V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University Bulletin ‘History of Ukraine. Ukrainian Studies: Historical and Philosophical Sciences’

Patron and Educator in Southern Ukraine, Late 18th – Early 19th Century.

2026-01-08T21:21:06+00:00

Purpose of the study. To summarize the available information about Yevdokym Hranobarskyi — a prominent yet little-known figure in the socio-cultural history of Southern Ukraine in the late 18th and early 19th centuries — and to present his role against the backdrop of the era, with a particular focus on education and patronage.

Methodology. The study is based on the principles of historicism, systematicity, and objectivity. It employs methods of analysis, synthesis, and archival heuristics.

Scientific novelty. The ideological foundations, content, and significance of the patronage initiatives undertaken by this local nobleman, who played a lasting role in the development of educational infrastructure in the Orikhiv and Melitopol counties of the Tavria province and the Oleksandrivskyi county of the Katerynoslav governorate, have been established. His biography has been reconstructed in the context of broader socio-political processes in Southern Ukraine. Previously unknown archival sources have been brought into scholarly circulation.

Conclusions. Yevdokym Hranobarskyi can be regarded as a representative of the intersection between imperial administrative policy and local initiative. His social motivation combined a personal commitment to supporting those in pursuit of knowledge with the educational ideals inherent in the paternalistic policies of the Russian Empire. The awarding of a diamond ring to Hranobarskyi by the emperor in 1812 carried symbolic weight and reflected the state’s legitimization of local forms of patronage. The activities of figures such as Hranobarskyi contributed to the tangible development of educational institutions and to the gradual emergence of a social stratum capable of modernizing this peripheral imperial territory. His legacy exemplifies a form of enlightened local patriotism that invites new interpretations of colonization, cultural integration, and enlightenment within the imperial context, while also offering insights into the early stages of the formation of the modern Ukrainian nation in Southern Ukraine at the beginning of the 19th century.

Evangelical Christians-Baptists of Kharkiv province in the late imperial period (1909 – 1917)

2026-01-08T21:21:08+00:00

The research aim. The article aims to examine the features of the activities of Protestant sects (primarily Baptists and Evangelical Christians) in the territory of the Kharkiv province at the end of the 20th century. The chronological boundaries of this study cover the period from 1909 to 1917. This is the time of the renewal of repressive policies by the secular and clerical authorities against informal religious groups. Special attention is paid to the features of the counteraction resorted to by dissident organizations in difficult conditions for themselves, the analysis of the means of their agitation, and the personal characteristics of the most famous figures of the Protestant movement of Sloboda Ukraine.

Research methodology. The methodological basis of the article is the principles of historicism and objectivity, implemented using a number of methods: general logical (analysis and synthesis), as well as classification, comparative, and periodization methods.

Scientific novelty. The subject of a special scientific study was the organizational and propaganda work of religious dissidents in the conditions of post-revolutionary and wartime relations in the countryside and severe pressure from the state and the official church.

Conclusions. We associate the renewal of persecution of evangelical Baptist Christians in the period 1909-1917 with overcoming the revolutionary crisis in the country and the lack of legislative registration of the manifestos of 1905-1906, and after 1914 - in connection with the First World War. The reaction of religious minorities to the deterioration of their situation was the search for new means of agitation, internal organizational work and pacifist initiatives during the war. Despite pressure from officials and the clergy, in the period 1909-1917 sectarianism in the Kharkiv region developed as dynamically as during the times of complete liberalization in 1905-1908. Religious dissidence accumulated a huge organizational, material and ideological potential during these years, which could not be prevented by partial repressive measures. Protestant groups pursued a rather flexible policy, focusing on the maximum increase in the audience. The population was offered various ways to satisfy its spiritual needs, combining both Western and Eastern religious traditions. Actually, the significant strategic success of sectarianism, which was observed in the Kharkiv province at the beginning of the 20th century, to a certain extent determined the future picture of interfaith diversity in this Ukrainian region.

The emergence of business on football in Kharkiv at the beginning of the 20th century.

2026-01-08T21:21:10+00:00

Research aim. This article seeks to examine the emergence and implementation of the first profit-oriented projects related to the most popular sport in modern Europe football within one of the key industrial centres of the Russian Empire Kharkiv.

Research methodology. To explore this topic, the study applies the classical school of political economy, particularly the business concept proposed by the British scholar Adam Smith. The development of football-related entrepreneurship in the Russian Empire is considered as part of the broader process of industrial society formation, a concept introduced by the French researcher Raymond Aron.

