History at Ukrainian Underground University (1921–1925)
Authors: ZASHKILNYAK Leonid 
Published: October 2022

The article considers and analyzes the origin and the activity of Ukrainian Secret University (USU) in Lviv through 1919–1925 and presents its significance for the development of Ukrainian national culture after the defeat of the Ukrainian liberation struggle in 1917–1921. Special attention focused on the reconstruction of historical studies at this university. General features of the USU history represented today in a number of essays and articles wrote by Ukrainian authors. This article offers new facts about the activities of USU teachers from unpublished materials of historians Myron Korduba and Ivan Krypiakevych, in particular about the organization and conduct the historical studies, conditions of teaching and learning. USU was established in Lviv in 1919 after the capture of the city and Eastern Galicia by Polish troops as a result of the Polish-Ukrainian war of 1918–1919 and the Polish administration introduction there. The defeat of the Ukrainian national liberation movement led to a policy of repression and persecution by the Polish authorities. There was a threat of liquidation the Ukrainian national life due to the lack of opportunities for national professionals training. The Ukrainian intelligentsia sought to use the organizational and cultural-scientific potential accumulated in the previous period to preserve and develop national culture and education, contrary to the prohibitions of the Polish administration. In 1919, Ukrainian scientists, united in the Shevchenko Scientific Society and with the support of leading Galician politicians, created “university courses”, which in 1921 were transformed into a Ukrainian university. Under the conditions of bans and persecution by the Polish authorities, the activities of the university took place semi-legally, and the institution itself in journalism and literature was soon called a “secret university”. Despite the persecution and repression USU went down in history as a powerful factor in the consolidation and mobilization of Ukrainian society after the defeats in the struggle for national statehood. During the existence of UTU more than 1,300 students studied there, and 55 professors and associate professors taught them. The Faculty of Philosophy of USU managed to create a “history department”, which in different years studied from 20 to 50 students, and teaching was conducted by famous Ukrainian historians Myron Korduba, Ivan Krypiakevych and some others. The article lists the subjects they taught, as well as the high level of history teaching. In particular, for the first time in Ukrainian historiography, the courses “Methodology of History” by M. Korduba, “Ukrainian Historiography” and “History of the Ukrainian State of the XVII-XVIII centuries” by I. Krypyakevych were read and later published here. The Polish authorities created constant obstacles for the work of USU and historians, used attacks, pogroms and arrests of participants, did not allow the creation of scientific societies, in particular the Ukrainian Historical Society in 1924. Despite the generally modest results of the Ukrainian Secret University in Lviv in 1919–1925, it was noted that what was done by the efforts of USU teachers in the scientific and didactic spheres was worthy of respect. The creation of the national higher school foundations in the conditions of the defeat of the national-state building and in spite of the power of the occupying state was a bright manifestation of the high patriotic consciousness and moral qualities of the Ukrainian Galician intelligentsia. The responsible attitude of the representatives of Ukrainian historical science to the fulfillment of their civic and professional duty deserves special mention. They were able to create the professional historical studies, through which many figures of national science and culture have passed. Historians who have made a great contribution to the preservation of the national consciousness and culture of the Ukrainian population of Galicia in the unfavorable conditions of the defeat of the liberation struggle, have managed to preserve and later increase the historical capital of national history. They continued to build a network of national public scientific, cultural, and educational organizations and societies in Poland, which replaced state institutions and thus ensured the further development of the Ukrainian cause.