Education as a prominent state-building pillar: Orest Sikorskyi and the Balta Ukrainian Gymnasium (1917–1919)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21847/2411-3093.2025.7310Keywords:
Ukrainian national movement, Balta, educational leadership, national consciousness, state-building, European educationAbstract
This article examines the role of Orest Sikorskyi (1880–1919), a Ukrainian educator, administrator, public and political figure, and organizer of the Ukrainian national movement in Balta and the Balta County of the Podillia Governorate, in the awakening of national consciousness among the local population amid revolutionary upheavals. Drawing on archival documents, eyewitness accounts, and contemporary scholarly research, the author considers O. Sikorskyi’s civic and educational activities in Balta as a significant local manifestation of the broader national struggle for Ukraine’s cultural and political self-determination. Born into a priestly family, O. Sikorskyi received a European education in History at the universities of Tartu and Halle, which shaped him as a representative of the modern intelligentsia: the profound moral and cultural values of his religious upbringing were integrated with a European worldview. His leadership of the commercial school in Balta, and later the Ukrainian gymnasium he founded, not only provided an institutional foundation for the development of national education but also fostered community cohesion in the face of prolonged political upheavals, war, and social instability. The tragic circumstances of his life underscore his dedication to Ukraine, and the lessons drawn from his experience remain relevant today, demonstrating the enduring connection between education and state-building.
Downloads
References
Zavalniuk, O. M., & Komarnytskyi, O. B. (2005). Podilski mistechka v dobu Ukrainskoi revoliutsii 1917–1920 rr. [Podilian towns during the Ukrainian Revolution of 1917–1920]. Kamianets-Podilskyi: Abetka-NOVA. 320 p. (in Ukrainian)
Sushynskyi, B. I. (2005). Balta: misto, osviachene vichnistiu: istorychni ese [Balta: A city sanctified by eternity: historical essays]. Odesa: Druk. 360 p. (in Ukrainian)
Lekar, A. M. (2009). Ukrajins’ka nacional’na svidomist’ u svitli borotjby za vladu v Balts’komu poviti Podil’s’koji ghuberniji v 1917–1921 rr. [The Ukrainian national conscience in the conditions of struggle for the power in balta district of Podil province in 1917–1921 years]. Zapysy istorychnogho fakuljtetu Odes’kogo nacional’nogo universytetu imeni I. I. Mechnykova – Records of the historical faculty of Odessa II Mechnikov Nation-al University. Odesa, 20, 113–129. (in Ukrainian)
Lekar, A. M. (2013). Jevrejs’ki poghromy v Baltsjkomu poviti v dobu revoljuciji 1917–1921 rr.: do pytannja vidpovidaljnosti [Jewish routs in Balta district during the period of revolution 1917–1921: who is responsible for it]. Hileya. Naukovyj visnyk, 71 (4), 131-140 (in Ukrain-ian)
Menzhulin, V. I. (2019). Vypusknyk Kyivsʹkoi dukhovnoi akademii Hervasii Sikorskyi (za materialamy arkhivnykh studii) [Graduate of the Kyiv Theological Academy Hervasii Sikorskyi (based on archival stud-ies)]. In Filosofska i bohoslovska spadshchyna Kyivsʹkoi dukhovnoi akademii (1819–1924): dosvid ark-heohrafichnykh ta bibliohrafichnykh studii [Philosophical and theological heritage of the Kyiv Theological Acad-emy (1819–1924): experience of archeographic and bibliographic studies] (pp. 111–129). Kyiv, Vydavnychyi dim “Kyievo-Mohylianska akademiia”. (in Ukrainian)
Estonian Historical Archives (Eesti Ajalooarhiiv, Tartu) [EAA]. Personal file of Orest Dmytrovych Sikorskyi (1904–1915). Fond 402, nimistu 1, säilitusüksus 24220. (in Russian)
EAA. Personal file of Orest Sikorski. Fond 402, nimistu 1, säilitusüksus 24219. (in Russian)
Archiv der Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg / Archive of the Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg, Halle (Saale) [MLU-Archiv]. Register entry of O. Sikorskyi, enrolled 21 April 1906 – deregistered 3 September 1907; residence at the time: Göbenstraße 5. Rep.: 46, Nr.: 25. Reference: MLU-Archiv.5.46.25. (in German)
MLU-Archiv. Later residence of O. Sikorskyi: Forsterstraße 47 II. Rep.: 41, Nr.: 35. MLU-Archiv. 47 II.41.35 (in German)
