The meeting of the international jury was held on August 26, where 12 doctors of sciences from Ukraine, Austria and Poland chose the laureate among the three nominees.

During the meeting, the independent reviewers presented the monographs of the candidates followed by debate and interdisciplinary discussion.

As the chairman of the jury – Doctor of Philosophy Evhen Bystrytsky noted: “It has been a fruitful discussion during which all three works were thoroughly analyzed. The first in line was the collective monograph edited by Alfredas Bumblauskas, Salviyus Kulyavichyus and Ihor Skochylias – “At Сultural Сrossroads: The Holy Trinity Church and Monastery in Vilnius.” The second – Leonid Timoshenko’s monograph “Ruthenian religious culture of Wilno. Context of the epoch. Hubs. Literature and book-learning (the 16th to the first third of the 17th century)”. And the third – the monograph «Survival as Victory: Ukrainian Women in the Gulag» authored by Oksana Kis. As a result, it was decided that the name of the winner of the Ivan Franko International Prize for 2021 will be announced during the awards ceremony to be held tomorrow in the 165th anniversary of Ivan Franko’s birth.”

“The works presented pleasantly surprised by their high scientific quality. They will make a good contribution to the historiography. We have someone to be proud of “, – emphasized Doctor of Historical Sciences Roman Ofitsynskyy.

The meeting was attended by:

Jury Chairman – Evhen Bystritskyi, Doctor of Philosophy, Head of the department of philosophy of culture, ethics and aesthetics, the Institute of Philosophy, NAS of Ukraine;

Jury secretary – Natalia Starchenko, Doctor of historical science, senior researcher at the Institute of Ukrainian Archeography and Source Studies named after M. Hrushevskyi;

Roman Holod, Doctor of Philology, Professor, Department of Ukrainian Literature, Vasyl Stefanyk Precarpathian National University;

Victor Moysiyenko, Doctor of Philology, Professor, Head of the Ukrainian language department, Zhytomyr Ivan Franko State University;

Michael Moser, Doctor of Slavic Studies, Professor of Linguistics, Institute of Slavic Studies, University of Vienna, the Ukrainian Free University in Munich and Pázmány Péter Catholic University in Budapest, winner of the Ivan Franko International Prize in 2017;

Roman Mnych, Doctor of Slavic Studies, Associate Professor, Faculty of Applied Linguistics at Warsaw University;

Roman Ofitsynskyy, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor, Transcarpathian Institute of Postgraduate Education;

Lyudmila Posokhova, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor, Faculty of History, V.N.Karazin Kharkiv National University;

Ihor Serdyuk, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor, Poltava V.G. Korolenko National Pedagogical University, winner of the Ivan Franko International Prize in 2020;

Ihor Smutok, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor, Department of world history and special historical disciplines, Drohobych Ivan Franko State Pedagogical University;

Olexandr Fedoruk, Doctor of Philology, senior researcher, Manuscript funds and Textology, T.Shevchenko Institute of Literature, NAS of Ukraine;

Maksym Yaremenko, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor of History Department, National University of “Kyiv-Mohyla Academy”.

We would like to mention that the organizer of the jury meeting is Ivan Franko International Fund supported by the European Union and the International Renaissance Foundation within the grant component of the project EU4USociety.

Recently published books submitted for participation in the annual competition for the Ivan Franko International Prize have been donated to the Scientific Library of Taras Shevchenko National University in Kyiv.

The ceremony took place on November 24, 2021. Traditionally the location for the event is the Department of Rare Books and Manuscripts, Mykhailo Maksymovych Scientific Library.

Rector Volodymyr Bugrov, Director of the Center for the Study of the Creative Heritage of Ivan Franko at the Taras Shevchenko National University Maya Moser, Director of the Scientific Library Oleh Serbin and other librarians took part in the event. In his welcoming speech to the participants Volodymyr Bugrov said: “Distinguished scientific literature is not enjoying excessive popularity now. Hence, the efforts of representatives of the board and directors of the Ivan Franko International Fund are especially valuable as they combine efforts to assert the Ukrainian studies in the world. Thanks to your activities, not only reputable publications gain publicity, but also solid modern scientists receive an incentive for further research!”

Ihor Kurus (Executive Director of the Ivan Franko International Fund) and Olha Nyzhnyk (co-founder of the Ivan Franko International Fund, coordinator of the All-Ukrainian “Kamenyar’s Paths” Competition) presented this year’s publications set for the competition. The participants were happy to get acquainted with interesting and little-known facts about such books as:

monograph “Ruthenian religious culture of Wilno. Context of the epoch. Hubs. Literature and book-learning (the 16th to the first third of the 17th century)» by this year’s Prize-winner Leonid Tymoshenko is described by reviewers as “a scrupulous review of the two-hundred-year historiography on the position of the Metropolitanate of Kyiv in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth at the turn of XVI-XVII centuries”;

publication “Apocrypha. Selected works. Four Conversations about Lesia Ukrainka”, compiled by Oksana Zabuzhko, a graduate of the Faculty of Philosophy, Kyiv National University, based on conversations with His Beatitude Sviatoslav Shevchuk, was noted as a” professional theological analysis of Lesia Ukrainka’s complex and deeply dramatic relationship with Christianity which comprise the nucleous of her mature heritage.”

