Franko's contributions recalled on his 150th anniversary (09/03/06)

Franko's contributions recalled on his 150th anniversary

by Zenon Zawada
Kyiv Press Bureau

NAHUYEVYCHI, Ukraine - Author and political leader Ivan Franko's life symbolized the later 19th century experience of Halychyna.

Born and raised in a simple village, he struggled through poverty and discrimination, and was imprisoned several times by Austrian authorities for his politics and social activism.

The 150th anniversary of his August 27 birthday was a national celebration in his home village of Nahuyevychi, drawing President Viktor Yushchenko, as well as some of today's celebrated writers - Ivan Drach, Roman Lubkivskyi and Pavlo Movchan.

"I think that next to figures such as [Mykhailo] Hrushevsky, Franko belongs in the fundamental position in creating the Ukrainian nation during the last 130 years," Mr. Yushchenko told reporters.

Franko is Halychyna's most acclaimed author, and Ukraine's second-most recognized writer, because of his unparalleled contributions to Ukrainian literature, publications and academia.

During his 40-year career Franko authored more than 6,000 works, ranging from children's tales to philosophical tomes, plays about love, as well as political and economic essays.

"Rarely on a worldwide scale can you name a figure who left his mark in prose, poetry, ethnography, politics and nationhood like Ivan Franko," Mr. Yushchenko said.

Joining the high-profile politicians and writers for the sesquicentennial celebration were more than 20,000 Ukrainians from the Lviv Oblast and beyond, including third-and fourth-generation Ukrainians visiting from Vukovar, Croatia.

Amidst a few hundred people who had set up camp on the fields approaching the village, visitors descended upon Franko's rehabilitated farmstead and museum, listened to concerts and watched folk dancing, with some even dancing a Hopak themselves.

Food and drink provided for a festive atmosphere on what might have been the last hot, sunny afternoon of this year's summer in the Drohobych region.

Nahuyevychi is situated in the lush, pristine foothills of the Carpathian Mountains, which form an awe-inspiring panorama around the village's outskirts.

The beautiful scenery made an immediate impression on the Ukrainian president, who flew in by helicopter and stayed for about an hour, delivering a speech and visiting the preserved Franko farmstead.

"For everyone visiting this village, one can still see the beauty of the foothills that approach the village, the meadows, and better understand what Franko thought about, what gave him his illustrious and talented words, and where he gained the high values he lived with," Mr. Yushchenko said.

"This is my first visit here, and I think the wind smells different here," he added.

Mr. Yushchenko took part in a wreath-laying ceremony at the grand monument of Franko that sits atop a hill overlooking the village.

Addressing the gathered crowd, filled with the flags of patriotic political parties, Mr. Yushchenko drew on Franko's vision and overriding desire to see an independent, united Ukraine, which the author viewed as a remedy to Ukrainians' woes.

"Franko taught us national reconstruction," the president said. "He taught us to patiently, correctly and step-by-step recognize the world around us."

Ukraine's main problems aren't external, Mr. Yushchenko said. Instead, the nation is in a process of reconciling with itself. He called on Ukrainians to be patient and understanding with each other in order to preserve national unity.

"Extending each other a hand - that's the most difficult step," Mr. Yushchenko said, "to understand a view which you never saw in life."

He assured the pro-Western crowd that Ukraine's path toward European integration remains unchanged. Europe's geographical center is in Ukraine, and so is the continent's heart, he said.

Those opposed to Euro-integration are living according to Communist fables they learned during the Stalin and Khrushchev eras. "We now need to proceed with a unique patience and unique informativeness to change our enemies into our partners," he said.

Mr. Yushchenko reaffirmed that Ukrainian would be the single, official language in Ukraine and he repeated his call for a single, particular (pomisna) Ukrainian Orthodox Church. "Spiritual independence is just as important for Ukraine as political and economic independence," Mr. Yushchenko explained.

Addressing the 20 or so Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) veterans present at the festivities, Mr. Yushchenko assured them he would continue trying to secure government recognition for them, as well as social benefits.

Mr. Yushchenko twice called on western Ukrainians not to consider themselves "Halychany" or "Bukovyntsi" - an unusual comment since western Ukrainians have rarely called for separatism and almost always refer to themselves primarily as Ukrainians.

Conversely, many residents of the Donetsk Oblast and the Autonomous Republic of Crimea have been active in calls for separatism and many don't consider themselves Ukrainians at all.

Following his address, Mr. Yushchenko, wearing an embroidered shirt, visited the wooden farmhouse where Franko grew up.

After about a brief guided tour and press conference, the Ukrainian president boarded his helicopter and headed for Lviv, along with his entourage.

In Lviv, numerous events were held honoring Franko's birthday, including choral concerts, orchestral performances, photo exhibitions and poetry readings.

The thousands who remained in Nahuyevychi took turns visiting the Franko farmstead, which consists of several buildings: the farmhouse, barn and stable, the blacksmith's workshop, shed and granary.

In 1981 the Soviet government renovated the Franko farmstead complex for the 125th anniversary of his birthday. Five years later, authorities established the grand monument to Franko and neighboring museum for the 130th anniversary.

