Bili Oslavy. In Mariika Pidhirianka's homeland they preserve the memory of the folk enlightener

On the birthday of the poet, playwright and folk teacher Mariika Pidhirianka (29.03.1881 – 18.05.1963)

I thank the director of the Mariika Pidhirianka Museum, Vasyl Yuriiovych Levytskyi, for the opportunity to visit this remarkable cultural institution in Bili Oslavy, for creating the exhibitions and preserving the museum collections, and also for an enlightening tour. 

When little ones are learning to speak, poems help develop their language culture and thinking; from poetry collections children discover the sound and meaning of words. In the language of artistic imagery, writers converse with young readers, which helps improve memory, logic and communication. 

In the village of Bili Oslavy in the Ivano-Frankivsk region, the memory of the children's writer and educator Mariika Pidhirianka is preserved. The central street and the local school are named after the celebrated Ukrainian woman, a literary museum has been created, and memorial plaques have been installed in honour of the renowned native.

 

Bili Oslavy. The Mariika Pidhirianka Museum

On 29 March 1881, Maria Lenert was born into the family of a forester in the village of Bili Oslavy. Already at the age of 13 her first lines of poetry appeared, and after graduating from the Lviv Teachers' Seminary, Maria Omelianivna taught for 40 years in the schools of Prykarpattia and Zakarpattia. Together with her husband she taught village children Ukrainian literacy and wrote about the present-day life of the people, singing the beauty of the Carpathian land. Among the folk teacher's pupils were Ivan Franko's grandchildren. She loved children all her life and, for her pupils as well as for her own three sons and daughter, composed fairy tales and poems. A native of a foothill village, she took the literary surname Mariika Pidhirianka.

 

In Soviet times the name of the Galician poet was little known; her poems appeared only in periodicals. During the years of independence, books dedicated to children were printed in Kyiv, Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Uzhhorod: «I Will Tell a Tale, a Fable», «My Pretty Little Murko», «The Schoolchildren Are Coming», «Endless Little Tales», «Melodies of Childhood» and others. Mariika's poetry is easy to remember and to sing, and it evokes positive emotions. A number of her melodious works have been included in readers and anthologies, and some have been set to music. Maria Pidhirianka is buried in Lviv at Lychakiv.

A person lives on this earth as long as they are remembered. Today we recall her as a talented poet and educator who opened up the surrounding world to children. Thanks to fellow villagers and caring citizens, since 1996 a literary museum has been operating in Maria Pidhirianka's small homeland, cared for by the local-history scholar Vasyl Levytskyi, laureate of the Mariika Pidhirianka Prize in the field of literature and art. For almost 30 years Vasyl Yuriiovych has been researching the creative legacy and life of this classic of Ukrainian children's literature, championing the publication of the works of this singer of childhood.

 

This painstaking, meticulous work demands great effort — the careful preservation and replenishment of the collections, the printing of works, the repair of the historic building. The former residence of the priest was built by the community in 1896-1907 next to the Church of the Immaculate Conception of the Most Holy Virgin Mary, dating from 1746.

Bili Oslavy. The Mariika Pidhirianka Museum. The former parish house

In this church the «daughter of the Foothills» was probably baptised as well.

 

Bili Oslavy. The Orthodox Church of the Immaculate Conception of the Most Holy Virgin Mary. 1746.  

In Soviet times the village club was housed in the parish house. Now, in three rooms, exhibitions have been created devoted to the life and creative path of the famous countrywoman, with memorial belongings, books, photographs and documents on display.

Bili Oslavy. The Mariika Pidhirianka Museum. Exhibition

To imagine the era in which the poet worked, ethnographic collections, everyday household objects and antiquities have been gathered. Worthy of note is a stand presenting the work of Yurii Shkrumeliak, a contemporary and friend of Mariika Pidhirianka and the author of books for children and adults. Here one can also view icons and paintings by local amateur artists. A separate room is called «Shevchenkiana and Frankiana», where photographs of monuments to the awakeners of the Ukrainian people, erected in the Nadvirna district, are displayed.

Bili Oslavy. The Mariika Pidhirianka Museum. Exhibition

Mariika herself came to the museum grounds in stone in 2014. The Deliatyn sculptor Volodymyr Dovbeniuk depicted the folk teacher with a reader in her hand.

 

Bili Oslavy. Sculpture of Mariika Pidhirianka near the museum

Memorial plaques with a bas-relief of the teacher and wonderful poet have been unveiled on the façade of the former forestry office and in the yard of the Mariika Pidhirianka School.

Bili Oslavy. Memorial plaques in honour of Mariika Pidhirianka on the façade of the museum and the forestry building

People remember Mariika, and in every corner of Bili Oslavy her name lives on. The patriotic lines of Mariika Pidhirianka — «With heart, with spirit, with our breast to defend our Land. Let the world know that we are Ukraine's children» — remain a relevant guiding light for the Ukrainian people.