Shevchenko Scientific Society recalls the contributions of two deceased presidents (01/08/06)

Shevchenko Scientific Society recalls the contributions of two deceased presidents

NEW YORK - A program dedicated to reminiscences about the lives of two deceased presidents of the Shevchenko Scientific Society (NTSh), Dr. Ivan Rakovsky (1874-1949) and Dr. Oleh Romaniv (1928-2005), took place at the society's headquarters on December 10, 2005. The commemoration of Dr. Rakovsky at this time was prompted by the recent publication of a book about his life by Ivan Holovatsky. Dr. Romaniv was remembered and mourned because of his death in Lviv, on November 3.

The program was introduced by NTSh President Dr. Larissa Zaleska Onyshkevych and chaired by Prof. Vasyl Makhno.

The book about Dr. Rakovsky was presented by his grandson Yuriy Rakovsky, who accompanied his narrative about the life of his grandfather with a slide show of family photos.

Dr. Orest Popovych, an NTSh vice-president, talked about Dr. Rakovsky as a scientist and a pedagogue, NTSh activist, chief editor of the first ever Ukrainian Encyclopedia (1930-1935) and NTSh president (1935-1940 and 1947-1949). Dr. Rakovsky's interests and expertise covered an enormous range of disciplines - all the natural sciences, as well as mathematics and psychology. He was a prolific author and lecturer in all these fields, utilizing the popular genre aimed at a wide Ukrainian audience.

At the conclusion of the program segment dedicated to Dr. Rakovsky, Prof. Makhno read a memoir sent from Brazil by Vira Vovk, in which the writer reminisced about the time she roomed as a teenager with the Rakovsky family in Lviv.

The part of the program dedicated to Dr. Romaniv began with a slide show prepared by Dr. Vasyl Lopukh, depicting the recently deceased president of NTSh in Ukraine in a variety of solo and group pictures, primarily with members of the American NTSh.

Dr. Swiatoslaw Trofimenko, NTSh vice-president and learned secretary, traced the career of Dr. Romaniv as scientist and engineer in the fields of metallurgy and the strength of materials, in which he left behind 380 scientific publications and 30 patents. In the process he earned the degrees of candidate of sciences, doctor of sciences as well as the title of professor and corresponding member of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine.

Perhaps the most significant accomplishment of Dr. Romaniv was his successful initiative to renew and expand the activity of the Shevchenko Scientific Society in Ukraine, of which he was elected president in 1989. In 1992 Dr. Romaniv became secretary general of the World Council of NTSh.

Next to speak was Dr. Leonid Rudnytzky, who as the president of the World Council of NTSh enjoyed a prolonged close relationship with the deceased. Running through the many personal memories recounted by Dr. Rudnytzky was the theme that Dr. Romaniv was the engine, as well as the heart and soul, behind the NTSh in Ukraine, and that his loss to the society is irreplaceable.

The program was capped with the closing remarks by Dr. Onyshkevych, who pointed to a common quality in the two honored ex-presidents of the Shevchenko Scientific Society: their dedicated and selfless service to Ukrainian causes.

| Home Page |