Scientific novelty. The study identifies the chronological framework of football-related business formation, classifies the types of entrepreneurial activities connected to the game, and clarifies the factors that influenced the development of this business in Kharkiv.

Conclusions. Several factors contributed to the growth of football-related business in Kharkiv: a large urban population, the sport’s popularity among various social groups, the presence of numerous local teams competing in city championships, and the role of foreign residents who facilitated the transfer of knowledge about football infrastructure. These foreigners also introduced the first footballs, boots, and uniforms to Kharkiv. Additionally, local newspapers with significant circulation played a crucial role in promoting the sport.

The origins of the football business in Kharkiv can be traced back to 1908, when the first entertainment industry projects featuring football emerged. Entrepreneurial activity reached its peak between 1911 and 1914. During World War I, the pace of development slowed slightly but did not come to a halt.

At the beginning of the 20th century, football-related businesses in Kharkiv included: construction of playing fields as part of entertainment complexes, production of football equipment (boots, balls, and uniforms), operation of workshops and retail outlets selling football goods, advertising of matches and related products, ticket sales for games and exhibitions, rental of football fields and facilities.

Several entertainment and sports complexes in the city offered football field rentals, most of which were located in park areas. Leading newspapers “Харьковские губернские ведомости”, “Южный край”, and “Утро” regularly published advertisements for matches, shops, and workshops selling football equipment. As of 1914, four retail outlets and five workshops dedicated to the production and sale of football-related goods were operating in the city.

Archbishop Agapit (Vishnevsky) against the backdrop of church, social and political transformations (1867-1923?).

2026-01-08T21:21:12+00:00

Research Objective – to reconstruct the key stages of the biography of Archbishop Agapit (Vishnevsky) of Katerynoslav and Mariupol and to analyze his multifaceted activities within the context of the socio-political transformations of the early 20th century. The author examines the hierarch's fate as a vivid reflection of the dramatic path of the Orthodox Church during the era of revolution and war, when the clergy found themselves compelled to adapt to fundamentally new conditions.

Research Methodology encompasses historical-biographical and contextual approaches utilizing microhistorical principles. The source base includes publications from ecclesiastical periodicals, archival testimonies, materials from diocesan assemblies, and contemporary historiography. Particular attention is devoted to analyzing the archbishop's administrative and public activities, his interactions with the clergy, public organizations, and authorities of various political regimes.

Scholarly Novelty of the article lies in the comprehensive examination of Agapit's ministry before and after the 1917 Revolution, including understudied episodes of his conflict with diocesan clergy, assessment of his response to political challenges, and reappraisal of his role in the ecclesiastical and social life of the Katerynoslav region. The article systematizes Agapit's participation in the church politics of different regimes; for the first time, specific narrative and administrative documents are introduced into scholarly circulation, illuminating a number of little-known episodes (for example, the role of Archpriest Krechetovich, intra-diocesan conflicts, interaction with the Union of Russian People, perception of the hierarch in Katerynoslav); it is demonstrated that Agapit does not fit into the binary model of «Black Hundredist/autocephalist,» but rather occupies a complex, flexible position that emerged as a strategy of adaptation to the changing circumstances of revolutionary reality.

Conclusions. Archbishop Agapit manifested himself as a pragmatic administrator who sought to preserve the stability of ecclesiastical life under conditions of changing political regimes. He maintained a balanced position between imperial loyalty and Ukrainian national tendencies; during the revolutionary period, he supported Ukrainization, participated episodically in the autocephalous movement, but subsequently distanced himself from this vector under the influence of circumstances. Under pressure from Soviet authorities, he joined the Renovationist movement. He attempted to find a canonically acceptable boundary of loyalty to changing political regimes in order to ensure peaceful ministry for his diocese and himself, but this tactic proved unsuccessful under conditions of Bolshevik anti-religious terror.

Czechoslovak aspects in the documents of the Ukrainian People's Republic embassy in Germany (1919-1923).

2026-01-08T21:21:14+00:00

The purpose of the article is to examine the features of the coverage of Czechoslovak aspects in the documents of the Ukrainian People's Republic embassy in Germany in 1919-1923.

The research methodology is based on the scientific research principles of historicism, systematicity, objectivity, historical and logical methods, and source criticism.

