RELATIONS BETWEEN LEV BACHYNSKYI AND VASYL STEFANYK AT THE END OF THE 19TH – THE FIRST THIRD OF THE 20TH CENTURY

Abstract

The article examines the relationship between Lev Bachynskyi and Vasyl Stefanyk at the end of the 19^th – the first third of the 20th century. The features of the formation of the worldview and the formation of the social and political views of both figures at the end of the 19th century are traced.

Lev Bachynskyi and Vasyl Stefanyk, starting with their studies at the Kolomyia Gymnasium, remained close friends throughout their lives. The greatest value in the study of the relationship between these figures is their epistolary legacy, which allows a reinterpreted study of their collaboration, especially in the 1890s and 1920s.

The appearance in 1890 of the first Ukrainian political party of the European model, the RURP, marked the beginning of their joint work in the party-political arena. L. Bachynskyi and V. Stefanyk joined the whirlwind of party and political life in the 1890s. Their cooperation and practical activity at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th centuries was reduced to the following forms: participation in the work of the RURP (URP) congresses, radical people’s meetings, activities of the political society ”People’s Will”; campaigning in support of members of the RURP (URP) during the elections to the Austrian parliament and direct participation in its work; assistance in the deployment of the Ukrainian sich movement; commemoration of famous figures of Ukraine, in particular, Taras Shevchenko.

During the First World War and during the ZUNR period, the collaboration between L. Bachynskyi and

1. Stefanyk was spontaneous. In this period, we find only isolated information about their relationship. In fact,
2. Bachynskyi was actively involved in social and political processes, in particular in the realm of Ukrainian state formation during the ZUNR era. In turn, V. Stefanyk was not particularly active in the political arena.

After the end of the Ukrainian Revolution, L. Bachynskyi and V. Stefanyk continued their cooperation in the structure of the URP (from February 1926 – the USRP), participated in party meetings and viches. Both participated in the commemoration of Ivan Franko and Marko Cheremshyna. At that time, L. Bachynskyi materially supported the literary and writing work of V. Stefanyk, which testifies to the restoration of their friendly relations.

Keywords: Lev Bachynskyi, Vasyl Stefanyk, Eastern Galicia, Ruthenian-Ukrainian radical party, Ukrai- nian radical party, epistolary heritage.