Cultural-Educational Organizations of Odesa in the early ХX century

Abstract

Based on the development and analysis of the source base, which includes legal acts that created legislative prerequisites for the activities of «Prosvita», articles in newspapers and magazines of the first quarter of the 20^th century, documentary materials of the State Archive of the Odesa Region, as well as research materials about . Bardash, in which the influence of the Russian autocracy on the social and cultural life of Transnistrian Ukraine in 1900-1917 was considered, where, in particular, attention was paid to the existence of «Prosvita» societies; O. Lysenko, which analyzes the formation of «Prosvita» societies in the Dnieper region and a number of works dedicated to the activities of Odesa «Prosvita» by O. Boldyrev, O. Kulchytska, O. Yareshchenko, A. Mysechka, the article highlights the formation and social activities of the «Prosvita» society (Odesa) and its heirs – the «Ukrainian Club» society and the «Ukrainian House» union.

Founded on October 30, 1905, in the private apartment of doctor Ivan Lutsenko by representatives of the Odesa Community, following the example of the famous «Prosvita» in Galicia, the «Prosvita» society became the first enlightenment organization in the Dnipro region and the Black Sea region. The society was headed by: doctor Ivan Lutsenko (chairman), Serhii Sheluhin (deputy). F. Havrylko, M. Klymenko, L. Kovalchuk, I. Lypa, D. Sigarevich, O. Fisak, O. Fisun joined the board of the Society.

At the beginning of 1910, on the basis of Prosvita, the Ukrainian Club was created to provide entertainment and pleasure for the city’s residents, and the Ukrainian House musical and dramatic union. Thanks to this step, enlightened people preserved the material base of the Society (library, bookstore, historical museum) and got the opportunity to continue their activities.

Odesa «Prosvita», as a legal form of existence of the Southern community, was one of the stages of the development of the national liberation movement in the Black Sea region, which had a local basis and at the same time was part of the all-Ukrainian process of the second half of the 19^th  – early 20^th centuries. The main directions of its activity were: conducting Ukrainian studies courses, development of Ukrainian education, publication and distribution of Ukrainian-language press and books, development of Ukrainian science, literature and art.