On November 9, 2023, a landmark event took place at Lviv Polytechnic – a meeting of the academic community with Jaroszlava Hartyányi, head of the World Federation of Ukrainian Women’s Organizations (WFUWO) and vice-president of the Ukrainian World Congress (UWC).
Before the start of the event, the leader of the Ukrainian community in Hungary met with Yurii Bobalo, Rector of Lviv Polytechnic National University. At the meeting, Rector gladly welcomed the guest and congratulated Jaroszlava Hartyányi on her election to the new position of head of the WFUWO.
Iryna Kliuchkovska, Director of the International Institute of Education, Culture and Diaspora Relations (IECDR), Lviv Polytechnic, opened the event and told about Jaroszlava Hartyányi achievements as a member of the Hungarian Parliament and an active public figure.
Moderator of the event, Oksana Piatkovska, Deputy Director of IECDR, emphasized: «This is not the first visit of Jaroszlava Hartyányi to Lviv Polytechnic. We had the pleasure of receiving her as the head of the Society of Ukrainian Culture in Hungary, and as a member of the Hungarian Parliament, who represented the interests of the Ukrainian national minority in the highest legislative body of this country. She was also the head of the Ukrainian World Congress and a member of the Board of Directors of the Ukrainian World Congress (UWC). Today, we welcome Jaroszlava Hartyányi at our University as the twelfth head of WFUWO and vice-president of UWC – both of the most powerful coordinating superstructures of global Ukrainians».
In her speech, Jaroszlava Hartyányi expressed her gratitude to IECDR for the invitation to Lviv Polytechnic, which she gladly accepted. The guest noted: «The main task of the diaspora today is advocacy of Ukraine in the world for the sake of victory and preservation of the historical truth, which is now subject to distortion by the aggressor state in every way. For this, we need to unite and act together, demonstrating the solidarity of the world Ukrainians».
Jaroszlava Hartyányi also focused on the relevance of culture during the war and the mission of the Society of Ukrainian Culture in Hungary, noting: «Ukrainians abroad, no matter where they live, care about the development and promotion of Ukrainian culture, while at the same time giving impetus to Ukrainians themselves to nurture and learn more about it».
It is worth noting that on the initiative of Jaroszlava Hartyányi, the song collection «Folk Songs from the Voice of Lesia Ukrainka» compiled by Ariadna Bartai, great-niece of Lesia Ukrainka, great-granddaughter of Mykhailo Drahomanov, who was born and lives in Budapest, was published and presented for the first time. The head of WFUWO concluded his speech by expressing her gratitude to the International Institute of Education, Culture and Diaspora Relations for the strategic partnership and fruitful cooperation that will continue in the future.
It should be noted that Jaroszlava Hartyányi came to Lviv as the head of a delegation, which also included Oksana Golovko, head of self-government of the Ukrainian minority in Budapest. The latter expressed her gratitude to Lviv Polytechnic and IECDR, in particular, for their hospitality and organization of the meeting, as in the context of preserving national identity, the problem of protecting the Ukrainian community abroad has become really important today.
In addition, during the event, the participants had the opportunity to view the exhibition about the 75 year-old history of the World Federation of Ukrainian Women’s Organizations, which has been arranged in partnership with the WFUWO and the IECDR.
Photo by Nataliia Pavlyshyn, Lviv Polytechnic Center for Communication
