Intellectual elite of Western Ukraine in the 1920s - 1930s in modern historical and biographical research

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Intellectual elite of Western Ukraine in the 1920s - 1930s in modern historical and biographical research

Vasyl Futala

PhD hab. (History), Professor of the Department of History of Ukraine and Law, Drohobych Ivan Franko State Pedagogical University

Василь Футала

доктор історичних наук, професор, професор кафедри історії України та правознавства Дрогобицького державного педагогічного університету імені Івана Франт

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to elucidate achievements ofmodern Ukrainian biographical research on life activities of people who dealt with creative work in the western region of Ukraine during the interwar period*. The research methodology is based on the principles of historicism, systematicity, objectivity, as well as methods of historiographical analysis and synthesis. The scientific novelty consists in the fact that, on the basis of a wide range of prosopographical sources, there has been analysed accumulation and dissemination process of historical knowledge about the activities of Western Ukraine intellectual elite during the interwar period; contribution of researchers to the issue study has been personified; the range of insufficiently studied issues and promising directions for further scientific research have been outlined. The Conclusion. Modern rapid increase in biographical research, growth of general interest in biographical studies became possible owing to Ukraine's independence. Researchers focused on representatives of the creative minority of Western Ukrainians, who had a direct impact on the cultural and intellectual development of citizenship, participated in the formation or design of new ethical and behavioral models, scientific views, worldview formation of people. The peculiarity of the Western Ukrainian elite consisted in the fact that its spokesmen were closely connected with social and political movement, national life. Historical portraits of M. Vozniak, M. Halushchynskyi, V. Hnatiuk, S. Dnistrianskyi, M. Korduba, I. Krevetskyi, I. Krypiakevych, K. Levytskyi, M. Lozynskyi, V. Mudry, Yu. Romanchuk, K. Studynskyi, S. Rudnytskyi, V. Starosolskyi, S. Tomashivskyi are well presented relatively. At the same time, there is a need to continue research using the prosopographic method in order to replenish the information base on the individual activities of famous teachers, scholars, public figures - I. Bryk, I. Halushchynsky, F. Kolessa, D. Korenets, O. Terletsky, V. Shchurat, Ya. Voytiuk, K. Soshynsky, and the others. Topical is the issue of taking into consideration the entire complex of facts of a personal, professional, situational and bibliographic nature, without which it is impossible to write scientific biographies of intellectual and cultural figures.

Key words: biohistoriography, prosopographic source, biography, historical portrait, historical character.

Анотація

ІНТЕЛЕКТУАЛЬНА ЕЛІТА ЗАХІДНОЇ УКРАЇНИ 1920 - 1930-х рр. У СУЧАСНИХ ІСТОРИКО-БІОГРАФІЧНИХ ДОСЛІДЖЕННЯХ

Мета дослідження - показати здобутки сучасної української біографістики у вивченні життєдіяльності людей творчої праці західного регіону України у міжвоєнний період¹ The author does not aim to consider the biohistoriography of the church elite, because this issue is the subject of a separate study.. Методологія дослідження спирається на принципи історизму, системності, об'єктивності, а також на методи історіографічного аналізу та синтезу. Наукова новизна полягає у тому, що на основі широкого кола просопографічних джерел простежено процес нагромадження і поширення історичних знань про діяльність інтелектуальної еліти Західної України міжвоєнної доби, персоніфіковано внесок дослідників у вивчення теми, окреслено коло недостатньо вивчених питань і перспективні напрями подальших наукових пошуків. Висновки. Сучасний стрімкий злет біографічних досліджень, зростання загального інтересу до біографічного знання стали можливими завдяки незалежності України. Дослідники велику увагу приділили представникам творчої меншості західноукраїнців, які мали безпосередній вплив на культурно-інтелектуальний розвиток громадянства, брали участь у створенні чи оформленні нових етико-поведінкових моделей, наукових поглядів, формуванні світоглядних позиції людей. Особливістю західноукраїнської еліти було те, що її речники були тісно пов'язані з суспільно-політичним рухом, національним життям. Відносно добре представлено історичні портрети М. Возняка, М. Галущинського, В. Гнатюка, С. Дністрянського, М. Кордуби, І. Кревецького, І. Крип'якевича, К. Левицького, М. Лозинського, В. Мудрого, Ю. Романчука, К. Студинського, С. Рудницького, В. Старосольського, С. Томашівського. Водночас існує потреба продовжити пошукову роботу з допомогою просопографічного методу з метою поповнення інформаційної бази про індивідуальну діяльність відомих педагогів, вчених, громадських діячів - І. Брика, І. Галущинського, Ф. Колесси, Д. Коренця, О. Терлецького, В. Щурата, Я. Войтюка, К. Сошинського та ін. Актуальною залишається проблема врахування дослідниками всього комплексу фактів особистого, професійного, ситуативного і бібліографічного характеру, без чого неможливим є створення наукових біографій інтелектуально-культурних діячів.