The scientific novelty lies in the fact that for the first time in historical science, Czechoslovak plots in the documents of the Ukrainian People's Republic embassy in Germany in 1919–1923 are analyzed. Attention is focused on the analysis of the information potential of the documents from the point of view of the foreign policy of Czechoslovakia, relations between the Czechoslovak Republic and the Ukrainian People's Republic, in particular, the activities of its representatives in Prague and their interaction with the Ukrainian embassy in Germany, and some initiatives of Soviet Ukraine regarding the Czechoslovak Republic.

Conclusions. The documents of the Ukrainian mission in Germany are an important source for the history of the foreign policy activities of the Ukrainian People's Republic. A significant part of this set of documents touches on various issues of interaction between the Ukrainian People's Republic missions in Germany and Czechoslovakia, and the activities of Ukrainian representatives in Prague. The efforts of Bolshevik figures to organize Ukrainian emigration in Czechoslovakia are also highlighted. The internal political situation of the Czechoslovak Republic was practically not covered in the documents. Among the foreign policy measures of the Czechoslovak Republic, the reasons for the creation of the Little Entente, certain aspects of the attitude towards the Ukrainian People's Republic, the launch in 1921 of a campaign to support emigrants from the territories of the former tsarist empire, and the events of the beginning of the establishment of relations between Soviet Ukraine and Czechoslovakia in 1921 were revealed.

The Destruction of the St. Michael’s Golden-Domed Monastery as Covered by Some Ukrainian Periodicals of the Interwar Period.

2026-01-08T21:21:16+00:00

Purpose of the study. To consider and analyse diverse materials about the destruction by the Soviet authorities of the unique architectural complex of Kyiv — the St. Michael’s Golden-Domed Monastery, as published on the pages of some Ukrainian periodicals published in Soviet Ukraine and beyond during the interwar period — mainly in the 1930s.

Research methodology. The principles of historicism and objectivity were applied. Descriptive, comparative-historical, and historical-critical methods were used.

Scientific novelty. The materials presented in this publication can serve as a certain addition to the coverage of state anti-religious policy in Soviet Ukraine, in the part of it that concerned the closure and destruction of religious buildings, in particular, prominent historical and artistic monuments of world importance.

Conclusions. The demolition of the St. Michael’s Golden-Domed Monastery became for the conscious Ukrainian community one of the most resonant acts of vandalism by the Bolshevik government. This attitude can be seen in the Ukrainian-language newspaper periodicals of that time in the ethnic lands that were part of Poland, in particular in the Lviv newspapers. In contrast to their clearly pro-Ukrainian position, the servile position was visible in the periodicals of the Ukrainian SSR, where the destruction of the St. Michael’s Monastery was deprived of a negative context. The corresponding publications in the spirit of Bolshevik guidelines actually promoted the invalidation of the values of national architectural traditions and the significance of monuments of sacral architecture.

From Imperial to National: The Historical Transformation of Kharkiv University Through the Lens of Postcolonial Theory

2026-01-08T21:21:18+00:00

Purpose. The article aims to analyse the historical transformation of Kharkiv University from the imperial era to the present day through the lens of postcolonial theory, particularly the concepts of Homi Bhabha, demonstrating how the university, founded as an instrument of imperial rule, simultaneously became a space for national resistance and reflection. It examines the impact of Russian/Soviet colonialism on institutional culture, the educational process, and identity formation, and analyses the contemporary processes of decolonisation catalysed by the full-scale war of 2022.

Methodology. The research methodology is based on applying postcolonial theory as an analytical tool to the historical analysis of Kharkiv University's development. Key concepts by Homi Bhabha are employed: the ambivalence of colonial discourse, mimicry as a strategy of imitation that produces difference, hybridity as a result of cultural interaction in the "third space," and "unhomeliness" as a manifestation of cultural dislocation. The specificity of Russian colonialism, aimed at appropriating history and culture, is taken into account.

Scientific Novelty. For the first time in national historiography, the complex history of Kharkiv University throughout the imperial, Soviet, and post-Soviet periods has become the subject of special scientific research, analysed through the systematic application of the theoretical apparatus of postcolonial studies, particularly H. Bhabha's concepts. The ambivalent role of the university as an institution that both transmitted imperial narratives and created space for the formation of national subjectivity is revealed. The current stage of the university's decolonisation is analysed as a multi-level process accelerated by the war.

