Banquet celebrates Jacyk Center's 10th anniversary and release of Hrushevsky history's Volume 7 (02/06/00)

Banquet celebrates Jacyk Center's 10th anniversary
and release of Hrushevsky history's Volume 7

TORONTO - An elegant banquet held on December 1, 1999, in the Great Hall of Hart House, University of Toronto, celebrated the 10th anniversary of the Peter Jacyk Center for Ukrainian Historical Research (CIUS, University of Alberta) and the launch of Volume 7 of the English edition of Mykhailo Hrushevsky's "History of Ukraine-Rus'."

"This evening is about history," noted the master of ceremonies, Dr. Marko Stech, managing director of the Petro Jacyk Educational Foundation, "and about the relevance of history in our lives; about what history is and how it shapes our views of the world and of ourselves."

Banquet guests had the opportunity to hear a variety of views not only about the ancient and early modern history of Ukraine and Eastern Europe so brilliantly analyzed in Hrushevsky's magnum opus, but also about the way in which the vision of Ukraine's great historian has shaped the destiny of his entire nation.

An array of prominent speakers also discussed the important mission of the English translation of Hrushevsky's classic to counterbalance and change the Russocentric Western views on Ukraine and its place in the history of Europe.

The scholarly importance of the Hrushevsky Translation Project was discussed by a number of prominent academics and editors, among them Dr. Frank Sysyn, Dr. Serhii Plokhy, Prof. Maxim Tarnawsky and Kathleen Lestition, whose letter in memory of the late Dr. Bohdan Struminski, translator of Volume 7, was read by Uliana Pasicznyk. The consulting editor of Volume 7, Dr. Plokhy, praised the subseries dealing with the Ukrainian Kozaks as "the most complete and systematic study of Ukrainian Kozakdom ever written."

"The Hrushevsky Project may well prove to be the most important scholarly project in Ukrainian studies undertaken in the West in the 20th century," said Dr. Roderick Fraser, president of the University of Alberta, and his view was supported by several speakers, including Canadian Secretary of State David Kilgour, Ambassador of Ukraine Volodymyr Khandogiy, Ontario Member of Provincial Parliament Gerard Kennedy. These speakers particularly underscored the international importance of the English publication of Hrushevsky's history - not only for Ukraine and Ukrainians, but for the global community as well.

They echoed the words of well-known American historian Prof. Thomas Noonan, who greeted the English publication of Volume 1 of the history with this statement: "We do a great disservice to our students and to the public in Canada and the United States as long as we repeat the traditional Great Russian view of Ukraine's history. With the launching of this edition, we begin a new era, a time when the greatest of the histories of Ukraine shall become available to all those interested in East Slavic history."

Mr. Kilgour called the English edition of Hrushevsky's history "a gift from the people of Canada to international scholarship and, in particular, to the people of Ukraine," and he presented a copy of the recently published Volume 7 to Ambassador Khandogiy.

This banquet also celebrated the achievements of the people who have made, and continue to make, Hrushevsky's vision accessible to Western readers. "Perhaps the most valuable aspect of our cooperation is the high quality of its final product," said Nadia Jacyk, director of the Petro Jacyk Educational Foundation, which provided a $1 million grant (double-matched by the government of Alberta) to establish the Peter Jacyk Center in 1989. She noted that the current edition of the history has already received international acclaim among specialists in the field, who have praised it for being virtually flawless.

Over the course of the evening, recognition was given to the Hrushevsky Translation Project editorial team: Dr. Sysyn, Dr. Plokhy, Ms. Pasicznyk, Myroslav Yurkevich, Dr. Stech, Tania Plawuszczak-Stech, Dr. Dushan Bednarsky, Dr. Andrij Horniatkevyc and Marta Horban-Carynnyk, as well as to the translators: Dr. Struminski, Marta Skorupsky, Marta Olynyk, Leonid Heretz, Andrij Kudla-Wynnyckyj and Ian Press.

Praise and recognition were also given to the center's financial supporters, including the generous donations of $100,000 each toward the publication of individual volumes of the history made by: Petro and Ivanna Stelmach, Olga Pawluk, Hanna Mazurenko, Sofia Wojtyna, Mykhailo and Daria Kowalsky, Petro Jacyk and Dr. Jeanette Bayduza. Mrs. Pawluk received a symbolic gift for her generous support of the recently published Volume 7, dedicated to the memory of her late husband, Stephen Pawluk, a prominent activist in the Ukrainian Canadian community.

Mr. Jacyk, a key figure at the banquet, is a well-known businessman and philanthropist and is the center's founding benefactor and president of the Petro Jacyk Educational Foundation. "We all should be grateful to Canadians such as Petro Jacyk who never forgot their roots," said Mr. Kilgour, while Dr. Fraser stated: "Through the creation of the Hrushevsky Project, which changes the Western view of the history of Ukraine, Dr. Jacyk is himself creating history."

In appreciation of Mr. Jacyk's philanthropic activity and support, the staff of the Peter Jacyk Center presented him with a framed 18th century map of Ukraine to which his native town was added. In addition, Dr. Jacyk received a symbolic gift from the University of Toronto, which houses the Petro Jacyk Central and East European Resource Center established by the foundation in 1994.

Banquet guests learned from the director of the Center for Russian and East European Studies at the University of Toronto, Prof. Robert Johnson, and from Dr. Stech that the Peter Jacyk Center at the University of Alberta and the Hrushevsky Translation Project represent only one facet of the many programs established by Mr. Jacyk and his foundation at such universities as Harvard, Columbia, the University of London and the University of Toronto.

"The banquet was truly a unique event that harmoniously brought together the academic world, the community, and the government," commented Mr. Kilgour. "It demonstrated how much can be achieved through the single-minded work of one dedicated individual. And even more so, it showed how much can be gained through constructive cooperation between people with various skills and talents working together toward a common goal," he noted.

The published volumes of the English-language edition of History of Ukraine-Rus' may be purchased from the CIUS Press: Toronto telephone, (416) 978-6934; Edmonton telephone, (780) 492-2972.

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