Ключові слова: біоісторіографія, просопографічне джерело, біографістика, історичний портрет, історичний персонаж.

The Problem Statement

ukrainian biography western region

Historical science has always paid tribute to the coverage of outstanding personalities' life path. In independent Ukraine historical and biographical research, compared to the previous (Soviet) historiographical period, rose to a qualitatively new level, acquired a new breath and new sounding. The researchers focused on the names of those people who influenced the development of Ukrainian socio-political, national and cultural life, played an important role in self-affirmation of the Ukrainian nation, and whose knowledge, life experience laid the foundation for the modern identity formation of the Ukrainians. Western Ukrainian intellectuals, who lived and worked during the interwar period in Poland, Soviet Ukraine or in exile, belonged to this kind of people.

The Analysis of Recent Research. In historiographical aspect the socio-political life of the Ukrainians in interwar Poland has already been analysed by S. Vidnianskyi, L. Zashkilniak, M. Kucherepa, and V. Futala. However, biohistoriography of national and cultural processes in the western lands of Ukraine in the 1920s and 1930s is at the initial stage of study. Only some of its fragments are covered in the scientific works of I. Zabolotna (Zabolotna, 2007), М. Zuliak (Zuliak, 2016), Yu. Drevnitskyi (Drevnitskyi, 2010) and the others. Therefore, a comprehensive biohistoriographical research has not been done until recently. However, the situation in the field of scientific research methodology is better. During the past few years, there appeared original publications on implementation of modern research approaches in biographical studies (Adadurov, 2020; Demuz, Zlenko & Isaikina, 2019; Kalakura, 2020). On the one hand, these publications prove that within the framework of anthropological turn in historical science, biography study has done a lot for the research of creative individuals' life, and on the other hand, the study of history through the prism of a person has great internal reserves.

The purpose of the publication is to elucidate the results of scientific analysis of Western Ukrainian intellectuals' activities during the interwar period by modern Ukrainian scholars, to find out the directions and tendencies of the research issue, to personify researchers' contribution to the study issue, in particular, to present their judgments, to predict the prospects of further research. The main historiographical facts are in the author's field of vision.

The Results of the Research

Yu. Romanchuk was a vivid representative of the Ukrainian intelligentsia in Galicia, who at the beginning of modern era came to the forefront of the Ukrainian national life. The biography of this highly educated and erudite person attracted attention of many researchers - O. Pylypyshyn, I. Chornovil, Yu. Plekan, I. Raikivskyi, I. Deichakivskyi, and the others. They depicted Yu. Romanchuk as a long-standing social and political, cultural and educational leader of the Galician Ukrainians. O. Melenchuk elucidated the role and significance of T. Shevchenko's ideas in Yu. Romanchuk's political, pedagogical, publishing and educational activities. V. Kachmar elucidated Yu. Romanchuk's struggle for the Ukrainian University in Lviv. Separate aspects of his state-building and educational work were highlighted by V. Kachkan. This individuality took an important place in historical and pedagogical studies of B. Stuparyk, P. Khmeliovskyi, R. Volianiuk, I. Havryshchak, and the others. However, this issue was analysed by V. Bulachek and O. Sovhar more fully (Bulachek, 2011; Sovhar, 2019).

Thus, V. Bulachek did research on the formation and evolution of Yu. Romanchuk's views on the main problems of the Ukrainian national movement, the influence of political factors on a personal life, relations with famous public and political figures of the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th centuries. The researcher highlighted Yu. Romanchuk's personality as one of the founders of many Ukrainian national, cultural and economic institutions. V. Bulachek proved that during the national liberation struggle of 1914 - 1923, Yu. Romanchuk supported the idea of independence of Western Ukraine, he was a member of the Ukrainian National Council, and administered the oath of office to the members of the State Secretariat of the Western Ukrainian People's Republic (ZUNR). In the 1920s, he held the unofficial position of an elder of the Ukrainian political community of Western Ukraine, promoted consolidation processes in his environment, supported the idea of creating a legal centrist political force of the region - the Ukrainian National Democratic Association (UNDO).

