PECULIARITIES OF REGIONAL COMPANIES OF THE CULTURAL AND EDUCATIONAL PUBLIC ORGANIZATION «PROSVITA»

Abstract

The urgency of the chosen topic of research is due to the preservation and enrichment of the national culture of the Ukrainian people and the improvement of the national system of education. One of the ways of solving this task is to highlight the national traditions of the past and to use the creative potential of their significant cognitive and educational potential, in particular, to study the experience of regional associations of the cultural and public organization «Prosvita». The purpose of this article was to highlight the historiography of the activities of the above-mentioned societies. The article discusses and systematizes information about the activities of regional societies of the «Prosvita» public organization in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in the south of Ukraine. Сommon and distinct forms of educational societies public work are revealed on the basis of historical-analytical method and theoretical analysis. It was clarified that the primary task of the regional «Prosvita’s» was to promote education of the Ukrainian people in the cultural, national, political and socio-economic directions.It was found that in the south of Ukraine at the end of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries cultural and educational work was carried out by various societies, which were subsequently reorganized into «Prosvita’s». It was found out that the Manifest of October 17, 1905 provided the opportunity for the progressive intelligentsia to engage in the development of national culture in the «Prosvita» societies on an official basis. Each society had its own charter, in which the purpose and forms of activity were specified. It was determined that the traditional forms of «Prosvita» founder – the Galician Society (creation of departments, libraries, reading rooms, printing Ukrainian writers works, brochures, school textbooks, newspapers, educational activities of intelligentsia) in various regions expanded by other types of activities of the «Prosvita» units, namely, Odessa «Prosvita» – organization of book trade, establishment of schools, gardens, educational and charity institutions; Katerynoslavsk fellowship – division of activity into four sections: (a) dramatic (organization of performances), b) vocal-musical (organization of choirs and public events – concerts, parties); c) literary – printing of Ukrainian popular scientific books and newspapers, organization of book exhibitions to popularize spreading of educational publications); d) library – organization of libraries work for popularization of Ukrainian books); Kherson Society – organization of educational courses and public lectures; Mykolayiv Society – printing of Ukrainian periodicals; creation of book collections, museums, bookshops, labor offices, educational and charity institutions, scholarships, schools. Despite the differences in the forms of work, the main «Prosvitas» activity areas were cultural and educational development of the Ukrainian people.