Ukrainian printing against the monster of Russian censorship
Rzeczpospolita was formed in the sixteenth century through a union between Poland and Lithuania, covering the territories of Ukraine, Lithuania, Belarus, and Poland. The state defended its interests by using censorship, but these actions were not directed against “Rusyns” (Ukrainians) or the “Rusyn” (Ukrainian) language. The Russian Empire introduced strict and harsh censorship laws from the very beginning of its domination of Ukrainian territory, and legislation was uniquely applied with consistently harsh cruelty, unlike for other nationalities. The fight against the Ukrainian press, organized by the Russian authorities, cannot be compared to the censorship restrictions of the Polish state and church clergy.
Moscow versus European book printing
There is an existential gap between European and Moscow printing. In Europe, publishing was not an exclusive privilege of the government or the court, but a general auxiliary and cultural force of the people.
In Europe, book printing emerged during the Renaissance and coincided with the beginning of the Reformation. People of that time were enthusiastic about printing, and King of France Louis XII referred to it as a divine invention, not human. Printing in Western Europe belonged to secular authorities from the very beginning. The large number of schools, universities, theaters, and various administrations required large quantities of books.
The situation was different in Muscovy. The illiterate people of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries did not feel the need to receive secular education and perceived book printing as the devilish work of heretics. According to English poet and diplomat Giles Fletcher (1549-1611), who wrote a history of the reign of Boris Godunov, the uneducated bishops of Muscovy wanted to prevent enlightenment among ordinary people. He argued to the tsar that any science or learning would draw people’s attention to the affairs of state governance, endangering the tsar’s power.
Moscow’s first bans and cases of intellectual appropriation
The Left-Bank Ukraine (Livoberezhzhia, the state of the Ukrainian Cossacks that existed in the central regions of modern Ukraine on the left bank of the Dnipro River) was annexed by the Moscow state in the second half of the seventeenth century. This resulted in the loss of political autonomy and a series of agreements between the Ukrainian Cossacks and the Moscow tsar that negatively impacted Ukrainian book printing.
Moscow Council (a clergy meeting for resolving administrative, canonical, or other church-related issues) anathematized the “new Kyiv books,” which were written in the developing Ukrainian literary language of 1690. In 1693, the Moscow Patriarch imposed a new ban on the import of Ukrainian books to Moscow.
Russian Emperor Peter I issued a series of decrees in 1720, metaphorically named a “flood of censorship decrees” by the renowned Ukrainian literary critic Mykhailo Vozniak, which continued the policy. The first censorship decree issued by Peter the Great applied to publications printed in Kyiv and Chernihiv, requiring “full compliance with Moscow’s copies to ensure that “no difference and no special dialect” (the Ukrainian language) would be present. It also contained a repressive requirement to print only liturgical literature. In 1722, censored copies of the publications from the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra, also known as Kyiv Cave Monastery — the largest monastery in Kyiv, which had its own printing house — began to appear.
One of the most anticipated, bestselling books by Lavra pilgrims and readers of the time was the Kyiv Lavra Patericon (editions of 1661, 1678, 1702). Naturally, these were among the banned publications, and its printing was forbidden until it was translated to conform to Moscow style. Publication rights were taken over by the Moscow printing house, which published these works in 1759 under the title “Patericon Pecherskyi” or “Otechnik.” The censored edition’s title page mentions Empress Catherine and her family, and the blessing of the “Most Holy Governing Synod.” On the backside of the title page is a panegyric engraving dedicated to Peter I. This transgression constitutes intellectual theft and an appropriation of what didn’t belong to them.
Imperial censorship decrees of Ukrainian publications continued, including the 1729 order by Peter II requiring all state decrees and orders to be rewritten from Ukrainian into Russian, the 1763 decree by Catherine II banning Ukrainian language instruction at the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, and the 1769 prohibition by the Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church to print and use the Ukrainian alphabet.
Arrests of “unaccountable” censors of Ukrainian books and short-term relief
In both the Russian Empire and within the territory of Ukraine, censorship was shaped to include secular publications during the eighteenth century. The revival of Slavic nations, the French Revolution, and later a wave of revolutionary events, known as the Spring of Nations, also occurred. Fearing the ‘Ukrainian Spring,’ the empire’s censorship became stricter, especially regarding the Ukrainian language and literature. Thus, in 1804, Emperor Alexander I approved the first censorship statute in Russia.
