Європейські вчені-гуманітарії у Науковому товаристві імені Шевченка: українознавчий дискурс

Abstract

The article analyzes the participation of European humanitarian scientists in the scientific activities of the Shevchenko Scientific Society in Lviv (NTSh) in 1873–1939. With no independent Ukrainian state, this scientific organization was perceived in the scientific world as a substitute for the National academy of Sciences and the only all-Ukrainian center of Ukrainian studies, due to the ban to print in Ukrainian at the East of Dnipro river imposed by the Russian Empire. NTSh considered its task to declare the national self-sufficiency of Ukrainians, their history, language and culture in the world public space, to affirm the conciliarism of the Ukrainian lands, divided at that time by the border between two empires. These tasks were promoted by acquaintance with the achievements of European science and culture, establishing contacts with foreign scientists, and publishing their studies in the main serial journal “Notes of Shevchenko Scientific Society” (1892–1937), awarding the title of permanent members of NTSh to the foreign scientists with the research related to the Ukrainian question (68 members in total). The participation of European scientists in the activities of the Society is considered here, based on the materials of the “Records of Shevchenko Scientific Society” (Vol. 1–155). The articles authored by them that were published in “Notes”, as well as the reviews by Ukrainian authors on the studies of foreign scientist published in European publications, are analyzed. In discussions with foreign scientists, Ukrainian scientists defended the principal concepts of NTSh: interpreting Uk­rainians as a state nation, highlighting the history of Ukraine on the basis of archival documents, refuting the anti-scientific ideas of Russian historians who denied the autochthonousness of Ukrainians, establishing the Ukrainian language as an independent language among other Slavic languages. Correspondence of outstanding figures of NTSh, Mykhailo Hrushevskyi, Ivan Franko, Vo­lodymyr Hnatyuk with European scientists Vatroslav Yagich, Lubor Niederle, Alfred Jensen, Baudouin de Courtenay, Raymond Kindl, Volodymyr Peretz, Oleksiy Shakhmatov is interpreted as an important factor in the Society’s coo­peration with the European scientific world. Keywords: Notes of the Shevchenko Scientific Society (Notes of NTSh), European humanitarian scientists, autochthonousness of Ukrainians, conciliarism, na­tional language, M. Hrushevskyi, I. Franko, V. Hnatiuk, M. Korduba, Z. Kuzelia, V. Yagich, L. Niederle, R. Kaindl, Baudouin de Courtenay, A. Jensen, O. Brickner.