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CONTRIBUTION OF UKRAINIAN DIASPORA PERIODICAL LITERATURE TO GENEALOGY DEVELOPMENT (mid-to-late 20th – early 21st centuries)
Authors: Lobko N. V. PhD (History), Assosiate Professor (Ukraine), Sumy State University. ORCID: 0000-0002- 3401-7295.
Number of views: 64
In this article, the author analyzes works on genealogy published in the periodical
literature of the Ukrainian diaspora in the mid-to-late 20th – early 21st centuries. Genealogy
is a specialized history subject addressing an issue of reconstitution of the past of ancestry,
designation of family connections. During the Soviet period, genealogy as science did not
develop, although Ukrainian genealogy studies continued thanks to scientists working in
emigration. In 1963, they established Ukrainian Genealogical and Heraldry Society. Such
scientists as Oleksander Ohloblyn, Viacheslav Seniutovych-Berezhnyi, Antin Kushchynskyi,
Luibomyr Vynar worked on problems of Ukrainian genealogy in emigration.
Their scientific work was not studied in the Soviet historiography because these scientists
were considered “Ukrainian non-Soviet nationalists”. Now, the times have changed, and their
scientific heritage draws more and more attention from modern researchers, but the question of
the contribution of the Ukrainian diaspora periodic literature to the development of genealogy
isn’t covered enough in the historiography.
Ukrainian emigrated scientists published the results of their studies in such journals of
the Ukrainian diaspora as Ukrainskyi Istoryk, Vyzvolnyi Shliakh, Suchasnist.
On the pages of these journals, one can find genealogical explorations, historical and
biography projects, autobiographical materials, dedicated to the life and work of various
political persons and cultural figures. Such explorations included date and place of birth,
names and surnames of parents, parents origin, and all information about the person in the
article, as well as information about their spouse and children.
The author believes that such interest in genealogical information by emigrated scientists
could be explained, firstly, by the desire to preserve the generational bridge and memory about
their origin. Secondly, researchers understood that genealogical information often shed light upon deeds and views of the influential personalities of that period. Moreover, genealogy can
provide materials helping to find out the role and meaning of family connections and relations
in the process of personality development.
Comparing the publications of diaspora journals dedicated to various outstanding
people to the publications in the Soviet periodical literature, we can make the following
conclusions. Diaspora scientists paid more attention to the lineage of a person and tried to
bring to the reader’s attention all information. At the same time, it was improper to talk about
this in the Soviet Union, as it could result in negative consequences.
Having analyzed the genealogical materials, published in the various periodical
literature of the Ukrainian diaspora mid-to-late 20th century, the author has made the following
conclusions. Ukrainian genealogical research continued thanks to scientists who worked in
emigration. In their explorations, they paid attention to the lineage of a person and tried to
bring all the information to the attention of the readers. Nevertheless, diaspora scientists weren’t
able to conduct profound genealogical studies, because they were distanced from genealogical
sources kept in the Soviet archives. For sure, it made the basis of their studies much narrower
and that is why these scientists had to process the materials they brought with them or to look
for new ones in the local archives and libraries.