For the first time in the Ukrainian historical and pedagogical science, O. Sovhar did a systematic research on the creative heritage, pedagogical and multifaceted social, (primarily educational) activities of Yu. Romanchuk. At the same time, she proved that Yu. Romanchuk fought for the creation of the national system of school education, reorganization of primary and secondary schools, creation of special institutions for teacher training, and ensuring continuity among different types of educational institutions. Considering a published word as the main means of forming national consciousness, this highly intelligent person directed significant efforts to the creation and distribution of the Ukrainian books, founding numerous libraries and reading rooms, publishing books, magazines and calendars in the Ukrainian language.

K. Levytsky, a socio-political activist and statesman, lived to great fame in the Western Ukrainian society. During the interwar period, he was a member of the UNDO Central Committee, but he no longer played a decisive role in politics; he worked as a director of the Central Bank in Lviv; he headed the Union of Ukrainian Lawyers; he had a remarkable talent as a researcher of the political history of Ukraine at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th centuries. His work “History of Political Thought of Galician Ukrainians in 1848 - 1914”, written in 1926, is considered to be the basic one in the process of studying the history of the Ukrainian national movement of the 19th century.

The first edition of K. Levytsky's biography in the form of a small book was carried out by I. Andrukhiv (Andrukhiv, 1995). In his candidate's thesis (2007) I. Vasylyk focused on the social and political activity of K. Levytsky by 1918 in a more thorough way (Vasylyk, 2007). In 2012 the researcher published her work in a book format (Vasylyk, 2012). The statesmanship and political activities of K. Levytsky were also in the field of view of other authors, such as: M. Hutsuliak, M. Kuhutiak, M. Lytvyn and K. Naumenko, I. Chornovil, S. Makarchuk. T. Andrusiak, O. Haidukevych, and N. Shumanska focused on the analysis of K. Levytsky's legal views. The place and role of the actor in the development of the Ukrainian credit cooperative in Galicia was analysed by S. Heley. However, a general research on K. Levytsky has not been done yet.

The situation is better with the biographical portrait of M. Lozynsky, who is recorded in history as a jurist, politician, diplomat, scholar, publicist, and translator. M. Lozynsky wrote dozens of works on historical, state-legal, international and legal issues. The book “Halychyna in 1918 - 1920” published in 1922 is especially valuable for historians. In the book, the author, on the basis of published documentary materials and his own impressions, tried to understand and describe the political realities that took place in Galicia during the formation of the ZUNR.

In 1995, Lviv historian O. Sukhyi published a scientific study “Mykhailo Lozynsky: Scholar, Public Figure, Politician”, in which he elucidated his growth as a public and political figure, participation in the ZUNR formation and its foreign policy formation. M. Lozynsky's creative heritage was also analysed. Kyiv historians O. Rubliov and Yu. Cherchenko were the first ones who did the research on the Soviet period of M. Lozynsky's activity. N. Stetsiuk and S. Osadchuk were interested in the legal aspects of the scholar's research works. Some aspects of M. Lozynsky's activity as a historian and diplomat were also highlighted in the dissertations of O. Pavliuk, I. Lisna, O. Krasivskyi, V Velykochii, and N. Oleshko. However, M. Oliinyk did a comprehensive research, taking into consideration the entire range of historical sources. In his PhD thesis (Oliinyk, 2011) such aspects as transformation of M. Lozynsky's views at the initial stage of his public and journalistic work were reflected; there were analysed political and diplomatic activity of M. Lozynsky during the ZUNR period; scientific, public and political activities of M. Lozynsky during his emigration; M. Lozynsky's activity in scientific institutions of Soviet Ukraine; the content and significance of the scholar's scientific and journalistic works written during the Soviet period.

Dozens of works of various genres were written about M. Hrushevskyi's most talented student, I. Krypiakevych. All-Ukrainian scientific readings “Ivan Krypiakevych in Family Tradition, Science, Society” are traditional, which take place under the initiative and support of I. Krypiakevych Institute of Ukrainian Studies. Two separate issues of the scientific collection “Ukraine: Cultural Heritage, National Consciousness, Statehood” were published under the same names (Issue 8, 2001; Issue 28, 2016). The first of them includes the scholar's autobiography-memoirs, a bibliography of his scientific and literary works, a selection of the historian's works written at different times, documents and letters, articles and memories about him. The next issue of the thematic collection is formed according to the same model. Important words were wtitten about the meter of historical science by L. Vynar, L. Voitovych, Ya. Dashkevych, O. Dombrovskyi, Ya. Isaievych, R. Krypiakevych, O. Rubliov, Yu. Slyvka, F. Steblii, O. Pritsak, Ya. Fedoruk, and etc.