Conclusions. The historical path of Kharkiv University exemplifies colonial ambivalence, where the imperial project coexisted with the emergence of national resistance. Bhabha's concepts (mimicry, hybridity) effectively explain this dynamic. The specificity of Russian colonialism lay in its aspiration to appropriate Ukrainian culture. The full-scale war of 2022 catalysed decolonisation, which involves systemic changes in curricula, institutional culture, language policy, symbolic space, and international integration, establishing the university as a subject of Ukrainian intellectual independence.

The book collections of the Central Scientific Library as a source for studying the socio-economic history of the nobility of the Kharkiv province (second half of the 19th – early 20th centuries): historiographical aspect.

2026-01-08T21:21:21+00:00

Research aim. The purpose of this article is to reveal the composition and content of the book collection of the Central Scientific Library, which contains a significant array of publications from the pre-Soviet period, allowing researchers to continue studying the situation of the nobility in the Kharkiv province during the difficult period of social and economic transformations in the second half of the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Methodology of the research is based on a set of scientific principles and methods that allow for an objective study of the past. The methodology is based on the principle of historicism, which involves analyzing events and phenomena in a specific historical context. The principle of objectivity is also important, obliging the researcher to avoid bias and evaluate facts without imposing contemporary ideas. Among the main methods used in the analysis process, the chronological and comparative-historical methods are worth highlighting.

The scientific novelty lies in the analysis of the book collections of the Central Scientific Library of V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University, which cover the topic of the nobility. The bibliographic potential of the library as a source base for research on the nobility is outlined. The work systematizes scientific literature according to content areas (the formation of the nobility, changes in noble land ownership, the role of the nobility in the system of local self-government).

Conclusions. The article considers the possibility of using the information potential of the Central Scientific Library of Karazin University for educational, scientific, and cultural-educational processes. An important component of the library's funds is a complex of various sources that allows for the study of the socio-economic history of the Kharkiv province. The article analyzes the works of pre-Soviet researchers who studied the position, role, and evolution of the nobility in general, and in particular in the Kharkiv province in the second half of the 19th and early 20th centuries. The historiography of the nobility developed gradually, reflecting changes in scientific approaches, political contexts, and social demands.

Publishing Activities of Ivan Lypa in Odesa: "O. L. S." in the History of Ukrainian Book Printing (Book Science Aspect of the Fund of the Odesa National Scientific Library).

2026-01-08T21:21:24+00:00

Research aim. The aim of the study is to analyze the publishing activities of Ivan Lypa in Odesa, particularly the role of the publishing house Odeska Literaturna Spilka ("O. L. S.") [Odesa Literary Union], its contribution to the development of Ukrainian book printing, and the formation of the national cultural space. Special attention is given to the characteristics of "O. L. S." publications held in the collection of the Odesa National Scientific Library.

Methodology of the research. The methodological foundation of the article is the historical-biographical method, which made it possible to study Ivan Lypa’s activities as a publisher, his contribution to the cultural process, and his connections with the intellectual environment of that time. It also allowed for an analysis of the establishment and development of the "O. L. S." publishing house, determining its place and role in Ukrainian book printing.

A source studies approach ensured the examination of primary sources, contemporary reviews, and publications that shed light on the publishing house’s activities. The application of the comparative-historical method helped outline the role of "O. L. S." in the development of Ukrainian printing. Content analysis facilitated the study of the publications’ content, determining their genre specifics, thematic features, and ideological directions.

Bibliographical analysis contributed to the examination of the distinctive features of "O. L. S." publications in the collection of the Odesa National Scientific Library, particularly their printing characteristics, artistic design, content, typographic execution, and their role in the development of early 20th-century Ukrainian literature.

Special attention is given to the study of provenance: copies with inscriptions, bookplates, and ownership or institutional stamps have been identified, allowing for the tracing of the history of each book monument over time and space until its acquisition by the Odesa National Scientific Library.

The scientific novelty of the study lies in the clarification of the period of activity of "O. L. S.", which lasted from 1902 to 1912. The list of its publications has been expanded, in particular, it has been supplemented with publications that were not previously mentioned. In the process of the study, the authorship of one of the publications, which was previously considered anonymous, was established: based on the analysis of bibliographical sources, it was found out that its author is B. Grinchenko. For the first time, a bibliographic analysis of copies stored in the funds of the Odesa National Scientific Library has been carried out. This allows to popularize the library fund and determines its historical and cultural value. The bibliographic study reveals the significant personal contribution of Ivan Lypa to the development of publishing in Odesa, in particular, his activities as a publisher, editor and popularizer of Ukrainian books.

