Captured by Empires: National Education of Ukrainians in the First Half of the 20th Century (Based on the Documents of Bohdan Zaklynsky’s Archives)

The study objective is to outline the specific features of national education of Ukrainians in the first half of the 20th century, in particular in the context of the educational and cultural policies of the empires, the resistance of the Ukrainian community and the impact of these processes on modern Ukrainian identity, using the archive documents of Bohdan Zaklynsky (1886–1946), a well-known cultural and public figure, local historian, teacher, full member of the Shevchenko Scientific Society, a cornet of the Ukrainian Sich Riflemen Army, located in the family archive (collection 48) at the Manuscripts Department of the V. Stefanyk National Scientific Library of Ukraine in Lviv and at the Central State Historical Archives of Ukraine in Lviv. Methods. A source-based approach is used in the article, which involves the identification and selection of sources, their comprehensive critical analysis and further application to obtain scientifically sound information. The biographical method, historical and comparative analysis, and content analysis were also used to cover the topic. The scientific novelty of the study consists in highlighting previously unpublished archival documents and little-known printed works that reveal the specificity of national education of Ukrainians through the analysis of B. Zaklynsky's creative heritage (diary, various notes, publication's manuscripts, epistolary). The documents provide a deeper understanding of how Ukrainian educational initiatives attempted to counteract assimilationist influences, preserving national identity and educating new generations in the spirit of Ukrainian tradition. Conclusions. Given the context of Austrian, Polish, Czechoslovak, and later Russian rule, under which Ukrainians faced cultural and linguistic pressure from the dominant nation, B. Zaklynsky's pedagogical methods were aimed at fostering in children and youth a sense of national dignity, consciousness and responsibility for the destiny of their country, strengthening Ukrainian identity and protecting national values in the challenging conditions of imperial policies that limited the development of Ukrainian culture. His works established a fundamental understanding of how to educate young people within the national ethos.