CHARITY PRACTICES OF RURAL «PROSVIT» OF RIGHT BANK UKRAINE (1917-1919)

Abstract

On the basis of the analysis of archival materials and publications of regional periodicals, the charitable activity of rural «Prosvit» of Right Bank Ukraine in 1917-1919 is characterized, which is the purpose of the article. Despite the great attention of the scientific community to the phenomenon of philanthropy, the latter has not become the subject of interdisciplinary special research (in our case, social work and the history of Ukraine). It was found that the rural «Prosvit» of the region carried out charitable activities on a permanent basis. They, being closer to the people, as a rule, better than the state and military bodies, coped with the solution of many social problems on the ground. The main directions, forms, motives of charity of educational societies are defined and characterized. In particular, the priority for the charitable intentions of the rural «Prosvit» was the sphere of education, and among the various forms of work, at the expense of which money was raised for the needy, theatrical events occupied a prominent place. The contribution of rural educators to the formation and development of the preschool education system is shown. The active participation of «Prosvit» in the financial support of pupils and students through the awarding of scholarships has been established. The study emphasizes that the activity of rural «Prosvit» in the region in the field of charity was active, diverse, it was dominated by unpaid work and great organizational work, which drew the public’s attention to the current social problems of various categories of the population. Enlightened people were actively involved in public activities, acquired the skills of fruitful cooperation both with state authorities and the local population. Based on the conducted research, the authors propose to investigate the charitable work of rural enlightened people in the context of one of the most important elements of the development of civil society at that time.