Embassy of Ukraine hosts launch of Hrushevsky volume
by Yaro Bihun
Special to The Ukrainian Weekly
WASHINGTON - The Embassy of Ukraine on April 12 hosted a book launch of Volume 7 of the English-language translation of Mykhailo Hrushevsky's "History of Ukraine-Rus'."
Volume 7, which covers the early Kozak period from the late 15th century to 1625, is part of a planned 10-volume (11 books) translation of Hrushevsky's monumental work. It is the second volume to be completed. Volume 1 was released in 1997.
The book launch was co-sponsored by the Peter Jacyk Center for Ukrainian Historical Research at the Canadian Institute for Ukrainian Studies (CIUS), University of Alberta; the Kennan Institute of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington; and The Washington Group (TWG), an association of Ukrainian American professionals.
On hand to help launch the book in the United States were Librarian of Congress James Billington and Kennan Institute Director Blair A. Ruble, as well as the those involved in this CIUS publication: Jacyk Center Director and the history Editor-in-Chief Frank Sysyn, Associate Director Serhii Plokhy, CIUS Press Director Maxim Tarnawsky, Petro Jacyk Educational Foundation Director Nadia Jacyk and Martha Bohachevsky Chomiak of the U.S. National Endowment for the Humanities.
Substituting for Ambassador Kostyantyn Gryshchenko, who had to leave for Kyiv to participate in Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright's visit there, Minister-Counselor Oleksii Berezhnyi underscored the importance of the publication of Hrushevsky's history.
"The restitution of Ukrainian historic memory and culture has been one of the greatest projects of independent Ukraine," he said.
As the head of the Hrushevsky Translation Project, Dr. Sysyn expressed the project's gratitude to the many individual and organizational donors who made the project possible, and especially to Canadian philanthropists Mr. Jacyk, whose million-dollar endowment launched the Center for Ukrainian Historical Research, and Olga Pawluk, who gave $100,000 for the publication of Volume 7 in memory of her husband, Stephen.
He also singled out the U.S. National Endowment for the Humanities for its timely contribution.
"Had it not been for the NEH in the crucial moment of the development of this project, when we were looking for funds for translation, it is hard to imagine how we would have gotten this project going as we did," Dr. Sysyn said. The NEH grant, he added, also is covering translation costs of the next volume and, partially, the one after that.
Dr. Sysyn's former professor at Princeton University and now librarian of Congress, Dr. Billington, focused his remarks on the importance of the period covered in Volume 7 - "a crucial, formative" period in Ukraine's history, and of "tumultuous and important change" in Europe as a whole.
Known for his interest in Russian history, the librarian of Congress also said it was a "special honor and privilege" to honor Mykhailo Hrushevsky - "a remarkable scholar who devoted his entire life to reconstituting the history that had been lost amidst the competing nationalisms of various peoples who had so long not only dominated the Ukraine physically, but also dominated its historical imagination and really failed to appreciate many aspects of its history."
"The honoring of Hrushevsky as a symbol figure and restorer of Ukrainian national identity and integrity, the publication of a volume which represents Canadian-American collaboration, and the work of a number of institutions is really an occasion to celebrate," Dr. Billington said.
He also noted that Volume 7 is a work of "great publishing beauty as well."
Dr. Ruble of the Kennan Institute underscored Hrushevsky's impact on history.
"Hrushevsky probably had some notion that what he was writing would change the course of history of Ukraine - that, undoubtedly, was part of his enterprise," Dr. Ruble said. But he probably never quite understood the full impact his work would have on millions of people over the course of the century, he added. And the CIUS translation project, he said, is making his work accessible to millions more.
"I think what we can assume this evening is that somebody at some point in the future is going to pick up one of these volumes and will be deeply affected by it, and it will change the course of history - and will change the course of history for the better," he underscored.
Nadia Jacyk recounted how most popular and scholarly works in the past treated Ukraine as no more than a region of Russia, without its separate history or culture. The Hrushevsky translation project goes to the very root of this problem, she said.
"It provides well-documented information on Ukraine to scholars and professors at universities - to the people who are responsible for educating future generations," she said. "It is thus directed at those who ultimately shape and determine general public opinion and who can change the old erroneous perceptions of Ukraine."
Representing the NEH at the book launch ceremony, Dr. Bohachevsky Chomiak called the Hrushevsky translation project, "an example of your tax dollars at work."
The NEH strives to support the most significant works - the best projects that would bring information and knowledge of the rest of the world to the United States, she said. "And this is precisely what was done with the Hrushevsky translation," she added.
As the proponents of the Hrushevsky Translation Project had to do from its inception, Dr. Sysyn laid out some of the reasons Hrushevsky's "History of Ukraine-Rus' " needs to be translated into the English language:
Dr. Sysyn said that the Hrushevsky translation project is one of a half dozen massive projects undertaken by Ukrainians in North America during the latter part of the 20th century, among them the establishment of the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute and its major translation project; the Great Famine research, book and film projects of the 1980s; the Millennium of Christianity in Ukraine projects; and the publication of the five-volume Encyclopedia of Ukraine.
As for examples of the immediate, visible relevance of the Hrushevsky translation project, Dr. Sysyn cited two major art exhibits in the Washington-Baltimore area.
On the positive side, he pointed to the exhibit, "Gold of the Nomads: Scythian Treasures From Ancient Ukraine," at the Walters Gallery in Baltimore. In addition to a fine book about the exhibit, the gallery store also has on sale Volume 1 of Hrushevsky's history, which covers the Scythian period and has a photograph of a Scythian gold piece on its cover.
On the negative side, he pointed to the exhibit, "Palace of Gold and Light: Treasures From the Topkapi, Istanbul," at the Corcoran Gallery in Washington, where the sultan's wife, Roksolana, is referred to as "the Russian" - never mind that she came from Rohatyn, in the most western part of Ukraine.
Dr. Sysyn appealed for continued support of the Hrushevsky Translation Project. The project requires uninterrupted support in order to maintain the necessary teams of researchers, translators and editors.
It takes many years to develop people with these skills he said. "We cannot let them down. We cannot one day say there is no place for you and then expect four years later that they'll be back when we need them."
"As in all area studies, in the development of language skills, we need steady funding for people, who are really going on a vocation," he said.
Volumes 1 and 7 of the "History of Ukraine-Rus' " can be purchased from the CIUS Press for $90 each until May 1, after which they revert to the normal retail price of $119.95. The institute also has discount subscription prices for the entire set. CIUS Press may be reached at: telephone, (780) 492-2972; fax, (780) 492-4967; e-mail, cius@ualberta.ca; or visit the CIUS website, http://www.utoronto.ca/cius.
Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, April 30, 2000, No. 18, Vol. LXVIII
| Home Page |