Relevance. The study of the publishing activities of Ivan Lypa and Odeska Literaturna Spilka [Odesa Literary Union] expands knowledge about the history of Ukrainian book printing, revealing the contribution of the first Ukrainian publishing house in Odesa at the beginning of the 20th century. The analysis of copies from the ONNB fund allows us to trace their historical and cultural value. In the context of modern war and attempts by Russian propaganda to belittle the role of Odesa as a Ukrainian cultural center, revealing the city's national heritage is important for restoring historical justice. The study of Ivan Lypa's experience as a publisher demonstrates the significance of local initiatives in the development of Ukrainian printing, literature, and public movements, which remains relevant today.

Conclusions. Odesa Literary Union became the first Ukrainian publishing house in Odesa at the beginning of the 20th century. Analysis of the publications of "O. L. S." confirms not only their literary, but also significant historical and cultural value for the study of the history of Ukrainian book printing. Their uniqueness lies in the combination of literary and artistic value, historical significance and connection with the political and cultural processes of their time. The connection with the personal book collection of Mikhail Komarov emphasizes the role of the intelligentsia in preserving the national heritage and allows us to trace the continuity of cultural traditions in Odesa.

Research into Ivan Lypa's publishing activities in Odesa, in particular based on materials from the Department of Rare Editions and Manuscripts of the Odesa National Scientific Library, allows us to gain a deeper understanding of his role in the development of Ukrainian culture. Ivan Lypa is an extraordinary figure who combined the roles of a writer, cultural, public and political figure and publisher. In the conditions of imperial bans and censorship restrictions, he found opportunities to publish Ukrainian literature, spread the national idea and support cultural progress. His publishing activities not only preserved spiritual heritage, but also inspired future generations to preserve and multiply Ukrainian culture.

In the modern context, Lypa’s experience as a publisher is a valuable example of how local initiatives can contribute to the development of publishing, literary creativity, public movement, and all-Ukrainian cultural revival. Thanks to his efforts to create and distribute Ukrainian publications, Odesa became one of the leading centers of the Ukrainian national movement. This not only emphasizes the significance of Lypa’s figure for the history of Ukrainian culture, but also proves that Odesa is a Ukrainian city, despite Russian propaganda narratives aimed at concealing its Ukrainian history and cultural heritage.

Family correspondence of famous Ukrainians as a source of prosopographic information (on the example of epistolary communications of the Chykalenkos).

2026-01-08T21:21:28+00:00

The aim of the study is to present the Chikalenko family correspondence, compiled in exile (1920s–1960s), as the main source for researching prosopographic stories about certain periods in the lives of famous Ukrainians, the circumstances of their life abroad, forms of self-realisation, communicative space, and interpersonal relationships.

Research methodology. Based on the principles of historicism, objectivity and reliability of historical sources, the use of content analysis and synthesis methods, comparative-historical and generalisations (biographical, prosopographic).

Scientific novelty. The article uses large arrays of historical sources (private correspondence) for the first time to identify prosopographic information about representatives of a well-known Ukrainian family, systematises them chronologically, and identifies the main groups of correspondence and its informational potential for achieving the goal of this study. The uniqueness of private correspondence as a historical source for reconstructing family history is noted: its representatives, important events, relationships between relatives, etc.

Conclusions. Thanks to the formation and preservation by the Chikalenko family of multi-vector arrays of private correspondence, we have a solid source base for reconstructing the prosopographic portrait of a noble Ukrainian family during its division into two parts in the 1920s. Due to the Bolshevik occupation of Ukraine, part of the Chikalenko family emigrated from their homeland and settled permanently in European countries, and later in the United States, while the other part continued to live in Soviet Ukraine, and two of its members later became victims of Bolshevik terror. Thanks to the correspondence, we were able to establish the places of residence of all members of the Chikalenko family, the years and circumstances of the restoration of epistolary communications between relatives, and the nature of the relationships between them. The information in the correspondence widely reflects the forms of self-realisation of the Chikalenko family in emigration, their main occupations, physical and moral states, and their influence on their main activities. The informational potential of the correspondence recreates the history of the Chikalenko family's lost estates: their exemplary family estate in the Kherson region and the one they acquired (in the Poltava region), and attests to the Chikalenko family's irretrievable losses of their library, archive, and scientific collections under the Bolshevik occupation of Ukraine. The correspondence also became a source of information about the family's growth in the 1920s and the tragic fates of individual Chikalenko family members, of whom only a few descendants remain today.

