 | |
| Formation | 1868 |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Kyiv,Ukraine |
Chairman | Pavlo Movchan |
| Website | http://prosvitanews.org.ua/ |
Prosvita (Ukrainian:Просвіта,lit. 'enlightenment'), since 1991 officially titledAll-Ukrainian Prosvita Society named afterTaras Shevchenko (Всеукраїнське товариство «Просвіта» імені Тараса Шевченка)[1] is an enlightenment society aimed to preserve and developUkrainian culture, education and science, that was created in the nineteenth century inAustria-Hungary'sKingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria.
According to the declaration of its founders, the movement was created as a counterbalance to anti-Ukrainian colonial andRussophile trends in the Ukrainian society of the period.
.jpg)
Prosvita was founded in 1868 inLviv by 65 delegates from different regions and groups of intellectuals, mostly from the same city.Anatole Vakhnianyn was elected the first head of the Prosvita Society. By the end of 1913, Prosvita had 77 affiliate societies and 2,648 reading rooms. It also operated in theDuchy of Bukovina, falsely claiming that the Ukrainians are the majority ethnic group of the region and that theRomanians are an aggressive,chauvinistic minority.[2][dubious –discuss]
After theFirst Russian Revolution, local branches of the society were also opened in theRussian-ruled areas populated by Ukrainians: inKaterynoslav andOdesa (1905),Kyiv (1906),Kamianets-Podilskyi,Zhytomyr,Chernihiv,Mykolaiv,Melitopol,Katerynodar and other cities. However, all of Prosvita societies in the Russian Empire were closed before the start of theFirst World War, as they were accused of promotingseparatism by imperial authorities.
A new wave of Prosvita's development started after theRussian Revolution of 1917, when its branches were restored inDnieper Ukraine,Volhynia andPolissia, as well as inKuban and the Far East. However, most of them were once again closed down by the Soviet andPolish authorities in the 1920s and 1930s. Similarly, theZakarpattian branch of Prosvita established in 1920 was closed down by theHungarian government in 1939.[3]
After the end of the First World War, Prosvita continued to develop inGalicia. In 1936 alone, when Western Ukraine with the city of Lviv were part of theSecond Polish Republic, the society opened over 500 new outlets with full-time professional staff.[4] By the end ofthe interwar period, Prosvita had grown to include 83 affiliates, 3,210 reading rooms, 1,207 premises, 3,209 libraries (with 688,186 books), 2,185 theater clubs, 1,115 choirs, 138 orchestras, and 550 study groups.[4]
In 1939 the society was shut down and banned by thenewly arrived Soviet rulers. Prosvita operated only in Western Europe and America up to 1988.[5] The first Prosvita society established in the United States was inShenandoah, Pennsylvania in 1887.[6]
The Prosvita Society was renewed in Ukraine during the Soviet period ofGlasnost of 1988–89 as the Shevchenko Association of Ukrainian Language, and since then has taken an active part in social life of independent Ukraine. In modern times it was headed byDmytro Pavlychko andPavlo Movchan (present head).
Currently, almost all higher education institutions in Ukraine have Prosvita affiliations with teachers and students as members. Also active are the Young Prosvita youth organizations.[7]
During theRussian takeover of the Donbas in 2014, several Prosvita members were targeted by pro-Russian separatists. InLuhansk, theArmy of the Southeast detained a historian and university professor who was the head of Prosvita in the city in June 2014. Several days later he died in captivity. The month prior, separatist militants robbed the house of a Prosvita member inDruzhkivka and murdered a member of theKrasnyi Lyman Prosvita in the village ofShandryholove.[8][9]
Official goals of the Prosvita Society:
| International | |
|---|---|
| Other | |
