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The Ethnology Notebooks. 2024. № 2 (176), 434—441

UDK 39:[355.318(477)”19″]:001.891 Г.Дем’ян

DOI https://doi.org/10.15407/nz2024.02.434

HRYHORII DEMIAN’S POLITICAL ACTIVITY IN THE INDEPENDENT UKRAINE

SOKIL Vasyl

  • ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3164-1217
  • Doctor of Philology [Dr. Hab], Professor,
  • Head of the Folklore Department,
  • Institute of the NAS of Ukraine,
  • 15, Svobody Avenue, 79000, Lviv, Ukraine,
  • Contacts: e-mail: vasylsokil@gmail.com

Abstract. The goal of the suggested article is to explore the aspects of Hryhorii Demian’s public and political activity during the period of Ukraine’s independence. Attention is focused on various formats, including commemorating the fallen warriors during the struggle of the OUN and UPA, public speeches, and scientific conferences.

The research methodology involves the utilization of various methods such as historical, biographical, and theoretical-analytical. H. Demian advocated for the idea of establishing a memorial complex for those who died for Ukraine’s freedom in Slavsko in the Mlaka tract, where hundreds of participants of the insurgent movement of the 1940s—1950s are buried. He intensified his scientific work during the 50th anniversary of the UPA, and initiated the idea of creating a Documentation Center of the National Liberation Struggle, where the source materials would be accumulated. The researcher publicly informed about the Kurin «Boyky» named after Bohdan Khmelnytsky, the battle on Lopata mountain. The scientist participated in numerous conferences dedicated to the UPA, presenting analytical reports in Skole, Sambir, and Zolochiv. As an educator, he was interested in methods of passing information to children. As a model, he set the Koziv secondary school (headmaster M. Kleputs), where the information about the national liberation struggle of the 20th century was displayed on the stands. H. Demian is the author of a document on the official recognition of the UPA’s struggle in the 1940s—1950s as a national liberation movement. Makivka mountain, the site of Sich Riflemen glory, was constantly the focus of his attention. However, he noted that the names of UPA members who died nearby should also have been carved on the monument. H. Demian continued to represent the insurgent topic at subsequent conferences held in the Boykivshchyna region (Turka), spreading the idea of a just struggle for Ukraine’s independence.

Keywords: national-liberation struggle, Ukrainian Insurgent Army, the independence of Ukraine, memorial, conference.

Received 15.02.2024

REFERENCES

  • Demyan, H. (1991, February 13). «They Died so Ukraine Could Rise Again». For Free Ukraine [in Ukrainian].
  • Demyan, H. (1992, September). Reburial of Insurgents in Slavsko. Boykos (Part 1, p. 8). Drohobych [in Ukrainian].
  • Demyan, H. (1992). Speech at the Reburial of Insurgents in Slavsko on June 28. Manuscript Department of the Lviv National Scientific Library named after V. Stefanyk. F. 207. Unit coll. 137 [in Ukrainian].
  • Demyan, H. (1992, March 31). Milestones of Our History. For Free Ukraine [in Ukrainian].
  • (1992). Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the UPA in Ukraine. August, 1992. Honoring the Memory of the Insurgents of the UPA «Boykos» near the village of Sopit in Lviv region. Photo by H. Demyan. Statehood, 4, 26 [in Ukrainian].
  • Demyan, H. UPA «Boykos» Squad (Kept in the private archive of H. Demyan) [in Ukrainian].
  • Demyan, H. (1994, July 9). UPA Company Against a Division of Fascists (To the 50th Anniversary of Victory at Mount Lopata). Path of Victory [in Ukrainian].
  • Demyan, H. (2003). Battle on Mount Lopata. Encyclopedia of Modern Ukraine(Vol. 2, p. 752). Kyiv [in Ukrainian].
  • Demyan, H. (1992, October 14). The Moral-Political Collapse of the Strategic Goals and Practical Actions of Communist Provocateurs Against the UPA. Scientific-Practical Conference «Without the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, There Would Be No Independent Ukraine». Boykivska Dumka [in Ukrainian].
  • Demyan, H. Sambir Region Studies the History of the UPA. Manuscript Department of the Lviv National Scientific Library named after V. Stefanyk. F. 207. Unit coll. 135 [in Ukrainian].
  • Demyan, H. (1992). Youth Seeks to Know the Heroes of the UPA. Lviv — Zolochiv. Manuscript Department of the Lviv National Scientific Library named after V. Stefanyk. F. 207. Unit coll. 136 [in Ukrainian].
  • Demyan, H. (1992). Ideals of the Nation to the Children. Statehood, 4, 18—19 [in Ukrainian].
  • Demyan, H. (1993, July 3). Scientific Conclusion on the UPA Struggle in the 1940s— 1950s. Path of Victory [in Ukrainian].
  • Demyan, H. On the History of the Battle at Mount Makivka in 1915s (Kept in the private archive of H. Demyan) [in Ukrainian].
  • Demyan, H. (1999, September 8). Insurgent Graves Destroyed at Makivka. Path of Victory. [in Ukrainian].
  • Demyan, H. (Ed.). (1997, September 12). Insurgent Struggle of the OUN and UPA in the Boyko Region in the 1930s—1960s. Conference Program. Turka. Manuscript Department of the Lviv National Scientific Library named after V. Stefanyk. F. 207. Unit coll. 270 [in Ukrainian].
  • Demyan, H. (Ed.). (2003, July 17). Program of the Scientific-Local Lore Conference «Boykivshchyna at the Zenith of Glory (The Liberation Struggle of the OUN and UPA)» (Kept in the private archive of H. Demyan). Turka [in Ukrainian].

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