Oksana Kis wrote a book “Survival as Victory: Ukrainian Women in the Gulag” described by reviewers as an attempt “to restore a generalized portrait of a Ukrainian woman who suffered from political repression, who overcame Soviet prisons and correctional labor camps, which are among the worst in world history, with her extraordinary vitality (ability to survive)”;

publication “Andrei Sheptytsky: Biography” by Roman Horak is marked as “a true epic of time and relations, […] the way to Golgotha, which Metropolitan Andrei Sheptytsky was destined to go through with his people and his church”;

other books submitted for participation in the competition.

Later Ihor Kurus acquainted the audience with this year’s competition and noted: “I am glad to see among the permanent activists-benefactors of the Ivan Franko International Prize representatives of the University, especially Rector Volodymyr Bugrov and Director of the Scientific Library Oleh Serbin.” The solemn event continued with presentation of Certificates of Appreciation on behalf of the Board of the Ivan Franko International Fund.

At the end of the event, the participants discussed the plans for joint projects to further promote important scientific publications on Ukrainian studies in the non-academic environment, which can become a significant public asset.

The scientific and academic staff of Taras Shevchenko National University welcomed the efforts of the University administration to establish partnerships with leading public institutions and invited all the persons interested to get acquainted with the latest book publications of the collection of the Mykhailo Maksymovych Scientific Library!

For reference: The Ivan Franko International Fund is a non-governmental charitable organization. The Fund was initiated in 2015 by Roland Franko – a prominent Ukrainian writer’s grandson. The Fund’s mission includes the development of Ukrainian studies and social sciences and humanities, the promotion of Ivan Franko’s intellectual heritage, as well as the formation of a positive image of Ukraine worldwide.

According to the Kyiv Taras Shevchenko National University official website.

The Expert Council of the Ivan Franko International Prize has completed its work. Forty three scientists from nine countries: Austria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, Poland, Slovakia, Ukraine and USA sent their conclusions to the Organizing Committee. Members of the Expert Council evaluated scientific works according to three criteria: 1) the presence of innovative and original approaches in the research; 2) conceptuality, consistency and criticality of research; 3) the international context and level of research.

According to the results of the evaluation of scientific works, the highest scores were given to the following three works that have been nominated for the Prize in 2021:

«At Сultural Сrossroads: The Holy Trinity Church and Monastery in Vilnius»

COLLECTIVE MONOGRAPH, ed. Alfredas Bumblauskas, Salvius Kulevičius (Lithuania) and Igor Skočilyas (Ukraine), presented by the Ukrainian Catholic University (Lviv, Ukraine);

«Survival as Victory: Ukrainian Women in the Gulag»

OKSANA KIS (Ukraine), presented by the Ukrainian Research Institute at Harvard University (Cambridge, USA);

«Ruthenian religious culture of Wilno. Context of the epoch. Hubs. Literature and book-learning (the 16th to the first third of the 17th century)»

LEONID TYMOSHENKO (Ukraine), presented by Drohobych Ivan Franko State Pedagogical University (Drohobych, Ukraine).

The works of the nominees cover scientific disciplines: history, cultural studies, religious studies, sacred architecture, anthropology, literary studies, bibliology and Slavic studies.

Please keep in mind that 26 scientific papers were submitted for the Franco Prize this year.

For reference: The Ivan Franko International Prize has been awarded annually since 2016. Prize winners receive a cash award and a gold badge. The award ceremony takes place every year on August 27 – Ivan Franko’s birthday in his hometown of Drohobych.

The Ivan Franko International Foundation has announced candidates for the Prize of the same name, which is awarded to scientists whose work is a significant contribution to the development of social sciences and humanities, is of international importance and is based on scientific understanding of historical or contemporary processes in Ukrainian culture, politics and public life.

In 2021, 26 scientific papers from Austria, Canada, the United States and Ukraine were submitted for the Ivan Franko International Prize. The submission was initiated by eleven universities from Cambridge, Dnipro, Drohobych, Ivano-Frankivsk, Kharkiv, Kyiv, Lutsk, Lviv, Melitopol as well as six scientific institutions and four past Prize winners.

The scientists from Canada, Lithuania and Ukraine will compete for the victory. Due to the aggression, the scientific works submitted from the Russian Federation were not allowed to participate in the competition.

