Granì (Jun 2017)
Stavropigiyskiy Institute and the Society of St. Basil the Great: the history of the establishment, activities, relationships
Abstract
On the background of social and economic shocks in Ukraine, problems of the inter-regional cooperation’s studying become very actual. Cultural relations between Galicia and Transcarpathia, Ukrainian lands which belonged earlier to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, have been reflected in historical and publicist literature many times. The author has also scrutinized this problem, in particular, an essay about the activity and cooperation between two well-known societies of nineteenth century, Stavropigiysky Institute in Lviv and the Society of St. Basil in Uzhgorod, has been submitted. During the second half of the nineteenth century both institutions were centers of cultural and, to certain extent, the social and political life of two western Ukrainian regions. The aim of the study is to submit the profound history of these societies’ foundation and their cultural and social political activities, formation and legal registration of the mutual cooperation, based on the processed sources and historic-graphical materials. The material, which is devoted to cultural relations has its separate scientific value as it is not studied enough. The structure of these societies, their financial status, directions of activities, scientific work, place and role in society of their times have been analyzed by the author of the publication. Attention is focused on a certain politicization of the activity of organizations, which by their origin had cultural and educational nature. The article includes also material which is describing the government’s attitude to the activities of societies and relevant effects of polonization and magyarization on their members. New materials concerning cultural cooperation problems of mentioned societies have been introduced into the scientific circulation in this publication. First of all, it is related to the signed agreement between Stavropigiyskiy Institute and the Society of St. Basil the Great, which is dedicated to sales process of church and secular literature. Epistolary communication between superiors of the societies has also been analyzed. Private letters is an important source for researchers. They have great scientific value. They are especially valuable for studying the heritage of famous historical figures, as in such letters different thoughts, which sometimes were not embodied in the scientific works, were often described. A description of correspondence between scientists, its subjects, importance for the implementation of private co-operation and cultural development has been offered by the author of the essay. The archives are the subject of the special scientific value. The authors of the studied letters discussed extremely important issues, such as magyarization of the intelligentsia of Transcarpathia, the influence of polonization on public life in Galicia and, as the consequence, the rapid spread of russophile sentiments there. In the analyzed letters a lot of information has been found, which proves the existence of close contacts on both sides of the Carpathians. The correspondence between people of Transcarpathia and Galicia to certain extent revived culture and education in the Region. Based on the processed material, conclusions of the study about the role of Stavropigiysky Institute in Lviv and the Society of St. Basil in Uzhgorod on the cultural development of Ukrainian lands in general have been made, and also about the importance of their mutual cooperation for inter-regional unity of Ukrainian lands. This fact is especially important in modern situation in Ukraine.
Keywords
