COMMEMORATION OF TARAS SHEVCHENKO IN THE CRIMEA DURING THE "BELLE ÉPOQUE"

Abstract

The article highlights aspects of the commemoration of Taras Shevchenko on the Crimean Peninsula after his death, in particular during the period of the “Belle Époque” (1890s–1910). Among other things, the commemorative practices of the specified era, implemented by the efforts of activists from a few Ukrainian centres in Crimea, are considered, including those of amateur theatre groups as well as individuals. Examples of the popularisation of information about the Ukrainian national poet in the region and the involvement of the local population in his commemoration through artistic commemorative evenings and amateur theatrical productions, publications in the press, the organisation of religious events, etc. are given and analyzed. It is noted that on the territory of the Crimean Peninsula, the first attempt to honour the memory of Taras Shevchenko through a biographical publication in the local press was made after the poet's death in 1861; later, from the 1860s to the end of the 19th century, under the conditions of the ban on Shevchenko's poems and the Ukrainian printed word in general, the poet's works were circulated in the Crimea secretly in handwritten copies. In 1896, the Ukrainian community of Sevastopol started the tradition of prayerful commemoration of Shevchenko on the day of his death by a memorial service in local churches; for some time, a similar tradition arose in the Ukrainian community of Simferopol and was maintained up to and including 1914. The emphasis was mainly on the organisation of secular thematic events. The initiators and organisers were mostly members of local amateur theatre groups. In most cases, only the surnames of these persons are known; the search for their biographical data can become the subject of the forthcoming studies. It is emphasized separately that the proposed topic is currently not an object of Ukrainian studies, against the background of an extremely small amount of thorough historical research devoted to the existence of the Ukrainian people in Crimea.