THE FIRST EXPERIENCE IN ORGANIZING RUTHENIAN READING SOCIETIES IN HALYCHYNA (1848–1850)

Abstract

Based on the materials of correspondence and memoirs, as well as published sources, the study analyzes the preconditions for the creation and organization of Ruthenian reading rooms in Halychyna, describes the nomenclature of literature that readers received or should have received for common use, their purpose and objectives. It is found out how, where and by whom the first Ruthenian reading rooms in Halychyna were organized in 1848–1850, the problems faced by the first reading rooms, their forms of activity to encourage society to develop. The number of reading rooms operating in Halychyna has been estimated. It is traced that for some time actually operated only the Kolomyia district reading room and a little later the reading room in the Greek-Catholic seminary. Are investigated the reasons for the almost complete failure of the organizers and heads of reading rooms, who failed to ensure their functioning either at all or for a long time. The article reveals the activities of the District Reading Room in Kolomyia and Ruthenian reading rooms in Lviv. The special influence of the Revolution of 1848 on the creation of reading rooms was emphasized, which led to the interest of Halychyna Ruthenians (Ukrainians) in their history. Based on this study, are drawn several conclusions. Firstly, it was found that under the influence of the growth of public and national-cultural activity in 1848–1850, attempts were made to organize the activities of the first Ruthenian reading rooms in Halychyna. This is what prompted the establishment of a district reading room in Kolomyia, two reading rooms in Lviv (in the Narodnyi Dim and the Greek-Catholic Theological Seminary). Secondly, it was found that the first Ruthenian reading rooms in Halychyna were societies of almost exclusively Ruthenian intelligentsia, which did not include peasants and burghers. Thirdly, reading rooms were one of the elements of the separation of Ruthenians from Halychyna Poles in national and cultural life. The lack of local  Ruthenian publications, difficulties in delivering the necessary literature from abroad, and the unpreparedness of Halychyna Ruthenians for such a new form of organization of public life, self-education, and leisure as a reading room prevented the first Ruthenian reading rooms from surviving for a long time.