Correspondence between Ivan Shovgeniv and Mykyta Shapoval.

2026-01-08T21:21:33+00:00

Research aim. The purpose of the article is to publish the correspondence between the Ukrainian scientist Ivan Afanasovich Shovgeniv (1874–1943) and the famous Ukrainian political and public figure Mykyta Yukhymovych Shapoval (1882–1932) and to clarify its information potential. These letters were deposited in the personal fund "Shapoval Mykyta Yukhymovych (1882–1932) – political and statesman, member of the Central Committee of the Ukrainian Party of Socialist Revolutionaries, Minister of Post and Telegraph of the UNR (Ukrainian People's Republic), Minister of Land Affairs of the UNR Directory, Doctor of Sociology of the Ukrainian Sociological Institute in Prague, Ukrainian Husbandry Academy in Poděbrady" (F. 3563), which is stored in the Central State Archive of the Higher Authorities and Administration of Ukraine.

Methodology of the research. Based on the principles of scientific objectivity, historicism, and archival heuristics. The methods of source analysis and synthesis, biographical, and prosopographic were used.

The scientific novelty. For the first time, the little-known correspondence between I. Shovgeniv and M. Shapoval, which chronologically covers the period from 1921 to 1925, has been published and brought into scientific circulation. The analysis of the letters helped clarify some biographical moments of I. Shovgeniv's life in emigration and the problems that the Ukrainian Husbandry Academy in Poděbrady encountered in its activities.

Conclusions. It has been established that the complex of correspondence between I. Shovgeniv and M. Shapoval has a small volume. The subject matter and information potential of the correspondence have been determined. The letters are mostly of a business nature. The main value of the correspondence as a historical source is in highlighting the issues of the activities of the Ukrainian Husbandry Academy. The significance of the epistles for the study of the emigrant life of Ukrainian politicians, intelligentsia, and students in Czechoslovakia in the 1920s is also revealed.

Between land and sea: the transformation of the communication system of ukrainian sailors' wives.

2026-01-08T21:21:35+00:00

Research objective. This article analyses the transformation of the communication system of Ukrainian sailors' wives during the Soviet and post-Soviet periods. The research aims to identify changes in the forms and practices of communication among sailors' wives and fiancées in the context of socio-historical transformations.

The research methodology is based on reflection on personal experience and a combination of qualitative methods – interviews and field observations in the families of sailors in Odessa – with an analysis of specialised Internet resources (forums, social networks, online communities). The use of approaches from social anthropology and gender studies made it possible to trace how communication among sailors' wives serves not only as a tool for maintaining family ties, but also as a factor in the formation of a special female subculture based on shared experiences of waiting, solidarity, and adaptation to the specifics of the maritime lifestyle.

The scientific novelty lies in the introduction of the author's field materials into scientific circulation, which highlight the peculiarities of communication among Odessa sailors' wives, as well as in an attempt at a comparative analysis of Soviet and modern digital forms of communication. It is demonstrated that communicative changes reflect not only technical progress but also the transformation of women's strategies for overcoming separation, organising time, and preserving identity in a globalised world.

The topic's relevance stems from the under-representation of sailors' wives as a distinct social group in Ukrainian humanitarian knowledge. Despite the existence of publications on professional communication among sailors, their wives remained outside the analytical field, which made it impossible to comprehensively understand the maritime environment as a complex of interrelated practices.

Conclusions. The study found that Soviet forms of communication among sailors' wives (telegrams, radiograms, letters, meetings in ports) have given way to modern digital means of communication (mobile phones, the internet, and social networks). These innovations not only made it easier to maintain ties with sailors but also contributed to the formation of a special female subculture based on solidarity and the unique experience of waiting.

Oral history as a tool for exploring mental structures of peace and migration in the context of the contemporary russo-ukrainian war.

2026-01-08T21:21:36+00:00

Research aim is to explore how oral history interviews reflect the transformations of mental structures within Ukrainian society during the contemporary Russo-Ukrainian war, particularly through the analysis of categories such as “security/insecurity,” “refugees/internally displaced persons,” language choice, and respondents’ adaptation during migration.

