ACTIVITIES AFFILIATE OF THE “PROSVITA” IN THE TOWN KOLOMYIA (late XIXth – early XXth centuries)

Abstract

The article analyzes the activities affiliate of the “Prosvita” in Kolomyia (late XIX^th – early XX^th centuries).

Тhe statutes of “Prosvita” concerning organization of activity affiliates and reading rooms of the company are analyzed. Affiliates and reading rooms of “Prosvita” were to become centers of cultural revival for Ukranians of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Forms of work and practical steps of activity affiliate of the “Prosvita” in Kolomyia in the investigated period are traced. The affiliate of the “Prosvita” was formed on the foundations of the Ukrainian literary and drama society and the local reading room. The center of the society was opened on February 27, 1877. Its first chairman was Ivan Levitsky. For the first decade, the affiliate did not show much activity in the development of national and cultural life of Ukrainians in the region.

The rise of the society dates back to the last decade of the XIX^th century. The affiliate regularly organized cultural, educational and artistic events and prepared reports on its work.

The practical work of the society became more active at the beginning of the ХХ^th century. Members of the affiliate organized educational and economic councils, organized concerts in honor of the memory of T. Shevchenko and M. Shashkevich, gave scientific and educational lectures, opened new reading rooms of the “Prosvita” in the region. However, there were difficulties in the work of the society in connection with the activities of the reading rooms of the M. Kachkovskyі Society and the “Kolomyia society of People’s Unions”, which were in the path of influence of muscovites and radicals.

The activity of two reading rooms of the “Prosvita” in Kolomyia – in the “Kutsky suburb” and named after Taras Shevchenko is covered.

The affiliate of the “Prosvita” in Kolomyia has become the main means of influencing public opinion and raising the cultural level of the region’s residents. Its members found in the urban and rural environment people capable of intellectual work, involved in socio-political activities with the subsequent transformation into leaders of the Ukrainian nation.

Keywords: affiliate, “Prosvita”, reading room, Pokuttia, cultural and educational work, library.