The establishment of the Petro Mohyla
Society for Ukrainian Scientific Lectures was planned for the beginning of 1905
as a reaction to disputes between scientists within the Taras Shevchenko
Scientific Society. The union foundation is often dated 1908 (Minutes of the
Society's Meetings, 171); however, the founding meeting took place in December
1906. The statutes were formally approved by the Galician Governor's Office on
September 19, 1906 (Minutes of the Society's Meetings, 171). Energetic activity
was launched in early 1909, after the chairman of the Society, Oleksandr
Kolessa, was elected to the Austrian Parliament.
The aim of the union was to popularize
science among the Ukrainian-speaking community. This was to be achieved through
regular lectures, which were to be publicly available and easily understood.
Not least, they had to become visual. The union spent most of their first
budget on purchasing sciopticons (devices for image projection) (Society
Statute, 3). Lectures were not limited thematically, they were often related to
the areas of professional interest of the volunteer lecturers. The only
requirement was to give them in Ukrainian (Minutes of the Society's Meetings,
171). The lectures were varied and fairly well-attended. The first series held
in January 1909 was attended by 165 to 300 attendees (Minutes of the Society's
Meetings, 171). Later, lectures were held regularly, most often on Sunday
afternoons in the premises of larger societies, especially those of the Sokil and
the Ruska Besida (Stifter, 2015, 293-316).
They were patterned after British
"university extensions" (courses), which spread from the late 19th century
in the Habsburg monarchy too (Stifter, 2015, 293-316). At first, the Society
did not plan to organize lectures in the country. Instead, there were
distributors among the audience, who conducted their own lectures in turn in
the Prosvita Society's reading rooms. Initially, the leading members of the
society intended to publish periodicals and irregular publications, which,
however, was not implemented (Society Statute, 1912, 3).
Due to agreeing with the Prosvita on
the date of the latter's congress in early 1909, the Petro Mohyla Society
succeeded in attracting many new members from all over Galicia and the
Russian-run part of Ukraine. The updated statute of 1912 also explicitly
provided for the establishment of branches and circles, which were to be
coordinated by the head office in Lviv. Thanks to these efforts, it was
possible to hold regular readings in 19 cities and towns in the spring of 1912
(CDIAL 762/1/3:1). The society took an active part in the Shevchenko
celebrations of 1914. They purposefully planned readings in the countrywhich
were dedicated to the poet and his work and to the Galician cult of Shevchenko
(CDIAL 762/1/6:1).
During the First World War, meetings
and regular lectures did not take place. The chairman of the society, like many
other members, stayed in Vienna, where he focused on representing the interests
of Ukrainians in the parliament and in cultural and scientific institutions of
the Habsburg Empire. Only in November 1920 did a full-fledged meeting take
place, and Ivan Rakovetskyi was elected a new chairman.
In the early 1920s, the union was
involved in the development of the "Ukrainian University in Lviv"
(CDIAL 310/1/6:3). They paid special attention to the educational component of
the courses, the importance of their educational function was emphasized, and
it was recommended not to be limited to lectures, but to promote active
participation in discussions, which should arouse greater interest in science
(Minutes of the Society's Meetings, 246). Not least, this was seen as a task of
national importance. At the meetings held between 1924-1933, the union's
activity was low. They were able to resume more active work only under the
guidance of the newly elected chairman, Ilarion Svientsitskyi.
In 1939, during the Easter holidays, a
conference was held to celebrate the anniversary of the Society (Minutes of the
Society's Meetings, 309-314). In the same year, the Society was forced to cease
its activities due to the occupation of the city by the Soviet Union.
By 1939, the Society had 69 members
(Minutes of the Society's Meetings, 326). Only persons of Ukrainian ethnic
origin could become members of the Society (Society Statute, 1909, 4). Speakers
did not have to be its members. They were invited to lectures by Ukrainian
intellectuals (CDIAL 762/1/6:1). Initially, most of the union's assets came
from the private funds of the founding members, primarily Oleksandr Kolessa.
Subsequently, the Society was financed through the funds raised for the
lectures. However, these revenues were small, especially given that the ticket
price was deliberately low so as not to repel potential visitors (Minutes of
the Society's Meetings, 169).
Before the First World War, more
attention was paid to popular lectures on natural sciences. They were held in
proportion almost as many times as lectures in the humanities (mostly Ukrainian
studies and Ukrainian literature), and they often had a much greater resonance
than the latter. The ban on regular lectures, imposed by the Polish government
in late 1922 in response to the establishment of the "Ukrainian University
in Lviv", also affected the Petro Mohyla Society. Because of that, the
Society had to focus on individual lectures and other formats, for example,
conversational evenings with authors (Герцюк, 2014, 367-377; Кріль, Лешкович,
2011, 444). In the interwar period, thematic series of lectures most often took
place on the occasion of Ukrainian writers' anniversaries. In 1936, there was a
series of lectures on "Ukrainian Studies", which was positively
received by the Ukrainian intelligentsia (Герцюк, 2014, 376).
In 1993, at a meeting in Lviv, a
successor organization of the same name was founded (Minutes of the Society's
Meetings, 319-322).
