The province has a unique footnote in history as the only region in the former Soviet Union to have had an American governor : its first governor was Gregory Zatkovich , an American citizen who had earlier emigrated from the region and represented the Rusyn community in the U.S. Zatkovich was appointed governor by Czechoslovakia 's first president , TomÃ Å Masaryk , in 1920 and served for about one year until he resigned over differences regarding the region 's autonomy . The province has a unique footnote in history as the only region in the former Soviet Union to have had an American governor : its first governor was Gregory Zatkovich , an American citizen who had earlier emigrated from the region and represented the Rusyn community in the U.S. Zatkovich was appointed governor by Czechoslovakia 's first president , TomÃ Å Masaryk in 1920 , and served for about one year until he resigned over differences regarding the region 's autonomy .