Mykhailo Hrushevsky’s Female Student Auditorium at Lviv University: an Attemptat Reconstruction

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to reconstruct the female student audience of M. Hrushevsky at Lviv University based on the analysis of the department’s catalogues, namely to clarify its quantitative parameters, ethnic composition and didactic preferences. The research methodology relies on the use of an interdisciplinary approach. Based on the principles of objectivity and historicism, the research has d the structural-functional systematic analysis of historiographical facts and the comparative-historical method. The article has used the heuristic possibilities of periodisation, classification and typology methods. The scientific novelty of the study is the first special attempt at a comprehensive reconstruction of the female student auditorium of M. Hrushevsky at Lviv University. Conclusions. Studying the department’s catalogues proved that they are the most solid source for studying many little-known aspects of Hrushevsky's work as a teacher at Lviv University. The importance of this type of university document circulation lies in its massive and formalised nature. Therefore, the diverse information obtained from the catalogues provides answers to a wide range of questions, the discussion of which was dominated by the emotionally clouded memoir tradition for a long time. Thus, it was possible to reconstruct the female student audience of M. Hrushevsky, namely to find out its ethnic characteristics, quantitative parameters, the attendance frequency of various educational subjects, etc. It should be noted that female students had different motivations when signing up for M. Hrushevsky's courses. In the case of Ukrainian women, the desire to gain deep knowledge of their native past dominated, which they later used in pedagogical and public work. Students of non-Ukrainian origin to attend M. Hrushevsky's courses were prompted by general educational interest in the history and culture of the neighbouring people, which at that time clearly articulated its right to exist. Most of the female students of the scientist became prominent cultural activists and scientists in the first half of the 20th century. They popularised or transformed the historical knowledge acquired during the university years, thereby confirming the historiographical concept of M. Hrushevsky in the intellectual culture of Central-Eastern Europe of the 20th century.