The Lion's Society, an "informal" youth association, emerged in the 20th century and is one of the first public organizations in post-Soviet Ukraine. Find out how the organization tried to abolish the Soviet tradition and create a new model of Ukrainianness

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On October 16, 1987, one of the first independent public organizations of the Ukrainian SSR, the Lion Society, was founded in Lviv. This is a youth association that began its labor activities with the restoration of monuments at the Lychakiv cemetery, and later actively engaged in the revival of Ukrainian traditions in Soviet Ukraine.

In honor of the 36th anniversary of the founding of the Lev Society, we will learn more about the history of the organization and its influence on the preservation of Ukrainian culture.

Activities of the Lev Society

The first meetings of the Lion Society took place in the dormitories of the Lviv Forestry Institute (now the National Forestry University of Ukraine). A group of active young people gathered around them like-minded people. Later, the Lion Society was already divided into different sections, which took care of many issues.

The association took an active part in the processes of national revival. One of the first public actions of the organization was an evening dedicated to the memory of Vasyl Symonenko, which gained a scandalous resonance due to the fact that dissidents Vyacheslav Chornovil and Mykhailo Horyn spoke at it, almost for the first time after their release from prison.

The most notable actions of the first years of TL activity were:

- revival of folk traditions (nativity scenes, groves, obzhinka, etc.);

- maintenance of architectural monuments (Lychakiv cemetery, Barefoot Carmelite monastery, Elizaveta church in Lviv);

- initiation of youth Ukrainian musical culture;

- "Historical Theater" project;

- ecological and cultural expedition "Dniester" (started in 1988);

- the first concert in memory of Volodymyr Ivasyuk in Ukraine, held at the Lviv Opera and Ballet Theater (1989);

- since April 1989, the Lev Society published the newspaper "Postup"

- actions for the revival of a center of smoked ceramics in the village of Havarechchyna (Lviv region).

Young people were involved in projects aimed at restoring and supporting the culture and education of Ukraine, and environmental protection measures were also carried out. The activities of the Lev Society contributed to the development of the young Ukrainian state.

  Members of the Lion Society were also active in the political life of Ukraine. With the support of the organization, in 1989 the writer Rostyslav Bratun, who was considered the ideological inspiration of the Society, was elected as a People's Deputy of the USSR from Lviv. He became one of the first opposition candidates to the communist regime.

In the spring of 1990, Taras Stetskiv and Ihor Hryniv, members of the Lev Society, became People's Deputies of Ukraine. In 1994–2002, Ihor Koliushko, a member of the TL, was also a People's Deputy of Ukraine. In 1988–1989, the future (1990–1994) People's Deputy of Ukraine Ivan Makar was also a member of the Society.

Leaders of the Lion Society

According to the charter of the organization, the chairman of the Society could not be elected for more than one year. Orest Sheyka was the first chairman, followed by Igor Hryniv, Levko Zakharchyshyn, Yaroslav Rybak and others.

The co-author of the first charter and the first head of the ethnographic section is Myroslav Reshetylo.

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Famous members of the Lion Society

In different periods, prominent Ukrainians were members of the Lev Society:

- writer Yuriy Vinnychuk;

- journalists Oleksandr Kryvenko, Volodymyr Pavliv, Oles Pogranichnyi, Andriy Kvyatkovskyi, Georgy Gongadze also started his journalistic career in the Society;

- historians Ihor Markov, Yaroslav Hrytsak, Ihor Chornovol;

- farmer movement activist Yaroslav Kardash;

- musician and translator Viktor Morozov (together with the actors of the theater "Don't be sad!");

- Archaeologist Yuriy Lukomskyi;

- Chairman of the Ukrainian Heraldic Society Andrii Grechylo;

- director of the museum-reserve "Lychakiv Cemetery", Honored Art Worker of Ukraine Ihor Havryshkevich;

- biologist and public activist Dzvenislava Kalynets-Mamchur;

- architect and public figure Yurii Voloshchak;

- local historian Petro Radkovets and others.

Some of the members of the society were simultaneously members of the Ukrainian Association of Independent Creative Intelligentsia.

The influence of the Lev Society on the creation of new public organizations in Ukraine

The activities of the Lev Society became an impetus for the creation of other socio-political, historical, cultural and artistic societies in the western regions of Ukraine: "Vertep" (Ternopil), "Heritage" (Lviv), "Roztochiv Brotherhood" (Zhovkva), "Rukh" (Ivano -Frankivsk), Ukrainian Language Society named after T. Shevchenko (Lviv), Society named after V. Kubilnyk (Sambir), "Dzvin" (Rohatyn), "Sprouts" (Stry) and others.

After the independence of Ukraine, the society withdrew from public and political work. From now on, its activities are aimed at the development of local self-government, the creation of new educational programs and the restoration of civil society.

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