Applicants’ monographs cover 20 scientific disciplines and are written in two languages – Ukrainian and English.

The name of the winner of the Ivan Franko International Prize will be announced at the end of June in Austria (at the Institute of Slavic Studies, University of Vienna). The award ceremony will take place in Franko’s hometown, Drohobych, on August 27th – the 165th anniversary of his birth.

Applicants for the award:

1. СOLLECTIVE MONOGRAPH ed. by Alfredas Bumblauskas, Salvijus Kulevičius, Ihor Skochylias. «At Сultural Сrossroads: The Holy Trinity Church and Monastery in Vilnius»
2. СOLLECTIVE MONOGRAPH ed. by Oleksandr Hrytsenko, Nadiya Honcharenko, Inna Kuznetsova «Memory Culture in Contemporary Ukrainian Society: Transformation, Decommunization, Europeanization»
3. OLENA BEREHOVA «Dialogue of Cultures: The Image of the Other in the Musical Universe»
4. ROMAN HORAK «Andrei Sheptytsky. Biography»
5. MYKOLA ZYMOMRYA & MARIA YAKUBOVSKA «Ivan Franko: projection in the present»
6. OKSANA KIS «Survival as Victory: Ukrainian Women in the Gulag»
7. BOGDAN KOZAK «In the labyrinths stories Ukrainian Theater»
8. OLENA KRAVCHENKO «Child care in Ukraine in the late 18th – early 20th centuries»
9. VOLODYMYR MASLIYCHUK «Achievements and Illusions. Educational initiatives on the Lleft bank and Sloboda Ukraine second half of XVIII – beginning of the XIX-th century»
10. ZORIANA MATSIUK «Phraseological dictionary of Western Polesie and neighbouring regions “Hovoryty yak medok varyty”
11. IVAN MONOLATII «ZOO of Revolution. The Western Ukrainian statehood 1918-1923 and the theories of randomness in the 20th – early 21st centuries»
12. SEAN PATTERSON «Makhno and Memory: Anarchist and Mennonite Narratives of Ukraine’s Civil»
13. LIUDMYLA PIDKUIMUKHA «The Language of Lviv, or when it was spoken by the Batyars»
14. IRYNA ROZDOLSKA «Literary phenomenon of Ukrainian Sich Riflemen: functioning and structure of generation»
15. ANDRIY SOVA «Ivan Bobersky: socio-cultural, military-political and educational activities»
16. MYKHAYLO STEPYKO «Ukrainian identity in a globalized World»
17. MYKOLA TARASENKO «In search of antiquities from the gift of Khedive. Ancient Egyptian objects of the 21st Dynasty in the museums of Ukraine»
18. LEONID TYMOSHENKO «Ruthenian religious culture of Wilno. Context of the epoch. Hubs. Literature and book-learning (the 16th to the first third of the 17th century)»
19. NAZAR FEDORAK «Peak and departure of Ukrainian baroque. Seven approximations to Hryhoriy Skovoroda»
20. MYKHAILO KHAY «Mykola Budnyk and kobzarizm»
21. TETIANA SHAROVA “An author and text in social realism system: the nature of aesthetic conformism and the poetics of artistic compromise (based on the material of K. Gordienko’s works)”
22. OLGA SHAF «Gender and psychological aspects of 20th century Ukrainian lyrics»
23. HIS BEATITUDE SVIATOSLAV SHEVCHUK AND OKSANA ZABUZHKO «Four conversations about Lesya Ukrainka»
24. IHOR YUDKIN-RIPUN «Phenomenology of Culture as the Methodology of Interpretation».

The Ivan Franko International Prize has been awarded annually since 2016. Prize winners receive a cash award and a gold badge.

The awarding ceremony takes place annually on August 27 – the birthday of Ivan Franko in his homeland.

We will remind you that in 2016, the Prize was won by Lubomyr Husar, Major Archbishop Emeritus of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, Cardinal of the Catholic Church. In 2017, the winners were Michael Moser, Professor of the University of Vienna, President of the International Ukrainian Association and Oleh Shabliy, Academician, Professor Emeritus of Ivan Franko National University of Lviv. The winners in 2018 were Professor of Ukrainian Catholic University (Lviv) and Ukrainian Free University (Munich) Yaroslava Melnyk and Associate Professor of the Department of Eastern European History at the Helsinki University Johannes Remy. In 2019, the award went to Doctor of Philology at the University of Milan, Maria Grazia Bartolini. In 2020 the Prize was won by Ihor Serdyuk, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor of the Department of Ukrainian History of V. G.  Korolenko Poltava National Pedagogical University.

On January 15, the Franko Foundation has started accepting  research papers for the Ivan Franko International Prize in 2021.