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The Ethnology Notebooks. 2026. № 5 (191), 1462—1469

UDK 39(=162.1)”19″(092):069.01(477.82)

DOI https://doi.org/10.15407/

  • Received: 01.08.2026
  • Accepted: 15.09.2026
  • Published: ??.??.2026

MUSEUM WORK IN VOLYN  UNDER THE TUTELAGE OF JAKUB HOFFMAN

YAREMCHUK Valentyna

  • ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3445-3027
  • Researcher, Thе Ethnology Institute
  • of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine,
  • Department of Modern Ethnology,
  • 15, Svobody Avenue, 79000, Lviv, Ukraine,
  • Contacts: e-mail: v_viktorivna@ukr.net

Abstract. The available knowledge about the activities of Jakub Hoffmann does not provide a clear answer to the question of his contribution to the development of museum work in Volhynia. The newly discovered facts require scientific understanding given that the scientist’s research followed the path of the national policy of the Second Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth regarding the so-called «eastern lands».

The object of the study is the culturological and ethnographic activity of Ya. Hoffman, and its subject is the scholar’s ​​contribution to the development of museum work in Volhynia.

The purpose of the publication is to recreate the picture of J. Hoffmann’s participation in the organization of museum work in Volhynia, which is implemented by the following tasks: information is provided about the discussion on the museum issue in Volhynia between Jakub Hoffmann and Kazimierz Przemysł on the pages of contemporary publications; 2) the scientist’s involvement in the development of the scientific and theoretical foundations of museum activities is highlighted; 3) J. Hoffmann’s initiative in the establishment and development of the Volhynia Museum is outlined; 4) the functioning of the Museum of Economy in the city of Rivne, founded with the assistance of the scientist, is characterized.

The analysis of the processed, still little-known to the public mass of source materials shows that the care of museum affairs in the Rivne region carried out by Yakub Hoffmann was consistent with the national policy of the Second Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth regarding the border region, and at the same time represented the process of forming knowledge about the Volyn region and its development both in the cultural and economic space.

Keywords: Yakub Hoffmann, Volyn, interwar period, museum studies, Museum of the economy in the city of Rivne, Volyn Museum.

RЕFЕRЕNCЕS

  • Pryshchepa, B., & Pryshchepa, O. (2008). Historical local history of Volyn: Study guidе. Rivne [in Ukrainian].
  • Pryshchepa, O. (2006). The streets of Rivne: a look into the past. Rivne [in Ukrainian].
  • Mushyrovskyi, V. (1996). Pages of the history of the Museum. Scientific notes of the Rivne Regional History Museum, 1, 7—11 [in Ukrainian].
  • Yarmoshyk, I. (2010). The main directions of the historical and regional study of Volynia by Polish scientists in the 1930s. Volyn historical notes (Vol. 4, pp. 37—46). Lutsk [in Ukrainian].
  • Hoffman, Ya. (1930). Regarding district museums. Official Jour­nal of the Board of the Volyn School District, 1/63, 11—23 [in Polish].
  • Pshemyski, K. (1929). Regarding district museums. Official Journal of the Board of the Volyn School District, 11/62, 374—376 [in Polish].
  • Pshemyski, K. (1930). In response to Mr. Ya. Hoffman. Official Journal of the Board of the Volyn School District, 1/63, 29 [in Polish].
  • Hoffman, Ya. (1930). Response to a survey on the needs and upcoming tasks of the regional museology. Zemia,18, 311—312 [in Polish].
  • (September 6, 1928 — March 30, 1938). Correspondence with the editors of the magazine «Illustration for school» and others on issues of history and local history of Volyn. Statе Archivеs of Rivnе Rеgion. Fond 184. Inv. 1. File 3 [in Polish].
  • (1929). Volhynian Museum. Volhynian Land, 25 (57), 6—7 [in Polish].
  • (1930) From Volhynia. Echo Rovenske, 311, 1 [in Polish].
  • (1933) Let us support the development of the Volhynian Museum. Volyn. Social, political and economic weekly, 52, 3 [in Polish].
  • (February 28, 1935 — June 4, 1935). Internal charter of the Museum and Library Commission of the «Volyn Society of Friends of Science» and minutes of the meeting of the scientific council of the commission. Statе Archivеs of Rivnе Rеgion. Fond 160. Inv. 1. File 75 [in Polish].
  • Fitzke, J. (1938). About museums in Volyn. Volyn. Social, political and economic weekly, 13 (274), 4 [in Polish].
  • Fitzke, J. (1937). The Significance and Development Potential of the Volhynian Museum in Lutsk. Volyn. Social, political and economic weekly, 13 (221), 1[in Polish].
  • Shumovskyi, Yu. (1951). From the history of the Ukrainian Rivne District Museum. We and the world, 7, 44—47 [in Ukrainian].
  • (1936). Economic museum of Volyn. Volynian Gromada, 1—3, 18 [in Polish].
  • (1936) Regional economic museum in Rivne. Volhynia. Social, political and economic weekly, 32 (188), 6 [in Polish].
  • (1939). Economic Museum of Volyn in Rivne. Volynian Land, 6—7, 103 [in Polish].
  • Chystovski, J. (1939). Circular of the Board of the Volyn School District of March 14, 1939 № O-5505/39 regarding the Volyn Economic Museum. Official Journal of the Board of the Volyn School District, 4/158, 103—104 [in Polish].
  • (1936). Economic Museum in Rivne. Volyn. Social, political and economic weekly, 49 (205), 3 [in Polish].
  • History of the Museum. Retrieved from:https://museum.rv.gov.ua/history-of-the-museum (Last accessed: 25/07/2026) [in Ukrainian].
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