Mykhailo Zubryts’kyi was a parish priest who lived at the turn of the twentieth century and was the first in his family to become literate. He ended up as a clergyman more by chance than by intent because his primary goal was to get an education and going to a seminary was his was of getting a free one. He was assigned to the town of Mshanets’ and never seems to have aspired to anything higher, although he corresponded with the leading intellectuals of his day. While in Mshanets’, Zubrytskyi collected all sorts of materials. He recorded beliefs and omens, and he documented ritual practices and material culture. He did ethnographic work and described the occupations of his villagers. He saved written documents, both church and municipal records. Volume 1 published the materials that Zubryts’kyi collected and made them available to the public.
Volume 2, the one under review, contains biographical materials pertaining to Zubryts’kyi. It begins with a short essay on the life and activities of its subject, given in both Ukrainian and English. The rest of the book is in a mix of languages, mostly Ukrainian, but also Polish, German, and Church Slavonic. The section that follows the introductory essay is entitled “Biographical Materials” and contains obituaries written at the time of Zubryts’kyi’s death as well as reminiscences by famous people such as Volodymyr Hnatiuk, Ivan Franko, Mykhailo Hrushevs’kyi, and Filaret Kolessa. It ends with two short pieces by Zubryts’kyi’s son Petro, one of which is a biography.
The next section is called “Autobiographical Materials” and includes Zubryts’kyi’s autobiography, a diary, and a facsimile (essentially a high-quality photocopy) of his handwritten notebook. The pieces written by Zubryts’kyi alternate with explanatory essays by members of the editorial board. Section 3 reproduces Zubryts’kyi’s correspondence, including letters to the famous people of his day. Section 4 is another collection of high-quality photocopies, in this case documents such as Zubryts’kyi’s birth certificate, his report cards, his military service papers, records from the theological institute where he got his degree, his acceptance as a member of the Shevchenko Scientific Society in L’viv, and notices of various church appointments.
Section 5 is a set of articles, many by members of the editorial board, that talk about little-known aspects of Zubryts’kyi’s life, his nationalism, his relationship with famous people, and being a village priest, among other topics. There is a piece on his relationship with the Church and the cathedral in Mshanets’. Zubryts’kyi worked for the betterment of the residents of his community, and there is a short essay about his work with the Prosvita (Enlightenment) organization. Some of the other topics here are of interest to folklorists. There is an essay by Hanna Sokil on Zubryts’kyi and folkloristics, and one by Stephania Hvozdevych about Zubryts’kyi’s work on family life and life cycle rituals among the Boykos. Tetiana Hoshits’ka writes about Zubryts’kyi and folk architecture in Mshanets’, and Vira Lysak provides a piece on how Zubryts’kyi’s folk calendar can be used in schools. Unfortunately, the folklore essays refer to texts that are published in Volume 1, so the reader needs to have both volumes in order to benefit from this material. The last section, Section 6, is bibliographic materials, first an essay and then an annotated bibliography. There is an index and a list of geographical names mentioned.
The Zubryts’kyi series makes archival materials available in print. Such a resource might well be of use to people interested in this unique personality and in life in Western Ukraine at the turn of the century. Because these are minimally processed materials, they might have been more useful in digital and online form rather than published in books. Because of the minimal processing and the extensive language knowledge required to read the materials published, the books will not have a wide readership. If Zubryts’kyi and his work are to receive scholarly attention, it might be more productive to publish a shorter analytical work in a widely read modern language.
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[Review length: 661 words • Review posted on September 10, 2020]