Ukrainian Humanitaristics: Who Lays Claim to Ivan Franko Prize This Year?

The press conference “Ivan Franko International Prize – Contenders of 2017” took place in Kyiv on March 10, 2017.

The list of contenders for Ivan Franko International Prize in the field of social and humanitarian sciences and Ukrainian Studies was disclosed during the event.

In particular, at the beginning of the event, Roland Franko, Chairman of the Board of the Fund, admitted that he wished Ivan Franko Prize to become as popular as Alfred Nobel Prize. “I understand that this work requires a lot of effort. We devote all our time, funds and inspiration to it. We are sure that Ivan Franko International Prize is vital for the advancement of Ukraine to the civilized world. This work will be successful as soon as millions of Ukrainians all over the world pitch in”, said the grandson of the Great Kamenyar.

Ihor Kurus, Director of the Fund, summed up the results of submitting documents for Ivan Franko International Prize in 2017. In particular, he pointed out that 21 research papers from 16 Universities from Austria, Poland, Ukraine and Israel were submitted to the Fund`s address from January 15 to March 1, 2017 encompassing 9 scientific disciplines:  Law, Art Criticism, Social Anthropology, History, Cultural Studies, History of Religion, History of Ukraine, Social Geography and Psychology.

“This year, we`ve received twice as many research papers as in 2016. I hope that the level of competition in 2017 will be even higher and the International Jury will choose the undisputed winner of the Prize in each of the nominations during their meeting in Vienna”, noted Director of the Fund.

Ihor Kurus has also noted that the Prize is not state, and the inducement fund, which is 500 000 UAH in 2017, is formed at the expense of benefactors.

Member of the Board of the Fund, vice-rector of Taras Shevchenko Kyiv National University Volodymyr Buhrov familiarized us with the criteria and process of determining the laureates of the Prize, as well as with the contenders for Ivan Franko International Prize in the nomination “For Substantial Achievements in the Field of Social and Humanitarian Sciences”.

“The Fund has finished the acceptance of research papers at the moment and has also started the formation of the nomination committees which will consist of 3 scientists from different Universities of the world. The International Expert Council will select three best monographs from the works selected by the committees and submit them to the International Jury, which will take place in Vienna from June 23 to June 25. The laureates of the Prize in each of the nominations will be announced in Vienna. The awarding ceremony will be held in Drohobych on August 27 – Ivan Franko`s birthday”, stressed Volodymyr Buhrov.

In turn, Member of the Board of the Fund, vice-rector of Ivan Franko Lviv National University Yaroslav Herasym spoke about the contenders for the Prize in the nomination “For Substantial Achievements in the Field of Ukrainian Studies”. He pointed out that the final number of the contenders for Ivan Franko International Prize would be determined by the nomination committees, which would screen off possible pseudoscientific views.

“Ivan Franko International Prize in the field of Ukrainian Studies helps attract influential humanitarians of modern times to the new interpretation of our millennial history, new comprehension of the uniqueness and soleness of Ukrainian culture and to the discovery of peculiarities in preserving the national identity in the process of sociocultural globalization”, said Yaroslav Herasym.

For the list of research papers submitted for the Prize, please see the website of Ivan Franko International Fund at www.frankoprize.com.ua

We remind that the Prize has two nominations: for significant achievements (developments) in Ukrainian studies and for significant achievements (developments) in social and humanitarian sciences. The Prize is annual and is awarded on August 27 on the birth day of Ivan Franko. Winners of the Prize are awarded with monetary reward (in 2017 prize fund is 500 thousand UAH) and golden symbol of the winner.

The first winner of the Prize in 2016, i.e., became Archbishop-Emeritus and of Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, Cardinal of the Catholic Church  His Beatitude Lubomyr Husar  in nomination  “For significant personal contribution to the development of social and humanitarian sciences”  for the monograph “Andrey Sheptytsky Galician Metropolitan (1901-1944), a forerunner of ecumenism”.



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