Online Book Discussion |Yaroslav Hrytsak “Ivan Franko and His Community”

In this Ukrainian bestseller, now available in English for the first time, Yaroslav Hrytsak examines the first three decades (1856–86) in the life of Ivan Franko, a prominent writer, scholar, journalist, and political activist who became an indisputable leader in the forging of modern Ukrainian national identity. Hrytsak does so against the background of small communities—Franko’s family, his native village, his colleagues, the editors of periodicals for which he worked, and the revolutionary circles with which he interacted—during a time when multi-ethnic Habsburg Galicia evolved into several modern nations. This volume will remain a recognized standard for the study of the history of Ukraine and East Central Europe.

“This is a study of one of the most intriguing Ukrainian activists of a century ago by one of the most important Ukrainian thinkers of today. Anyone who wishes to see demanding theories of nationalism tested in the practice of nuanced historical research should read this book. It is the culmination of a long discussion about the origins of nations that began in the 1980s and one of the most important books in its field.” — Timothy Snyder, Richard C. Levin Professor of History, Yale University.

Translated by Marta Daria Olynyk, Yaroslav Hrytsak’s Ivan Franko and His Community was published by the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies Press, Ukrainian Research Institute at Harvard University, and Academic Studies Press.

Yaroslav Hrytsak is a Ukrainian historian, public intellectual, and author of several books and numerous articles. He is a professor at the Ukrainian Catholic University in Lviv, the director of the Institute of Historical Research at Lviv National University, and the director of the Petro Jacyk Program for the Study of Modern Ukrainian History and Society of the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies. He is the editor in chief of the leading Ukrainian scholarly journal Ukraina Moderna.

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