MLU-Archiv. Exmatriculation and lecture attendance of O. Sikorskyi. Rep.: 39, Nr.: 299. Scan available. (in German)
Kurier Lubelski (2014, Mai, 20). Unikalny album z najstarszego prywatnego gimnazjum żeńskiego w Lublinie (Zobacz ZDJĘCIA). Retrieved from https://kurierlubelski.pl/unikalny-album-z-najstarszego-prywatnego-gimnazjum-zenskiego-w-lublinie-zobacz-zdjecia/ar/3441341 (in Polish)
Po latach 35: (1904-1939). Wydawnictwo Koła Byłych Wychowanek Gimnazjum im. H. Czarnieckiej w Lu-blinie. – Lublin : [s.n.], 1939 (Lublin : J. Baranowski i J. Polakowski). (in Polish)
Central State Archive of Supreme Bodies of Power and Government of Ukraine [TsDAVO Ukrainy]. Lystuvan-nia z Departamentom serednoi osvity pro stan Balts’koi ukrains’koi himnaziï, 18.09.1918, 25 arkusiv [Corre-spondence with the Department of Secondary Educa-tion regarding the status of the Balta Ukrainian Gymna-sium, 18 September 1918, 25 pages]. Fond 2201, Opys 2, Sprava 141. (in Ukrainian)
TsDAVO Ukrainy. Lystuvannia z dyrektorom Balts’koho komertsiinoho uchylischa pro robotu, statut uchylischa, 04.05.1918, 73 arkusy [Correspondence with the director of the Balta Commercial School regarding its opera-tions and charter, 4 May 1918, 73 pages]. Fond 2201, Opys 1, Sprava 463. (in Ukrainian)
TsDAVO Ukrainy. Lystuvannia z sekretariatom viiskovykh sprav, Departamentom zemel’nykh sprav pro areshty vchyteliv, klopotannia shkil shchodo vidvedennia їm zemel’nykh dilyanok, peredachu maibna likvidovanykh ustanov viiskovoho chasu, ankietni lysty Novo-Moskovs’koi himnaziï pro natsional’nyi sklad uchniv; zvit pro robotu viddilu serednoi shkoly; Statut Kyivskoho khudozhn’oho uchylyshcha ta in. [Correspondence with the Secretariat of Military Affairs, Department of Land Affairs regarding arrests of teachers, petitions of schools for allocation of land plots, transfer of property of liquidated wartime institutions, questionnaire sheets of Novo-Moskovsk Gymnasium on the national composition of students; report on the work of the Depart-ment of Secondary Schools; Charter of Kyiv Art School, etc.]. Fond 2201, Opys 1, Sprava 409. (in Ukrainian)
TsDAVO Ukrainy. Lystuvannia z Hubernskym komisarom osvity na Podilli pro pryznachennia povitovykh komisa-riv ta vchyteliv; informatsiia Hubernskoho komisara pro svoiu robotu [Correspondence with the Governorate Commissioner of Education in Podillia regarding the appointment of district commissioners and teachers; in-formation from the Governorate Commissioner on his work]. Fond 2201, Opys 1, Sprava 28. (in Ukrainian)
TsDAVO Ukrainy. Dokumenty pro pryznachennia i zatverdzhennia dyrektoriv, inspektoriv, pochesnykh kuratoriv bаtkivs’kykh orhanizatsii ta kurators’kykh rad serednikh shkil Ukrainy: nakazy, protokoly, prokhannia, povidomlennia. Tom VI, lit. R-S-T [Documents on the appoint-ment and approval of directors, inspectors, honorary curators of parents’ organizations and curatorial councils of secondary schools of Ukraine: orders, protocols, petitions, notifications. Vol. VI, letters R-S-T]. Fond 2201, Opys 1, Sprava 552. (in Ukrainian)
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Михайло Мішин
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
1. Authors bear responsibility for the accuracy of facts, quotations, numbers and names used.
2. Manuscripts are not sent back.
3. The publisher does not always agree with the authors' opinion.
4. The authors reserve the right to authorship of the work and pass the first publication right of this work to the journal under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. This license allows others to distribute (copy) the published work for non-commercial purposes, provided there is mandatory attribution to its authors and a link to the first publication in our journal.
5. The authors have the right to conclude separate supplement agreements that relate to non-exclusive work distribution in the form in which it has been published by the journal (for example, to upload the work to the online storage of the journal or publish it as part of a monograph), provided that the reference to the first publication of the work in this journal is included.