Methodology of the research is based on the analysis of oral history materials (interviews with forced migrants from 2022–2024), employing qualitative methods (comparative narrative analysis, identification of mental patterns), as well as an interdisciplinary approach that combines tools from history, sociology, psychology, and cultural anthropology.

The scientific novelty of the study lies in identifying mental patterns among forced migrants during the Russo-Ukrainian war of 2022–2024 based on oral history materials, and in demonstrating the dependence of narrative expression readiness on the respondents’ attainment of a “security mode.” It is proposed to consider oral history not only as a method of source collection but also as a tool of social policy and a means of documenting transformations of social identity under wartime conditions.

Conclusions. Based on the analysis of oral history interviews, the effectiveness of oral history as a tool for studying migration processes caused by the full-scale invasion is substantiated, as it allows for the recording not only of displacement facts but also of mental patterns, emotional reactions, and identity transformations. It is confirmed that a significant factor in respondents’ willingness to share their experiences is the attainment of a “security mode”—a state in which a person feels protected and capable of reflection. The potential of oral history as a tool of social policy is revealed, particularly through providing respondents with a sense of significance and inclusion in the historical process during interviews. Prospects for further oral history research are outlined, in which repeated interviews, interdisciplinary approaches to analyzing oral testimonies, and the combination of narratives with visual and personal sources (diaries, photographs, drawings, digital memes) may play a key role.

Childbirth ritual in the Volyn Polissya region: traditional norms of behavior for pregnant women.

2026-01-08T21:21:39+00:00

The research aim. Based on field ethnographic materials collected in the Kovel and Kamin-Kashirsky districts of the Volyn region, to study the prenatal customs of Volyn Polissya, in particular, analyze the normative rules of behavior for pregnant women (warnings and prohibitions) that shape the characteristics of carrying and giving birth to a child, ensuring the physical and mental health of the mother and her child.

Research methodology. Historical methods (analysis and synthesis, typological, comparative-historical) and ethnological research methods (collection of field materials using a questionnaire program, conducted using the cluster method of ethnological research) were used.

Scientific novelty. For the first time, the traditions of regulating the rules of behavior of pregnant women in Volyn Polissya were studied and their motivation was clarified. Expedition field materials were used, which are being introduced into scientific circulation for the first time.

Conclusions. It has been proven that prenatal customs, which initiate rituals associated with the birth of a child, determine the norms of behavior of a pregnant woman and the attitude of those around her. It has been established that the restrictions and prohibitions that regulated all aspects of a pregnant woman’s life were intended to ensure a healthy pregnancy and childbirth and to protect the child from congenital physical and mental defects, which was due to beliefs about the mysterious connection between the unborn child and the actions of the future mother. Some of the rules were practical in nature, while others were based on ancient beliefs about the cause-and-effect relationship between certain objects and actions – homeopathic magic. It is emphasized that pregnant women were not restricted in performing their daily duties, which was determined by the natural state of pregnancy.

Fedir Schmidt. Impressions of a prisoner of war (Part ІІ)

2026-01-08T21:21:41+00:00

Relevance of the publication of the source. The text is the second and final part of the translation from Russian stories by Fedir Schmit (1877–1837) about his staying in German captivity, published in the Kharkiv newspaper “Yuzhny Kray” in January 1915. The famous Byzantine scholar, archaeologist, museum expert, and dean of the Faculty of History and Philology of Kharkiv University Fedir Schmit immediately after his return from Germany presents his memoirs, which are an important source of personal origin. It also complements the biography of the scientist with interesting details and observations. The emotional and chaotic presentation fully corresponds to the position of a patrial of the Russian Empire regarding the assessments of the causes and the beginning of the Great War, however, the scientist sincerely thanks his German colleagues for temporary shelter, the opportunity to continue his scientific studies, and the promotion of his exchange for a German officer. Fedir Schmit’s memoir publications until recently remained unnoticed by researchers. Therefore, their translation into Ukrainian makes an important source on the history of the First World War and Kharkiv University available to the public.

The 10th All-Ukrainian Scientific Conference “Theoretical and Applied Aspects of Biographical Studies. The Yefymenko Family of Historians”

2026-01-08T21:21:42+00:00

Annually, the Department of Ukrainian Studies and the Center for Ukrainian Studies and Regional Studies named after Academician P. T. Tronko organize a conference dedicated to the problems of biographistics. This time, it was dedicated not to a single historical figure, but to the renowned Efymenky family.