The Faculty of History of the University of Gdańsk is hosting prof. dr hab. Wiktor Horobec from the Institute of History of Ukraine of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine in Kyiv. The scholar is a laureate of the Ivan Vyhovsky Prize for 2020.
Prof. dr. hab. Wiktor Horobec is an internationally renowned and experienced researcher-historian and educator. He is a laureate of the Ivan Vyhovsky Prize, awarded since 2014, which honours the merits of Ukrainian citizens in the development of science, culture and public life, in the formation and development of civil society in Ukraine and the building of a democratic Ukraine - directed towards Europe, taking into account the best traditions of the former Republic of Poland and the historical, contemporary and future ties of Ukraine with Poland and Europe.
The winner receives the opportunity for a year-long research stay at six consecutively visited Polish universities, where they can deliver lectures on topics related to the history or present-day Ukraine and the region, Polish-Ukrainian relations, and undertake their own archival and research work. Ten scholars were also awarded internships that will enable further Ukrainian researchers to undertake four-month research stays at two Polish universities.
Prof. dr hab. Wiktor Horobec's scientific activity takes place in close cooperation with his Polish colleagues. In 2002, he participated in the project 'Świadectwa minionych wieków' (TN: 'Witnesses of Past Centuries'), which resulted in the publication of the book 'Ugody polsko-ukraińskie w XVI wieku' (TN: 'Polish-Ukrainian Settlements in the 16th century'). In 2019, he initiated and organised, together with the Polish Institute in Kyiv, an international academic conference to mark the 450th anniversary of the Union of Lublin.
Popularising common Ukrainian-Polish history and overcoming myths and stereotypes of imperial and Soviet ideology in society, he published a series of books. He also initiated international scientific seminars, discussing problems related to the social system of medieval and early modern Ukraine, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Central and Eastern Europe in general.
During his stay in Gdańsk, prof. dr hab. Wiktor Horobec will research the influence of the tradition of the Republic of Poland on social institutions of the Cossack state in the 17th/18th century, which will result in a monograph. 'I use libraries and archives. We have planned meetings with professors' - says prof. dr hab. Wiktor Horobec. The problem is limited contacts and the necessity to work remotely. However, he hopes that he will manage to fully implement the project. He will research our university until the end of March.
For many years the Historical Faculty of UG has been developing cooperation with Ukrainian universities and scientific institutes. - 'In the past years, researchers from Ukraine were often our guests and our scholars conducted their research in Ukraine,' said dr hab. Magdalena Nowak, prof. UG, who on behalf of the Historical Faculty takes care of the guest from Ukraine.
Appreciating the importance of his visit, he stressed that research on Polish-Ukrainian issues is a constantly developing research area for the scholars of her department. - 'We hope that it will allow us to broaden our cooperation with Ukraine to include contacts with the Institute of Ukrainian History of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine in Kyiv and will result in joint scientific and didactic initiatives,' adds dr hab. Magdalena Nowak, prof. UG.