Mumm von Schwarzenstein, Philip Alfons

Mumm von Schwarzenstein, Philip Alfons, b 19 March 1859 in Frankfurt, d 10 July 1924 in Porfino, Italy. German diplomat. Having been educated in law and previously posted in London, Tokyo, Washington, DC, and other locations, he was sent to Ukraine in 1918 following its occupation by the Central Powers. Although immediately concerned with the orderly procurement of foodstuffs for Germany, he also contributed to the establishment of Ukraine as a viable client state. He became involved in the overthrow of the Central Rada by Pavlo Skoropadsky, attempted to persuade the Hetman government to moderate its ultraconservative character and pro-Russian leadership by adopting more liberal policies and including more Ukrainophiles in the cabinet, and engineered diplomatic gestures, such as the visit by Skoropadsky to Keiser William II, to provide the fledgling Hetman government with a greater political profile. His closest associate in those undertakings was Wilhelm Groener, the German military chief of staff in Ukraine.

[This article originally appeared in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine, vol. 3 (1993).]