FOCUS ON PHILATELY
by Ingert Kuzych
Ivan Franko in philately
PART I
In Ukrainian literature, Ivan Franko is frequently ranked just after Taras Shevchenko in importance. Having read both men, particularly their poetry, I would have to agree with this assessment. However, as a universal man of letters, there is no doubt that Franko stands out not only as the greatest Ukraine ever produced, but one of the most outstanding in world history. His output was staggering and has never been fully published.
Franko was not only a fine poet, he was also an insightful dramatist, a novelist, a short story writer, a prolific translator (helped by the fact that he was also a linguist - fluent in Ukrainian, Polish, German and Russian), and a journalist, serving as founder, editor and critic of several publications. He was also a philosopher, ethnographer, sociologist and, for a while, even a politician. Interested in everything, he has been described as "a complete humanist."
In the late 1970s and 1980s, a censored collection of his works appeared in Soviet Ukraine in 50 volumes. (Franko's works number in excess of 1,000). Estimates are that if everything that he produced were set to print, it would require 80 volumes. The output of the man is mind-boggling, yet none of his writings were slapdash. On the contrary, he was a meticulous and careful craftsman of words.
Ivan Franko was born on August 27, 1856, in the village of Nahuievychi (today renamed Ivan Franko), the son of a poor farmer-blacksmith. Growing up he was a bright lad, and his parents made sure he received a formal education. He had an amazing memory (described by some as photographic) and early on learned to read and write in Ukrainian, Polish and German. Most of his early education took place at a Basilian monastery in Drohobych (1864-1867). His father died when he was only 8 and his mother soon remarried, but his stepfather treated the boy kindly and helped him continue his education.
Franko completed his studies at the Drohobych Gymnasium (secondary school) in 1875 and entered the University of Lviv, where he became a member of the editorial board of the journal Druh (Friend). He had already had a few items published prior to entering the university, but his first literary works - poetry and a novel - appeared in this student publication.
It was about this time that Franko became interested in the writings of Mykhailo Drahomanov (1814-1895), the leading Ukrainian scholar of the day. It was Drahomanov, a great democrat, who advocated the close cooperation among Ukrainians in both the Austrian and Russian empires. This rather advanced position was frowned upon as radical in many quarters and was the cause for Drahomanov moving to Geneva.
Young Franko and his friends adopted Drahomanov's democratic platform and published some of his writings in Druh. They were arrested in 1877 for spreading socialist propaganda and Franko spent eight months in jail (where he nevertheless continued to write). When he was finally released, he was shunned by many in Ukrainian society, but this only stirred him to pursue his political work more fervently.
In 1878, with funding received from Drahomanov, he co-founded the publication Hromadskyi Druh (Community Friend). The journal, which only lasted about a year, was constantly in trouble with the censors. After it was closed, the publishers released two collections of articles in journal format, Dzvin (Bell) and Molot (Hammer). The result of all this activity was a second arrest in 1880. After serving a three-month sentence, Franko was released but kept under police surveillance. He was also forced to cease his university studies.
The next several years were some of the most prolific of his career. He actively wrote for journals and newspapers and composed two of his best-known novels, "Boryslav Smiyetsia" (Boryslav is Laughing; 1881) and "Zakhar Berkut" (1883). A few years later, Franko parted ways with his populist acquaintances - who were apprehensive about his socialist and revolutionary ideas - and tried to set up his own journal.
He made a trip to Kyiv in 1885 in order to find support, to make contact with many of the Ukrainian leaders there, and to arrange for the publication of their works in Lviv. The following year he returned to Kyiv and married Olha Khorunzhynska. In 1887 he published "Z Vershyn i Nyzhyn" (From the Heights and Depths), a collection of poems dedicated to his wife. The marriage was a happy one and produced four children: Petro, Taras, Andriy and Anna.
For the next 10 years Franko made his living working on the staff of the Polish newspaper Kurier Lwowski (The Lviv Courier) and the German publication Die Zeit (Time). He referred to this period as "doing hired labor for the neighbors."
In 1887 Franko was arrested for the third time, a two-month incarceration for having contacts with a group of students visiting Galicia (western Ukraine under Austria). The following year, with the support of Drahomanov, he and Mykhailo Pavlyk co-founded the Ruthenian-Ukrainian Radical Party, and Franko drew up its program. This was the first modern Ukrainian political party, with a defined program, a mass following and registered memberships. The party program advocated socialism along with a series of political reforms aimed at the extension of democracy and the improvement of the position of Ukrainians in Galicia.
Between 1890 and 1895, he and Pavlyk published the semi-monthly Narod (Folk). In 1895, 1897 and 1898 Franko was the Radical party's candidate for the Austrian Parliament and the Galician Diet, but he lost the elections due to blatant administrative manipulations and provocations by the opposition. After these attempts he avoided personal involvement in politics and continued his activities as a writer, critic, scholar and teacher to his people.
He could not totally divorce himself from political debate, however and in 1899, when a split of the Radical party occurred, Franko joined the largest splinter group (mostly populists) in founding the National Democratic Party. He actively supported the new party until 1904, when he completely retired from political life.
Part II will appear next month.
Ingert Kuzych may be contacted at: P.O. Box 3, Springfield, VA 22150 or by e-mail at [email protected].
PART I
Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, June 6, 2004, No. 23, Vol. LXXII
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