Original objects that remain in the farmhouse include a hanging wooden baby crib and wooden trough for washing clothes, said Iryna Sapotnytska, the farmstead's manager. In the farmhouse's "svitlytsia" (living room), a dish shelf, three plates and mirror have been saved through the centuries.

Villagers donated the other antique objects on display.

In 2001 a villager set fire to the farmhouse's straw roof and neighboring barn and stable. Fortunately, villagers were able to extinguish the fire before it damaged the buildings' wooden walls and floors.

The Frankos were among six families in the village who were freed from serfdom and lived in the neighborhood where the village begins. Today, about 3,000 villagers live in Nahuyevychi.

On August 26, choirs from throughout the Lviv Oblast gathered in Nahuyevychi for a choir competition. Delegations represented small towns such Staryi Sambir, Kamianka-Buzka, as well as major cities such as Drohobych.

Traveling the farthest were two choirs of 45 third- and fourth-generation Ukrainians from Vukovar, Croatia, led by their Ukrainian-born director Larysa Uhleshych, who has worked with them for two years.

They sang traditional songs they learned from their ancestors, who immigrated to Croatia in the 19th century. Most couldn't speak fluent Ukrainian, but learned the songs in Ukrainian.

Ms. Uhleshych organized the trip to the Lviv region so that the Ukrainian Croatians could see their ancestral homeland for the first time.

During the civil war in Vukovar of 1991, many of them hid their heritage and said they were either Serbian or Croatian out of fear.

"I brought them here so they could see that Ukraine is a wealthy, beautiful land with great traditions, culture, authors and composers," she said. "I wanted them to know what Ukraine is and want them to hold their heads high and say, 'We're Ukrainians and we will live for Ukraine.'"

Ms. Uhleshych is also a member of the Croatian government's Council for National Minorities. She said the government treats its ethnic minorities well.

During the competition and weekend festivities, Franko's songs loomed in the forested air; most common were "Vichnyi Revoliutsioner" (Eternal Revolutionary) and "Ne Pora" (Now Is Not the Time).

Though singing and dancing were abundant throughout the weekend's festivities, there were few if any public readings of Franko's works, particularly his poetry.

Though they made an appearance, none of the prominent Ukrainian writers, including Mr. Drach and Mr. Movchan, stayed for the Nahuyevychi festival or held a reading of Franko's works.

In his opening words before the president spoke, Shevchenko Laureate Roman Lubkivskyi recalled one Franko verse:

"My land, all-fertile mother, give me
Strength, which lives in your depths,
A drop, so that I could stand stronger in the struggle."

"All Ukrainians must learn to stand in the struggle, but a peaceful struggle," Mr. Lubkivskyi said. "The struggle for a Ukrainian Ukraine, for our language, for our culture, for our future and for our children and grandchildren."

Youth was particularly visible during the celebration.

Dozens of teenagers and young adults spent the weekend camping in the fields of Nahuyevychi and enjoying the festive, patriotic environment.

"A lot of youth is here and there's the opportunity to meet and discuss things, especially among patriotic-minded people," said Natalia Khotiun, 21, of Lviv.

For them, the weekend wasn't about dancing or drinking, but honoring Franko and learning more about him, they said.

Some wore t-shirts that read, "Time to Live for Ukraine!" with a picture of Franko with a machine gun strapped around one arm.

When asked what their favorite Franko work was, many said "Lys Mykyta," the collection of tales that has become the foundation of Ukrainian children's literature.

"Everyone will cite 'Lys Mykyta' because we had to read it in school," said Myroslav Kondziolka, 19, of Drohobych. "In general, very few teenagers consciously opened a book of Franko's. So that's why we remember it well from childhood."

Volodymyr Sabko, 21, of Drohobych said "Perekhresni Stezhky" is his favorite Franko novel. It deals with the economic conditions in which peasants were forced to hand over lands to the nobility. "It's written in a specific, western Ukrainian manner that I enjoy," he said.

Franko's poem "Kameniari" is a favorite of Ms. Khotiun's because it's relevant to this day, particularly the image of stone-cutters breaking open rocks. "Even though Ukraine is independent, all the same there remain obstacles to the Ukrainian nation's spiritual independence," she said.

On an individual level, "every person has to build the strength to struggle to break open that rock. Everyone has that symbol on their road to spiritual independence," she added.

Unfortunately, though long lines formed for shashlyky and vodka, Franko books didn't muster quite the same popularity.

Olha Zadorozhna, who owns the Skarbnytsia bookstore in Drohobych, set up a stand at the festival. Children's books and historical works were selling the best, she said.

"To be frank, few are buying Franko's books," she said.

She did sell a three-volume collection, several copies of "Lys Mykyta" and a few other children's stories of his.

The 150-year celebration was best symbolized in Franko's poem "Ne Pora," which 19-year-old Drohobych native Mariana Kliuchnyk recited by heart.

"Now is not the time
To serve the Muscovite and Pole.
The old injustice is finished for Ukraine,
It's time to live for Ukraine."

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