Skip to content
Call Us Today! 212-533-4646 | MON-FRI 12PM - 4PM (EST)
DONATE
SUBSCRIBE
Search for:
About Us
UNWLA 100
Publications
FAQ
Annual Report 2023
Annual Report 2022
Annual Report 2021
Initiatives
Advocate
Educate
Cultivate
Care
News
Newsletters
Sign Up For Our Newsletter
Join UNWLA
Become a Member
Volunteer With Us
Donate to UNWLA
Members Portal
Calendar
Shop to Support Ukraine
Search for:
Print
Print Page
Download
Download Page
Download Right Page
Open
1
2-3
4-5
6-7
8-9
10-11
12-13
14-15
16-17
18-19
20-21
22-23
24-25
26-27
28-29
30-31
32-33
34-35
36-37
38-39
40
“НАШЕ ЖИТТЯ”, ГРУДЕНЬ 2015 WWW.UNWLA.ORG 11 culture and education among the population). In 1893 she received an award for one of those books, “Father Petro.” The award was in the name of Stepan Durbavs’kyi, a pedagogue in Galicia and the founder of a popular book series at “Prosvita.” At the same time, Katria Hrynevych began to col- laborate with newspapers “Dilo,” “Bukovyna,” and “The Literary and Educational Herald.” Her works immediately attracted atten- tion: they were widely published and received positive criticism, which specifically extolled her excellent style and superior knowledge of the Ukrainian language. In her aesthetic views, Katria Hrynevych was close to the literary group “The Young Мuse,” yet she never forgot the social func- tion of literature. Her pedagogical temperament became evident and it directed her to work with children. Already as a famous writer, she was in- vited to edit the immensely popular children’s magazine “Dzvinok” (“The Bell”) and she did so between 1909 and 1912. Her visit to Kyiv and acquaintance with Olena Pchilka, Maria Zan’kovets’ka, and Valeria O’Connor-Vilins’ka further strengthened her de- sire to work in the pedagogical realm. While her literary life was very happy, her personal life was not. Her husband turned out to be limited intellectually, and she separated from him in 1912. She and her sons suffered poverty. She was unable to find employment as she was well remembered for her activities as a young stu- dent, when she challenged the educational system in the teachers’ seminary in Krakow. Her poverty became the object of jokes and gossip. Many con- sidered her situation as something she deserved for having chosen to act as a Ukrainian patriot. Katria accepted all these strokes of fate as punishment for her past sins and was ready to carry the heavy cross of life. During WWI she went to Gmind in Lower Austria, where the Polish government had sent Ukrainian peasants from all areas of Galicia, fear- ing that they might stand with Russia. There she worked as a teacher in a “barrack school.” In those times some of the best qualified individuals of the Ukrainian intelligentsia went to similar “death camps” in order to help their suffering people. Some became nurses, some taught chil- dren, some wrote letters and complaints, and some administered first aid. Katria spent her mornings teaching in school, and the rest of the days were spent in the barracks, among the peo- ple and their suffering. She consistently informed the paper “The Herald of Ukrainian Liberation” about the horrendous abuses, denial of human rights, and the overall destruction of the Ukraini- an people in these camps. She also sent her novel- las, essays, and articles about Gmind to M. Vozni- ak, for publication in “The Literary and Educa- tional Herald.” These materials stirred the outside world. Under pressure from the public the Gmind camp was closed. In 1917 Katria Hrynevych returned to L’viv. Her requests for any teaching employment, even in the suburbs, went unanswered. In spite of difficult financial circumstances, she once again joined community work, mainly among women. She collaborated with such magazines as “Wom- en's Fate,” “The Woman,” “New Home,” and oth- ers. In 1922 she was elected president of the chief organization of women in Galicia and Volyn’—the League of Ukrainian Women ( Soyuz Ukrainok ). The hopes for independence of Ukraine after the fall of Austro-Hungary were in vain. In- stead of educated Hapsburgs, Pilsudski came to power, and under his leadership, Poland took it upon itself to destroy all that was Ukrainian in Galicia. Katria’s laments over the fate of her coun- try combined with the constant battle for her own survival. Everyday housework took up much time, her health worsened, and sometimes hopeless- ness would set it. However, her passion for crea- tive work was stronger. In 1928 her historical novel, The Helmets in the Sun, came out, followed in 1935 by The One with Six Wings. Both works were set in the times of the creation of the Galicia- Volyn’ Principality. The criticism on these works was ambivalent. Much was written about them, mainly about the author’s artistic style. Katria was accused of exuberant romanticism. What hurt her most was the fact that no one tried to understand what exactly prompted her to write and what evoked this elevation of language. And she wanted so passionately to tell about Roman Mstyslavo- vych and his aspiration to unite all into one! No- body explicitly stated the reality of the problems which Katria was raising; no one appreciated how necessary the faith in the greatness of one’s na- tion and in its unbreakable spirit was—especially in those bleakest of times when the unrestrained, pro-fascist government in Poland was trying to destroy the Ukrainian people in Galicia. Yet this was the defining theme in Katria’s writing. She yearned to offer hope and encouragement to her people who had been oppressed for ages by vari- ous foreign governments. We can now say that Katria Hrynevych succeeded in her goals. No enemies were success- ful in breaking the spirit of our people, or in dampening their love for freedom, and this is so in part thanks to individuals like Katria Hryne-
Page load link
Go to Top
1 
2-3 
4-5 
6-7 
8-9 
10-11 
12-13 
14-15 
16-17 
18-19 
20-21 
22-23 
24-25 
26-27 
28-29 
30-31 
32-33 
34-35 
36-37 
38-39 
40 