Among the works written by the above mentioned authors, it is worth highlighting the work of Ya. Dashkevych, published both in the above mentioned and in other publications - for example, in the scholar's collection of works “Figures: Essays on Figures of History, Politics, Culture” (Dashkevych, 2007). In one of the essays there is traced the growth process of I. Krypiakevych as a historian and the main milestones of his scientific activity. As the researcher noted, the historical seminars of M. Hrushevskyi, the Historical and Philosophical Section of T. Shevchenko Scientific Society (National Academy of Sciences), Archaeological Commission of National Academy of Sciences - this was the main, but not the only, issue of I. Krypiakevych's activities before World War I. The young historian was not a cabinet scholar, he was interested in the issues that were often far from the main core of scientific studies - students' movement, educational activities, science popularization journalism, etc. (Dashkevych, 2007, p. 475). The most outstanding achievements of an already authoritative scholar in the 20s and 30s of the 20th century. Ya. Dashkevych analysed the work “Studies on the State of Bohdan Khmelnytskyi”. At the same time, topics from historical geography and historical cartography arise. A separate page of I. Krypiakevych's scientific activity is cooperation with the All-Ukrainian Academy of Sciences (UAS) in Kyiv and other scientific institutions of Soviet Ukraine. However, cooperation of scientific efforts, not having time to strengthen, was destroyed by the party-Soviet nomenclature soon rudely, the era of great terror in Greater Ukraine was coming (Dashkevych, 2007, p. 477). During the post-war years, harassment of the nationally conscious intelligentsia had cynical forms, I. Krypiakevych especially felt it. During the “thaw” period that followed after 1953, the release of the monograph “Bohdan Khmelnytskyi” (1954) was the biggest milestone in the sciholar's scientific biography and work as director of the Institute of Social Sciences of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR in Lviv (1953 - 1962). According to Ya. Dashkevych's observation, the “half-and-half policy” used by the scholar-intellectual in his activities produced results. Almost ten years of directorship became, despite all the obstacles and difficulties on the path of academic science, still a bright day in the history of the institute (Dashkevych, 2007, p. 480).

In the candidate's thesis of N. Klymenko (Klymenko, 2009) cultural and educational activity of I. Krypiakevych is highlighted. Factors that influenced the formation of his worldview beliefs and civic position were analysed. Pedagogical activity of I. Krypiakevych both in secondary general educational institutions and in higher education, his participation in the process of textbook writing were studied. Basic history textbooks and manuals are characterized. His significant contribution to the methodology of teaching History, education of young people, and to the formation of Ukrainian schooling is substantiated. The educational activity of I. Krypiakevych as a member of the “Prosvita” Society (an organizer and head of the “Prosvita Circle”) was studied, the purpose of which was to establish libraries and distribute books among the Ukrainian population, open Ukrainian schools, and work on the issues of the adult population education.

The subject of I. Zabolotna's research was the formation process of I. Krypiakevych as a person and a scholar, his life path and scientific activity, archeographic and source history heritage (Zabolotna, 2005). In the course of the research, it was proved that I. Krypiakevych made a significant contribution to the development of practical and theoretical source studies. The scholar deserves a great credit for the study and systematization of documentary and narrative sources. The scholar's important contribution to practical source studies was his special research on chronicles, memoirs, epistolary and acts. The author found out that I. Krypiakevych had his approach to the definition of a historical source, classification of sources, source criticism, he made a significant contribution to the development of spragistics, bibliography, diplomacy, paleography, chronology, numismatics, historiography, archival studies. His theoretical and practical contribution to the methodology of historical research is important.

The publication of the collection “Ivan Krypiakevych. To the 120th Anniversary of his Birth” can be considered as an event in the scientific life of Ukraine, the author of which was V. Hrabovetskyi, a student of an outstanding historian (Hrabovetskyi, 2005). The collection contains scientific articles by V. Hrabovetskyi about the life and historical work of I. Krypiakevych, as well as materials from his home archive about the mentor's activities in the 1950s and 1960s. This edition also contains materials about V Hrabovetskyi's contribution to the development of historical science, his creation of the Precarpathian School of History at the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries, information on the laureates of the Academician I. Krypiakevych Prize. Thus, the collection proves the continuity in the Ukrainian national historiography, the continuation of I. Krypiakevych's issue.

