«NON-OFFICE SCIENTIST»: SCIENTIFIC AND PUBLIC-POLITICAL ACTIVITIES OF IVAN KRYPIAKEVYCH DURING THE SOVIET OCCUPATION OF WESTERN UKRAINIAN LANDS (1939–1941)

Abstract

The scientific and public-political activities of a famous Ukrainian historian Ivan Krypiakevych in times of the Soviet occupation of Western Ukrainian lands (1939–1941) are considered. The main directions of his public and political activities are shown, and the scientist's participation in election campaigns and propaganda of communist ideology is emphasized. As the head of the History of Ukraine Department at the Lviv State University and the director of the branch of the Institute of History of Ukraine of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR, I. Krypiakevych was actively involved by local authorities in public work to establish Soviet power in the region. Stated that the cooperation of I. Krypiakevych with the communists in Lviv happened under the pressure of the punitive and repressive system, but it allowed him to continue his scientific work and opened up prospects for career growth. The scholar's scientific interests were focused on the history of Ukraine in the medieval period with an emphasis on the western lands, as well as on the issues of Russian-Ukrainian relations («connections of Western Ukraine with Naddniprianshchyna», «connections of Halychyna with Russia»). It is noted that, together with other historians, he also worked on a four-volume textbook on the history of Ukraine, which had been published by the Kyiv Institute of the History of Ukraine. I. Krypiakevych's achievements in the scientific and organizational field are emphasized, in particular, his participation in the session of the social sciences department of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR, the theoretical conference on Marxism-Leninism and other events organized by Soviet authorities, and the scientific community of Lviv, are illustrated.