History of Ruthenians

History of Ruthenians or Little Russia (Russian: Исторія Русовъ, или Малой Россіи, romanized: Istoriya Rusov, ili Maloy Rossii)[a] also known as History of the Rus' People is an anonymous historico-political treatise, most likely written at the break of the 18th and 19th centuries.

It had a great influence on the formation of the Ukrainian national identity and was even named "the most prominent historical work in Ukraine".

According to Zenon Kohut, the author of the manuscript was strongly influenced by the events that had taken place after the Third Partition of Poland.

The "History" was distributed in the form of a manuscript for a long time and was published in Moscow University press by Osyp Bodianski only in 1846.

[2] One of the supposed authors is Grigoriy Poletika [ru]; the ideas and style of the "History" are similar to the "Historical Reference", which he submitted to Empress Catherine II.