Rare edition of Ahatanhel Krymsky’s research comes out in Cherkasy

Zvenyhorodka region. Shevchenko’s homeland. Ethnographic and Dialectological Point of View – this unique edition was launched in Cherkasy. The author of the research is Ahatanhel Krymsky. As is known, he was born in Volyn but spent his childhood in Zvenyhorodka. “The book will foster the promotion and profound study of the history and customs of Shevchenko’s land. It will familiarize scholars, social anthropologists, regional ethnographers and anyone interested with the Zvenyhorodka region’s rites and way of life,” says Oleksandr Cherevko, head of the Cherkasy Oblast State Administration. With his help the book saw the world.

A copy of the book, dated 1930, was kept in Zvenyhorodka’s regional library. Krymsky himself prepared the book for printing by having revised it. He wrote “to correct — to print.” But nearly all of his companions who were involved in gathering and editing materials were arrested in the Union for the Liberation of Ukraine trial. That was the reason why the book was not printed.

Stanislav Liachynsky, curator of Krymsky’s heritage, his fellow townsman, and research fellow at the Zvenyhorodka Local History Museum, recently turned to the regional authorities with a request to publish Krymsky’s research. “Just imagine, Krymsky had worked on the book for 40 years! And then for another 80 years his research was shelved. I am happy to be holding the printed book in my hands,” says Liachynsky. As of today, 1,000 copies of Krymsky’s book were printed. The publishers promise to send copies to the libraries of the region.