Visiting the Stonemason

This year Ivan Franko’s birthday was celebrated in his native village of Nahuyevychy several weeks after the exact date. The reason was valid; renovation at the house-museum had to be completed. Several months before, someone had set fire to the memorial, the restoration required money, and the local budget was empty as usual. It is anyone’s guess how long it would have taken to rebuild the mansion but for the SDPU(o) initiative. The party donated UAH 80,000 and the project was supported financially and organizationally by the Lviv oblast state administration.

Finally, the house-museum was ready and a host of important guests arrived to mark Ivan Franko’s 145th anniversary, including Vice Premier Volodymyr Semynozhenko, Ukraine’s first President Leonid Kravchuk, Ukrainian Ambassador to Poland Dmytro Pavlychko, and Lviv’s political and cultural beau monde. They found Franko’s home truly rejuvenated, walls, roof, partitions, and everything else carefully restored.

The opening ceremony was followed by festivities and that evening Leonid Kravchuk met with local Galicians at Drohobych’s Musical Drama Theater.