Anatole Vakhnianyn

Anatole Vakhnianyn (Ukrainian: Анатоль Вахнянин (b. August 19, 1841 - d. February 11, 1908), was a Ukrainian policial and cultural figure, composer, teacher and journalist.

Biography

Vakhnianyn was born near Przemyśl, then part of the Austrian Empire. His father, Klym Vakhnianyn, was a Greek-Catholic priest while his mother, Karolina von Wajtow, was the daughter of a Czech officer stationed at the Przymysl garrison. After completing studies at Przemysl's gymnasium he studied theology in Lviv and became active in literature and musical matters. In 1863, he married Jozefa Wankowicz, the descendant of a noble family. By 1865, he organized the first Shevchenko concert in western Ukrainian lands. Moving to Vienna where he studied philosophy at the University of Vienna, he organized the first Ukrainian student organization there and became its first head.

Vakhnianyn returned to Lviv in 1868 and helped to organize the Prosvita Society, an organization dedicated to educational and cultural work among the Ukrainian people that helped lead to a national awakening among them, becoming its first head. He was also heavily involved in the creation of Ukrainian-language textbooks in the Austrian school system.

Between 1867 and 1870 Vakhnianyn editted the journal "Pravda", in 1870 he was a coeditor of the journal "Dilo", the main journal of the Ukrainophile movement in western Ukraine, and from 1870-1878 he edited Prosvita's journal.

In 1890 he helped initiate the "New Era" movement, dedicated to forging a rapproachment between Poles and Ukrainians in east Galicia. After most of the other Ukrainophiles broke with the Poles in 1894, Vakhnianyn continued to seek compromise with them, and was one of the founders of the "Catholic Ruthenian-Social Union", based on the all-Austrian Christian social movement.

Between 1894 and 1900 Vakhnianyn was a member of the Austrian parliament. In 1903 he founded the Higher Musical Institute in Lviv, currently the Lviv Conservatory, and became its first director. Under the penname Natal Vakhnianyn, he composed the opera Kupala (written between 1870-1892, premiered at the Kharkiv Opera House in 1929), music to Taras Shevchenko's drama Nazar Stodolia, and various literary works.

References

• In Ukrainian: Батенко Т. Анатоль Вахнянин: біля джерел національного відродження" (Львів, 1998).

Batenko, T. (1998). Anatole Vakhnianyn: Among the Wells of National Rebirth, Lviv.

• John-Paul Himka (1999)Religion and Nationality in Western Ukraine, McGill-Queen's Press. ISBN 0773518126.