Ruthenians who consciously chose Polishness as their new identity, allowing them to advance socially (e.g., I. Vahylevych, O. Krynytsky, Yu.
Today, this term and its derivatives are used retrospectively to describe members of Polonized Ukrainian, Belarusian, and Lithuanian noble families from various historical periods.