The representative of M. Hrushevsky's school of history was an outstanding Ukrainian scholar, professor M. Korduba, who made a fundamental contribution to the development of historical, economic, geographical and onomastic sciences. At the beginning of the 2000s, Ternopil researcher I. Fedoriv began to study M. Korduba's scientific heritage thoroughly, as evidenced by the publication of the monograph “Myron Korduba in the History of Ukraine (the end of the 19th - first half of the 20th century)” in 2001. This work formed the basis of her PhD thesis (Fedoriv, 2004), in which the life and activities of M. Korduba were comprehensively researched, and his historical role as a scholar, public and political figure at the end of the 19th - in the first half of the 20th centuries was clarified. In the dissertation, the influence of M. Hrushevskyi on the formation of M. Korduba's scientific outlook is determined and their creative relations are analysed. The historian's national-state concept is theoretically substantiated. At the same time, the author drew attention to the ethnogenesis issue of the Ukrainian people in M. Korduba's interpretation and his study of the Ukrainian state formation traditions.

There was made the attempt to do a historical and bio-bibliographic research of M. Korduba's creative activity (Kulchytska, 2012). This is a special type of bibliography, which includes a personal index, the subject of which is the life and activities of M. Korduba, bio-bibliographic dictionaries and directories containing material about the scholar, catalogues of book exhibitions, bibliographical and methodological materials for the jubilee dates of the figure, etc. In the context of scientific research genre, the work of O. Pikh and O. Ruda should be mentioned - “Bibliography of History of Ukrainian-Polish Relations: Socio-Political and Economic Processes (Based on the Materials of Myron Korduba's Card Library)” (in Lviv, 2009). The first reprint of the scholar's works in independent Ukraine, prepared by N. Tkachova and O. Tkachova - “Korduba Myron. Selected articles” is worth mentioning (in Thernopil, 2011). The collection includes his separate historical works, some conceptual, polemical and literary explorations. Significant publications about this figure were also written by V. Batiuk, I. Hyrych, Ya. Dashkevych, V. Pedych, O. Rubliov, Ya. Serkiz, V. Telvak, N. Yusova, O. Yasia, and the others.

I. Krevetskyi also belonged to the Lviv historical school, formed within the framework of M. Hrushevskyi's scientific seminar. He, like M. Korduba, presented a new statist trend in the Ukrainian historical science, was a notable bibliographer, public figure. In the study of the authoritative historian's scientific heritage the priority belongs to F. Steblii, Lviv researcher. Several of his special articles formed the basis of a brochure entitled “Ivan Krevetskyi - Statesman-Historian” (Lviv, 2003), in which the latter is treated as the founder and the first interpreter of the Ukrainian historiography statesmanship direction.

N.Hirna did a comprehensive research on the scientific, public and political activities of I. Krevetskyi. In her dissertation (Hirna, 2015) the historical conditions for the formation of the scholar's worldview were clarified and his activities as a representative of the state school were highlighted; the range of scientific interests of the researcher was elucidated, such as: agrarian movements of 1848 - 1849, military history of the middle of the 19th century, history of cultural values and the press; the historiographic concept of the scholar was formulated. In the thesis there was analysed the historian's participation in the national and cultural life of Galicia and his work as a librarian. The author, as well as F. Steblii, asserted that I. Krevetskyi contributed to the birth and further scientific, theoretical establishment of the statist school in the Ukrainian historical science.

Another well-known representative of the statist school of historians was S. Tomashivskyi. In addition, he lived the glory of the intellectual of Ukrainian modern conservatism. Scientific creativity, social and political work of S. Tomashivskyi attracted attention of M. Shvahulyak,

O.Sukhyi, K. Kondratiuk, N. Bortniak, V Telvak, O. Yasia, however, these issues are the most fully reflected in N. Khalak's dissertation (Khalak, 1999). As the researcher found out, in S. Tomashivskyi's scientific works of the pre-war period, evolution is traced: from imitating the Ukrainian populist historiography to subordinating one's own scientific interests to urgent tasks solution of the Ukrainian politics in Galicia. In the works of S. Tomashivskyi during the period of World War I Ukraine is interpreted as a separate national organism, independent of Poland and Russia. He saw the future Ukrainian state as sovereign on all ethnic Ukrainian lands, but he associated the solution of the Ukrainian issue with Galicia, which, in his opinion, had better opportunities for national, political and cultural development as part of Austria-Hungary than Ukraine under Russian rule. The basis of his research was the Ukrainian national idea, the development of which followed from the 15 th century to the beginning of the 20th century

A famous scholar K. Studynsky occupies an important place among prominent scholars, social and cultural figures, who contributed to Ukrainian cultural and scientific life by their work.

