THE COOPERATION OF OLEKSA HORBACH WITH THE RUTHENIANS IN YUGOSLAVIA IN THE 50–60s OF THE 20th CENTURY

Abstract

Background After the Second World War some representatives of the Ruthenian intelligentsia in Yugoslavia, primarily the writer and cultural activist Mihajlo Kovach (Михайло Ковач), being aware that national isolation leads to unavoidable assimilation, work tirelessly on making contacts and cooperation with Ukraine and Ukrainian emigration. One of the first contacts was with Ukrainian linguist Oleksa Horbach (Олекса Горбач) who lived in Germany, after which the circle of contacts became broader. Purpose: On the basis of the sources from the private legacy of Mihajlo Kovach, his journals and correspondence with O. Horbach, the author explores their first contacts and further cooperation in the field of literature, culture, language studies of the Ruthenians in Yugoslavia and their national life in all aspects. Results: On the basis of the material he studied and relevant literature, the author concludes that Mihajlo Kovach had a significant role in making contacts and cooperation first with O. Horbach and later, mainly thanks to his help and guidance, with other representatives of the literary, cultural, scholar and national life of the Ukrainians in the home-land and emigration. However, at that time neither Yugoslav authorities nor the representatives of the Soviet Embassy to Yugoslavia were interested in making such contacts and cooperation, nor were numerous cultural and political activists among Ruthenians who, like loyal servants to the regime, watchfully supervised the work of M. Kovach and his followers and their contacts and cooperation with Ukraine and Ukrainian emigration. However, these first contacts and cooperation of the representatives of the Ruthenian community in Yugoslavia with the representatives of their mother nation in their mother-land and in diaspora enabled the first postwar linguistic works dedicated to the Ruthenian language which led to a broader fruitful cooperation in the field of literature, publishing, cultural, artistic and other activities, which in a large measure contributed to strengthening the national awareness of the Ruthenians. Key words: Rutnenians in Yugoslavia, Ruthenian language, Oleksa Horbach, Mihajlo Kovach, Literature of the Ruthenians in Yugoslavia.