Landmark events are those that happen in your head

LUTSK — Last year Den’ congratulated Anatolii Svidzynsky, a noted physicist, the first rector of Volyn State University, one of the most interesting Ukrainian intellectuals, and a member of an aristocratic dynasty, on his 80th anniversary. He was asked whether intellect is truly appreciated in this country. Den’s article was entitled “A Gorgeous Jubilee without Awards.” Without his research papers solid state physics appears unthinkable. His textbooks are used by university students; he is the author of works on the Ukrainian state-building process. Yet he was never awarded even the title “Merited Worker” of something or other. Those who know him personally aren’t surprised; this man does not recognize any kind of compromise — and such compromises are often required when it comes to submissions for government awards.

Over the year since his jubilee the Ukrainian state and public seem to have decided to make up for this lack of recognition. Svidzynsky became “Merited Worker of Science and Technology of Ukraine” and his book Synerhetychna kontseptsia kultury (The Synergetic Conception of Culture) won in the competition The World of Volyn Books ‘09 in the scientific and popular scientific literature nomination.

Mr. Svidzynsky, the editors would like to congratulate you on these awards, although you received the highest award from the Lord — it’s your talent. Man, however, tends to appreciate earthly recognition. How do you feel about your title “Merited Worker of Science and Technology of Ukraine”? For many this title means official acknowledgement of their professionalism and is valued more than orders and medals.

“It happened, because it had to happen. See those ceiling-high packed bookshelves over there?

I wrote some of these books. Here is the first edition of Mathematical Methods of Theoretical Physics.

A paperback. The fourth edition has two volumes, and they look like an encyclopedia. All this took years of work. I always assumed that if one has merits, one ought to have the title ‘Merited’ something or other. Regrettably, a number of awards are being bought now —

I read about this in your Den. I wasn’t prepared to pay, not because

I couldn’t afford it, but because my code of ethics made it impossible. And I wouldn’t walk around knocking on bureaucratic office doors.

I told myself I would make do with what I knew and that I did have merits. But I was glad to receive the award from Mykola Romaniuk, head of the Volyn Oblast State Administration. He represented the government and eventually the people. I was happy to know that the people appreciated my work.”

You were on the same awards list with Stepan Bandera. Our society is still divided on the issue of whether Bandera deserves the title “Hero of Ukraine.” What do you think?

“Look up the word ‘hero’ in any dictionary. I consulted Vladimir Dal’s Dictionary. It reads that a hero is a valorous and selfless champion of a certain cause who is prepared to sacrifice himself for it. Does this formula apply to Stepan Bandera? I think it does, in full measure. If a country holds dear its independence, it must appreciate the people who fought and died for it. The edict has it in black and white: ‘Hero of Ukraine.’ Not of Japan or Nicaragua. I think it’s our national disease; we don’t know how to use words in their true sense.”

Den/ The Day plans to draw up a calendar of intellectually meaningful dates. Which dates would you include in it? Which events and what heroes have a special meaning for you?

“I would mention heroes like Kostiantyn Ostrozky and Mazepa. Those were outstanding personalities who secured the existence of the Ukrainian nation. Now take Shcherbytsky, for example. Was he such a personality, even if he is said to have secured the output of steel, cast iron, rolled metal, and so on? The question is where all these products went. Where did all our national wealth go? The answer is to Russia. Shelest, his predecessor, tried to use the Ukrainian material and intellectual resources for the benefit of Ukraine. Shcherbytsky, therefore, worked for another country. Shelest, despite his shortcomings, was a Ukrainian patriot deep inside. We all know what it led to in his case. He was fired.

“There have been different people and different personalities in history, so we must determine their significance. Shelest was apparently more important for Ukraine than Shcherbytsky, yet Mazepa and Bandera were even more important. In other words, we must figure out what can serve to unite us.

“There were people, political figures in our history who tried to run with the hare and hunt with the hounds. This is easier said than done. One must be consistent. Being consistent requires simply telling the truth in the first place. Second, one must be able to analyze things to determine the truth. Let me tell you about what I consider an important event in Volyn — the 70th anniversary of Volyn oblast. This date is presented under the motto of reunification of the people within a single Ukrainian state. Now you have to realize what actually happened on Sept. 17, 1939. It was then that the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact was implemented. The document had everything in black and white. Under this treaty Soviet forces invaded Poland, stabbing it in the back. Poland found itself between Germany and the USSR. Protection of the property and life of the ‘blood brothers’ was promised. After about four days all shops, particularly in Western Ukraine, were broken in and looted. There are still eyewitnesses, and you can ask them. How many “blood brothers” were sent to Siberia? So what kind of event are we marking with such pomp?

“Important events are those that happen in your head when you come to understand the truth, God, His will, and justice. Dates? We recently marked Mother Tongue Day. Where else do they celebrate this ‘day’? Is there English Language Day in England? We have this ‘day’ because our mother tongue is humiliated and in a critical condition. Our language is being deformed because of our deformed mentality. Certain [festive] dates were forced into our calendar by circumstances. A linguistically full-fledged nation should not mark a ‘day’ of its language.”

In The Synergic Conception of Culture you broach the most topical humanitarian problems the Ukrainian state has been trying to solve. Is the fact that your book has been recognized as the best of the scientific and popular science series proof that your concepts and inferences have also been recognized?

“Perhaps the reason is there weren’t enough books to compete with mine. Anyway, many people like it, and this book meets certain standards. I don’t mean to say that this book is an ideal of sorts, for even now I’d want to make quite a few additions to the text. It’s not that I would refute some of my original statements; rather, I’d illustrate them in a better way.

“After my book appeared in print, I read Larysa Ivshyna’s conversation with Oxana Pachlovska, concerning Ukraine, the world, Ukrainian mentality, and Ukraine’s relations with the neighboring countries. It was a deep discussion. I also read Pachlovska’s article about Mazepa and realized that

I could have expanded the chapter in my book about the attempts to build an independent Ukrainian state by enlarging on Mazepa and Kostiantyn Ostrozky. I read the Ivshyna–Pachlovska discussion several times. They are thinking individuals, and they are at the cutting edge of statehood-centered thought.”

What are you working on at the moment?

“A book entitled Moie zhyttia v nautsi (My Life in Science). It starts with my childhood when my thinking process and a system of concepts were taking shape. This was the time when certain problems that had special importance for me were resolved, and if not, I speak about the way I felt in such dramatic circumstances. Strange as it may seem, I benefited most in terms of education from bad, incompetent schoolteachers. They set paradoxes before me that I had to solve myself, for such was my character. And I did. It is very important for shaping one’s personality to figure out as many things as possible on your own.”