It should be noted that this figure remained in the shadow of researchers for a long time: during the Soviet era, the work of K. Studynsky was silenced due to his Ukrainian-centric views, and during the first years of Ukrainian independence, he was reminded of his ardent Sovietophile. However, the last circumstance did not really affect the scientific interests of the famous Ukrainian linguist U. Iedlinska. In 1992, she wrote a test article that paved the way for her to write a major work on the role of an academician in the socio-political and cultural life of Ukraine at the end of the 19th and the first half of the 20th centuries (Iedlinska, 2006). The author made public little-known facts of K. Studinsky's life, provided a bibliography of the scholar's works, and based on the epistolary heritage, characterized his cooperation with prominent representatives of Ukrainian science and culture. L. Senyk, O. Romaniv, O. Arkusha, L. Sholohon, O. Rubliov, and the others analysed this issue in part. However, the main array of documentary materials revealing K. Studynsky's place in the national revival of Ukraine was not analysed. This became the motivation for A. Klish to write a candidate's thesis, which was successfully defended in 2008 (Klish, 2008). In it, the author thoroughly considered the process of formation and evolution of the worldview and scientific views of the figure, did research on his activities as the long-term chairman of the National Academy of Sciences, showed the place and role of an intellectual in the social and political life of Western Ukraine during the interwar period, highlighted his relations with famous contemporaries, public, enlightened and political organizations. In addition, A. Klish analysed the literary and editorial and publishing activities of K. Studynsky, showed the importance of his creative heritage to national science.

During the interwar period, A. Krushelnytskyi also very clearly demonstrated his proSoviet orientations and sympathies - a writer, a literary critic, a teacher, a publisher-editor of the literary magazines of the Sovietophile direction “New Ways” and “Kiytyka”, the author of the biographical essay “Ivan Franko”, etc. In the candidate thesis of Ternopil researcher M. Zuliak (Zuliak, 2015) comprehensively, based on a wide range of historical sources, public and political, cultural and educational activity of A. Krushelnytskyi is presented, in particular, the process of his formation as a personality and an ascetic of Ukrainian culture is analysed, attention is drawn to the author's work, publishing and editorial work. The publication of I. Zuliak and A. Klish also contains elements of novelty on this issue (Zulyak & Klish, 2019).

M. Halushchynskyi, whose life and activities were reconstructed in detail by A. Prokip, became a prominent organizer of gymnasium education and other public affairs in Galicia. In the candidate's thesis (Prokip, 2003) and in numerous articles he depicted M. Halushchynskyi as a figure who made a significant contribution to the process of creating Ukrainian statehood and contributed to the development of the national self-awareness of Western Ukrainians. The author proved that M. Halushchynskyi was a theoretician and organizer of educational work in Galicia, who for the first time initiated and substantiated a new direction in Ukrainian culture - education for adults. He realized his leadership abilities to the fullest extent as the chairman of the “Prosvita” Society, for which he developed a programme, contributed to the restoration and creation of new branches and reading rooms, established and significantly expanded publishing activities. It was during the chairmanship of M. Halushchynskyi that the “Prosvita” Society reached a qualitatively new level in its activities and became the largest Ukrainian cultural and educational organization.

As a politician, M. Halushchynskyi belonged to the Ukrainian national and democratic environment, the leader of which was V Mudryi for a long time. The integral image of the latter was created by Ya. Komarnytskyi (Komarnytskyi, 2008). The author showed that V. Mudryi's public work found a natural and consistent continuation in the “Prosvita” Society. He was the organizer of the society revival during the interwar period, supported the creation of new branches and reading rooms, the development of library issue, he became the founder of a number of publications. The most effective was the work in the Committee for the construction of the monument to Ivan Franko and Business Committee to help the starving in Soviet Ukraine. V. Mudryi had a great influence on the activities of the periodical “Dilo”, his intellectual and organizational abilities were highly appreciated in the UNDO environment (in 1927 - 1935 he served as the editor-in-chief of the magazine).

