Ukrainian Academic Committee (1924–1940)
| Name | Ukrainian Academic Committee (1924–1940) |
|
| Catalog Number | T-UAK | |
| Volume | 18 inventory units; 2 boxes | |
| State of Cataloging | The entire collection has been catalogued and is freely accessible to researchers | |
| Languages of Documents | Mostly Ukrainian and Czech |
The Ukrainian Academic Committee (1924–1940) was established in Prague as an organisation associating all Ukrainian higher-education institutions and scientific societies working in Czechoslovakia. In addition, it was an umbrella organisation for the Society of Taras Shevchenko in Lviv and the Ukrainian Scientific Institute in Berlin. Until 1926, when it became independent, the committee had been part of the Ukrainian Historical-Philological Society as an autonomous organ. Its foundation was initiated by Oleksander Shuľhyn.
The aims of the committee were to establish contacts with foreign scholars and facilities, to cooperate with the existing Ukrainian institutions and found new, to support the implementation of various projects, organise scientific congresses and issue publications. Until 1938, the organisation was headed by the chancellor of the Ukrainian Free University. This post was gradually held by Fedir Shcherbyna, Oleksander Kolessa, Dmytro Antonovych, Andrii Iakovliv and Ivan Horbachevs’kyi. A great success of the Ukrainian Academic Committee was its joining the United Nations in Geneva, where it worked until 1934 in the International Committee for Intellectual Cooperation as a representative of Ukrainian interests. In addition, the committee was regularly involved in events of both international and local importance; in 1926, it participated in the International Congress of Librarians in Prague as well as in the solemn academy to commemorate František Palacký. In 1929–1931, it issued a journal in French (Bulletin du Comité Académique Ukrainien) which brought information on the activities of Ukrainian educational institutions. In 1929, Ievhen Chykalenko’s Foundation was established at the committee; it covered the costs connected with the publication of works by this writer. At the end of the 1930s, the committee endeavoured for the foundation of a university in Subcarpathian Rus'. After the Nazi occupation, it ceased to be active and was dissolved.
The collection comprises archival documents from 1924–1936. The probably most important part are the minutes from the UAC membership and board meetings (inv. nos. 19 and 20). Other significant documents include the statutes of the organisation from 1924 (inv. no. 1) and a report from 1925 describing the structure and organisation of the committee (inv. no. 17). It is definitely worth mentioning photographs from the solemn academy to commemorate Taras Shevchenko from May 1925 (inv. no. 18). The accounting, although relatively extensive, contains mainly small financial statements, accounts or receipts and includes rather less important data. Hardly any correspondence has been preserved.
Further archival materials of the Ukrainian Academic Committee (five boxes and one book) are deposited in the RUESO collection in the National Archives in Prague.