TheEncyclopedia of Ukraine (Ukrainian:Енциклопедія українознавства,romanized: Entsyklopediia ukrainoznavstva), published from 1984 to 2001, is a fundamental work ofUkrainian studies.
The work was created under the auspices of theShevchenko Scientific Society in Europe (Sarcelles, near Paris). As theEncyclopedia of Ukrainian Studies it conditionally consists of two parts, the first being a general part that consists of a three volume reference work divided in to subjects or themes. The second part is a 10 volume encyclopedia with entries arranged alphabetically.[1]
The editor-in-chief of Volumes I and II (published in 1984 and 1988 respectively) wasVolodymyr Kubijovyč.[2] The concluding three volumes, with Danylo Husar Struk as editor-in-chief, appeared in 1993.[3] The encyclopedia set came with a 30-pageMap & Gazetteer of Ukraine compiled by Kubijovyč and Arkadii Zhukovsky. It contained a detailed fold-out map (scale 1:2,000,000).
A final volume,Encyclopedia of Ukraine: Index and Errata, containing only the index and a list of errata to volumes 1–5, was published by theCanadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies [uk] in 2001. It was compiled by Andrij Makuch and Irene Popowycz.
The 1955 dictionary part was reprinted inUkraine (1993–2003).
A two-volume version of the general part of the encyclopedia was published asUkraine: A Concise Encyclopedia in 1963 and 1970.
Subsequently, a larger project based on the dictionary part was launched as theEncyclopedia of Ukraine. In 1984–93 the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies at theUniversity of Alberta Faculty of Arts, with the help of the Canadian Foundation of Ukrainian Studies and the Shevchenko Scientific Society in Europe,[4] prepared an English-language version of the encyclopedia,[3][4][5] published by theUniversity of Toronto Press.[4] It consists of five volumes, almost 4,000 pages and some 12,500 alphabetical entries. It was described in theCanadian Journal of History as "the most comprehensive and balanced work in the English language on Ukraine and Ukrainians in the diaspora" and a "monumental publication".[3][4]
Shortly after Ukraine became independent in 1991, the newly revivedShevchenko Scientific Society inLviv, under the direction ofOleh Romaniv [uk], reprinted the dictionary part of Kubijovyč's Ukrainian-languageEncyclopedia of Ukraine for the first timein Ukraine, in eleven volumes released from 1993 to 2003.[6][7]
In an essay in volume one, Romaniv wrote that theEncyclopedia of Ukraine demonstrates an exemplar of Ukrainian bias and preconception in relation to Russia, which was very typical for the works of theUkrainian diaspora during the period when Ukraine was part of the USSR.[8]
TheInternet Encyclopedia of Ukraine is a free English-language online encyclopedia with a wide range of articles about Ukraine, including its history, people, geography, economy and culture.[9] Upon completion, theIEU will be the most authoritative and comprehensive Internet-based resource in English on Ukraine and Ukrainians. As of May 2025 it contained some 11,000 entries and 8,000 illustrations.[10][11]
As of 2022,[update] the encyclopedia team consisted of Marko R. Stech (editor-in-chief), Serhiy Bilenky (consulting scholarly editor), Tania Plawuszczak-Stech (senior scholarly editor), Larysa Bilous, and a team of subject editors. The website was designed by Jaroslaw Kiebalo; Walter Kiebalo acted as consulting designer.[12][13]
The Encyclopedia received generally positive reviews from Western academic reviewers. Myroslav Shkandrij reviewed the Encyclopedia for theJournal of Ukrainian Studies in 1993, observing that the project "appears to have won the admiration, indeed the enthusiastic endorsement, of almost all reviewers".[2]
The encyclopedia has been criticised for its portrayal ofantisemitism, symptomatic of a broader historical bias in Ukrainian studies.[14] Kubijovyč's original print editions lacked an entry onthe Holocaust and, in the 1984 entry on antisemitism, it stated "there has never... been a Ukrainian anti-Semitic organization or political party".[15][14] An entry on the Holocaust was contributed byDieter Pohl in 2007.[16]
