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Our Life | Наше життя May | Травень 2021 5 Marianna Zajac REFLECTIONS FROM THE UNWLA PRESIDENT Address to the participants of the "Happy Birthday, Lesiu!" event celebrating the 150th anniversary of the birth of Lesya Ukrainka, read on behalf of the President of the UNWLA by Lydia Jachnycky, 1st Vice President This year, as Ukraine and all UNESCO member states around the globe celebrate the 150th anniversary of Lesya Ukrainka’s birth, we have the opportunity to remember our great poetess and the influence she had not only in Ukraine but throughout the world! We, as members of a respected women's organization, bow before her and the significant legacy she left for Ukrainian women! On August 6, 1938, The Ukrainian Weekly wrote: “When we recall that exactly twenty-five years ago today, through the heat-laden streets of Kiev a funeral procession wended its way, bearing in its midst the still form of a middle-aged woman whose frail and disease-wracked body had gone the way of all flesh but whose indomitable spirit and courage had remained to kindle the hearts and minds of future generations.” And so it is the duty of each of us, and of the UNWLA as an organization, to keep this flame alive in the hearts and minds of future generations! We do this in many ways. Several UNWLA branches chose Lesya Ukrainka as their patroness, a decision that was not taken lightly at the time of the branches’ establishment: Branch 10, Philadelphia; Branch 14, Atlanta; Branch 62, Glen Spey, NY; Branch 73, Bridgeport, CT; Branch 99, Watervliet, NY; Branch 107, San Jose, CA; and Branch 140, Chicago, our youngest branch! I will share only the most important achievements of the UNWLA in honor of Lesya Ukrainka: • In 1937, the UNWLA joined with others to purchase the home where the poetess lived in the village of Kolodiazhne in Volyn. • In 1947, the UNWLA published an English translation of Lesya Ukrainka's works, Spirit of Flame , to enable non- Ukrainian-speakers to learn about the poetess’s genius. • In 1961, on the 90th anniversary of Lesya Ukrainka's birth, Branch 33 and the Ohio Regional Council erected a monument to Lesya Ukrainka in Cleveland’s Ukrainian Cultural Garden – a great event in the life of the Ukrainian community! • In 2003, the UNWLA initiated and funded the publication of Letters Travel So Long , an archive of the personal correspondence of Lesya Ukrainka and her family that had been considered lost but was found in the Slavic Library in Prague. The archive covers 1888–1945 and includes the full text of 184 letters. • On March 2, 2021, Serhiy Romanov presented an online lecture at the UNWLA’s Center for Women's Studies at the Ukrainian Catholic University in Lviv: “Lesya Ukrainka in the Vectors of Modern Identity: Biography and Creativity.” Romanov is Doctor of Philology, Associate Professor, Head of the Department of Theory of Literature and Foreign Literature, Volyn National University named for Lesya Ukrainka. (A recording of the lecture can be viewed on our website, http://unwla.org, at the link http://lektoriy.ucu.edu.ua/ ) Due to the pandemic, a very ambitious and important collaboration with the Ukrainian Bandurist Chorus of North America – a series of memorable concerts dedicated to the 150th anniversary of Lesya Ukrainka's birth – has been postponed to 2022. We encourage the cooperation of all our branches in this unique project! Returning to the village of Kolodiazhne where in 1937 the UNWLA helped purchase the home-estate of the Kosach family to serve as a museum: Lesya Ukrainka and her family lived there for a long time, and she wrote her wonderful works there. The director of the museum, Olena Vazhatko, and its head, Olga Boyko, reached out to us for financial help. We ask our members, branches, and all who love the creativity of our famous poetess and understand the importance of preserving her heritage for future generations to join this project. Help us support the Lesya Ukrainka Museum! A letter with details was sent to our branch presidents, and we will work to further develop this project during the year. Lesya Ukrainka’s birthday is February 25, but I encourage our UNWLA members to continue celebrating the anniversary of the birth of this literary and patriotic genius of Ukrainian women throughout 2021! The pandemic has made it difficult for us to implement all our plans, but we look forward to hearing what our branches will achieve in this extraordinary year to honor Lesya Ukrainka.
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