page_title: Ivano-Frankivsk
section_title: Name
hierarchical_section_title: Ivano-Frankivsk / Name
context_page_description: Ivano-Frankivsk is a historic city located in Western Ukraine. It is the administrative centre of Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast. Administratively, it is designated as a city of regional significance within the oblast, and together with a number of rural localities, is incorporated as Ivano-Frankivsk Municipality. Population: 230,929.
  Built in the mid-17th century as a fortress of the Polish Potocki family, Stanisławów was annexed to the Habsburg Empire during the First Partition of Poland in 1772, after which it became the property of the State within the Austrian Empire. The fortress was slowly transformed into one of the most prominent cities at the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains. After World War I, for several months, it served as a temporary capital of the West Ukrainian People's Republic. Following Peace of Riga, Stanisławów became part of the Second Polish Republic. After the Soviet invasion of Poland at the onset of World War II, the city was annexed by the Soviet Union, only to be occupied by Nazi Germany two years later. With the liberation of Soviet Ukraine in 1944 and the shifting of borders, the Communist regime ran the city for the next four-and-a-half decades.
context_section_description: Stanisławów was founded as a fortress and was named after the Polish hetman Stanisław "Rewera" Potocki. Some sources claim it was named after his grandson Stanisław. Following the First Partition of Poland in 1772, the name was transliterated as Stanislau in German, as the city became part of the Austrian Empire (future Austria-Hungary); however, after the revolution of 1848, the city carried three different linguistic renderings of its name: German, Polish, and Ruthenian (German: Stanislau, [ˈʃtaːnɪslaʊ]; Polish: Stanisławów, [staɲiˈswavuf]; Ukrainian: Станісла́вів Stanislaviv, [stɐn⁽ʲ⁾iˈslɑwiu̯], or Станиславiв Stanyslaviv, [stɐnɪˈslɑwiu̯]). Other spellings used in the local press media included Russian: Станиславов and Yiddish: סטאַניסלאוו‎.
  After World War II it was changed by the Soviet authorities into a simplified version Stanislav (Ukrainian: Станісла́в, [stɐn⁽ʲ⁾iˈslɑu̯]; Russian: Станисла́в, [stənʲɪˈslaf]). In 1962, on the city's 300th anniversary, it was renamed to honor the Ukrainian writer Ivan Franko. Due to the city's wordy name, unofficially it is sometimes called simply Franyk (Франик) by its residents. Even though Ivano-Frankivsk is the officially accepted name, the city's original name has never been fully abandoned and/or forgotten and can be found throughout the city in all kinds of variations.
  The name of the city was altered several times through the centuries. It was founded as Stanisławów; but in 1772 transliteration changed to Stanislau, in 1919 to Stanislaviv and again to Stanisławów. In 1939 transliteration changed to Stanislav, in 1941 to Stanislau, in 1944 again to Stanislav. And finally, on November 9, 1962, the name was officially changed by the First Secretary Nikita Khrushchev, reportedly as an honour to poet Ivan Franko.
caption: Stanisław "Rewera" Potocki after whom the city was named originally.
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