V. Starosolskyi was a well-known Western Ukrainian political figure of the left-centre direction during the interwar period. He is also known as a sociologist, lawyer, professor, an active member of the National Academy of Sciences since 1923. The life path and multifaceted scientific, public and political activity of V Starosolskyi, his role in the development and propagation of the Ukrainian national idea and the national and patriotic consciousness formation of people was highlighted by Yu. Drevnitskyi (Drevnitskyi, 2012). The sociological, historical and ethnological studies of V Starosolskyi, his view on the state, organizational and pedagogical activities were in the epicentre of research focus. In particular, the author concluded that V. Starosolskyi's theory of the nation retained scientific significance in the context of modern political science research.

On famous ethnographers, folklorists, linguists, literary critics, public figures, academics V. Hnatiuk and M. Vozniak, our contemporaries did research - M. Mushynka, a famous folklorist, art critic, literary critic, head of the Association of the Ukrainians in Slovakia (Mushynka, 2012), as well as M. Nechytaliuk, long-time Professor of the Ukrainian Press Department, Faculty of Journalism, Ivan Franko National University of Lviv (Nechytaliuk, 2000). The monograph by I. Holovatskyi is dedicated to I. Rakovsky, the famous Ukrainian anthropologist and zoologist, teacher, a public figure, head of the National Academy of Sciences in 1935 - 1940 (Holovatskyi, 2004). Mainly, owing to the scientific research of

O.Shablii, the glorious name and works of S. Rudnytskyi, the academician, geographer, cartographer and ethnographer, the founder of Ukrainian physical, political and military geography was brought back from oblivion (Shablii, 1993). By the way, his brother was Yu. Opilskyi, the Western Ukrainian writer and historical novelist, and his brother-in-law was S. Dnistrianskyi, the Ukrainian legal scholar and political figure, the author of the draft Constitution of the Ukrainian People's Republic of Ukraine, an active member of the National Academy of Sciences, academician of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences (1927).

P.Stetsiuk, Lviv researcher, wrote the candidate's thesis under the title “Projects of the ZUNR Constitution of Academician Stanislav Dnistrianskyi” (1997) and the monograph (Stetsiuk, 1999) about the latter. After P. Stetsiuk, three more candidate theses were written (specialty 12.00.01 - theory and history of the state and law; history of political and legal scholars) dedicated to this figure (V Vozny, A. Koval, A. Savchak). The encyclopedic article of M. Ilnytskyi, a modern authoritative literary critic, about Yu. Opilskyi illustrates that the prosopographical portrait of this writer has not yet been created. There is also O. Shablii's monograph in the research work dedicated to the student of S. Dnistrianskyi - V. Kubiyovych, a famous geographer, demographer, a public and political figure, a member of the National Academy of Sciences since 1931, one of the organizers of Ukrainian science in the West in the 1950s - 1970s (Shablii, 1996).

The history of the Rudnytskyi family, in particular, the life path of the five talented children of Ivan (1855 - 1906) and Olha (1862 - 1950) Rudnytski, requires a thorough study: a leading literary critic and esthete Mykhailo, a lawyer and public figure Volodymyr, a head of the Ukrainian women's movement and politician Milena, long-time correspondent and later editor of the newspaper “Dilo”, Ivan, a pioneer of Ukrainian journalism, Anton, a musician, conductor and composer. However, there are published articles about M. Rudnytska by M. Bohachevska-Khomiak, O. Krasivskyi, and M. Hachkovskyi, which deal with her social and political activities. In addition, M. Diadiuk, Lviv researcher organized a collection about M. Rudnytska, which contains correspondence, articles and public speeches of the figure (Diadiuk, 1998). Several publications (mainly in encyclopedic editions) of Ya. Hrytsak, S. Kulchytskyi, V. Markus, O. Pritsak, I. Khymka, and the others are dedicated to I. Kedryn- Rudnytskyi and I. Lysiak-Rudnytskyi (a son of P. Lysiak and M. Rudnytska). However, a comprehensive study of the life and activities history of the mentioned above highly educated and public people needs further research.

Among the Ukrainian elite of Western Volyn, A. Richynskyi stood out for his multifaceted activities. It is not by chance that various genres of work are devoted to this figure, among which scientific publications dominate. Thus, I. Skakalska presented the views of A. Richynskyi on the main issues of the Ukrainian national revival of the 20th century, and P. Kraliuk did research on his scientific heritage. The participation of a historical figure in the Ukrainization of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in the 1920s and 1930s was elucidated by V. Borshchevych, N. Stokolos, and M. Kucherep. However, this segment of the issue was the most fully research by O. Aloshyna (Aloshyna, 2011). As the author rightly believes, A. Rychynskyi's multifaceted activities - educational with young people in the “Prosvita” Society and “Plast”, journalistic and scientific - were aimed at training a new generation of like-minded people.

In her doctoral dissertation and monograph of 2013, I. Skakalska comprehensively did research on the political and social dimensions and ethno-cultural transformations of the Ukrainian elite of Western Volyn in 1921 - 1939 (Skakalska, 2013). In particular, she found out the sources of formation, social situation, peculiarities of the activity of the advanced layer of the Ukrainian people through the prism of public associations, parties and the work of Parliament. It is illustrated that the Ukrainian elite contributed to the development of education and culture, encouraged compatriots to participate in the cooperative movement. The leading ideas of scientific and journalistic works of intellectuals have been characterized and determined. It has been proven that the growth of national consciousness and political activity of the Ukrainian population, which marked the life of Western Volyn in the 20s and 30s of the 20th century, was caused by the activities of the elite.

The collective publication of V. Telvak, O. Salata, and A. Novacki contains a lot of biographical information on intellectual work figures (Telvak, Salata & Nowacki, 2022). However, when it comes to biographical plots in synthetic works, the work of O. Rublov should be singled out first of all. In the monograph of 1994, which was written in co-authorship (Rublov & Cherchenko, 1994), the cooperation and participation of Eastern and Western Ukrainian intellectuals in the processes of national revival in post-Soviet Ukraine, the repression of the totalitarian regime against natives of Western Ukraine, and the attitude of the foreign Ukrainian public to these repressions became the epicentre of research focus. attention.

These issues and a number of other important issues related to the fate of the Western Ukrainian intelligentsia were reflected in O. Rublov's doctoral dissertation and his monograph, published in 2004 (Rublov, 2004). The author elucidated the role of people, who dealt with creative work in the western region of Ukraine in the policy implementation of “Ukrainization” in Soviet Ukraine, more thoroughly, elucidated the scientific and cultural ties of the intelligentsia of Right Bank Ukraine and Left Bank Ukraine, did research on the use of such a powerful factor of influence by the Bolshevik administration in its policy towards Western Ukrainian intellectuals and artists, as a financial, outlined and analysed the “Galician segment” of the general anti-Ukrainian repressive policy of the Bolshevik regime in the 1930s. It was concluded that “in contrast to the “liberal” tsar, the Russian communist regime sought liquidation or at least imprisonment/exile of all family members of Western Ukrainian intellectuals who for one reason or another ended up in post-Soviet Ukraine, and ideally - to their complete destruction “Galicians” (natives of the western regions of the national territory) as a separate “repressive-liquidation” category” (Rublov, 2004, p. 568).

The Conclusion

Modern rapid rise of biographical research, the growth of general interest in biographical knowledge became possible owing to the independence of Ukraine.

The researchers paid much attention to the representatives of the creative minority of Western Ukrainians, who had a direct impact on the cultural and intellectual development of citizenship, participated in the creation or design of new ethical and behavioral models, scientific views, and formation of people's worldview. A peculiarity of the Western Ukrainian elite was that its spokesmen were closely connected with the social and political movement, national life. Historical portraits of M. Vozniak, M. Halushchynskyi, V Hnatiuk, S. Dnistrianskyi, M. Korduba, I. Krevetskyi, I. Krypiakevych, K. Levytskyi, M. Lozynskyi, V. Mudry, Yu. Romanchuk, K. Studynskyi, S. Rudnytskyi, V. Starosolskyi, S. Tomashivskyi are relatively well presented. At the same time, there is a need to continue research using the prosopographic method in order to replenish the information base about the individual activities of well-known teachers, scholars, public figures - I. Bryk, I. Halushchynskyi, F. Kolessa, D. Korents, I. Kedryn-Rudnytskyi, M. Rudnytskyi, O. Terletskyi, V. Shchurat, Ya. Voitiuk, K. Soshynskyi, and the others. The problem of researchers taking into account the entire complex of facts of a personal, professional, situational and bibliographic nature remains topical, without which it is impossible to create scientific biographies of intellectual and cultural figures of Western Ukraine of the interwar period.

Acknowledgement. We express our sincere gratitude to the editors for the opportunity to publish the article.

Funding. The author received no financial support for the research and publication of this article.

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