In 1847, there was a scandal over the Brotherhood of Saints Cyril and Methodius in Kyiv (an underground political organization created by Ukrainian intellectuals that advocated for autonomy of Ukraine), followed by the arrests of the organization’s members such as writer and historian Mykola Kostomarov, poet and artist Taras Shevchenko, and author and ethnographer Panteleimon Kulish. Count Lev Perovsky, the Minister of Internal Affairs, issued printed instructions that the following books were banned and withdrawn from sale: “Kobzar” by Taras Shevchenko, “Tale of the Ukrainian People” by Panteleimon Kulish, and “Ukrainian Ballads” by Mykola Kostomarov. Moreover, the Minister of Public Education Serhiy Uvarov ordered the “censorship department” to prevent the reprinting of these works.
If any Ukrainian book managed its way into the world, it was with great difficulty. Amvrosii Metlynskyi’s book “South Russian Folk Songs” was censored for seven years in a row from 1847 to 1854). Another collection by Metlynsky, “Almanac,” was completely mutilated. Almost half of the text was crossed out, including phrases with the word “freedom” (even in expressions like “a horse walked freely”).
In 1855, when Alexander II acceded to the throne, the beginning of a liberal period in Russian cultural life began. For Ukraine and Ukrainian literature, there was a certain derogation. Mikhail Katkov, editor of “Moscow Vedomosti” newspaper, raised money to publish Ukrainian books. The Ministry of Education allocated 500 rubles for the publication of Ukrainian textbooks for public schools, and part of the money was spent on printing fables by Leonid Hlibov.
Some representatives of Ukrainian society began petitioning the Ministry of Education to have the Ukrainian language recognized as a legal subject in Ukrainian schools. Bilingual (Ukrainian-Russian) periodicals such as the “Osnova” magazine appeared. Sunday schools were established, with instruction in Ukrainian. While St. Petersburg censors were cutting out entire pages of Kobzar, it seemed that the Russian government had abandoned its idea of completely eliminating the Ukrainian issue. But it only seemed so.
No “equal rights for Ukrainian literature in the legal field alongside the literature of other nations”
The first secret decree that banned Ukrainian literature in Russia was issued in 1863. It was the notorious order of the Minister for Internal Affairs Piotr Valuev.
“Recently, the issue of Little Russian literature has acquired a different character due to purely political circumstances that have nothing to do with the interests of literature…Previous works in the Little Russian language were intended only for the educated classes of Southern Russia, but now the supporters of the Little Russian nation have turned their attention to the uneducated people, and those of them who are trying to realize their political plans have taken up, under the pretext of spreading literacy and education, the publication of books for elementary reading, primers, grammars, geographies…,” wrote Valuev.
For the next ten years, not a single book printed in Ukrainian appeared under the rule of the Russian Empire.
From 1873-1876, there was a noticeable easing of censorship. Ukrainians in Russia took advantage of this brief interlude. During the three years of censorship relaxation, the number of Ukrainian publications in Kyiv alone increased from 4% of all local publications in 1872-1873 to 23% in 1874-1875. The upward trend did not last long. When the Southwestern Department of the Russian Geographical Society in Kyiv began to vigorously pursue Ukrainian ethnography, a group of Russificationists led by Mikhail Yuzefovich raised an enormous outcry in the official Russian press and began sending denunciation after denunciation to St. Petersburg about unreliable people gathering in Kyiv under the guise of a geographical society. As a result, the government dispersed the Southwestern Division of the Geographical Society and reinstated censorship.
Europe was aware of and responded to the oppression of the Ukrainian language, literature, and science. William Ralston, a reviewer of “Historical Songs of the Little Russian People” by Volodymyr Antonovych and Mykhailo Drahomanov, wrote: “Let us hope that neither envy nor the short-sightedness of the authorities will delay the progress of Ukrainian literature, which should be a source of national pride.” However, Mykhailo Drahomanov was forced to publish the next volumes of “Historical Ukrainian Songs” abroad in Geneva. Thus, the issue of the external emigration of Ukrainians and the Ukrainian language and culture was raised again.
The final point in this matter was put by another decree under the stamp “Secret,” the Ems Decree of June 5, 1876. The document limited the sphere of influence of Ukrainian books. “No books and pamphlets published in the Little Russian dialect shall be allowed to be imported into the Empire without special permission from the Main Department for Printing. It is forbidden to print and publish original works and translations in the empire in the said dialect, with the only exception: historical documents and monuments; works of fiction… Various theatrical performances and readings in the Little Russian dialect are also prohibited.”
Renowned writers, publishers, historians and public figures such as Ivan Nechuy-Levytsky, Borys Hrinchenko, Serhiy Yefremov, Borys Kistiakivsky, and Lesia Ukrayinka stood up to defend the Ukrainian printed word and issued a “Statement on the Needs of the Ukrainian Press.”
“ … If the situation of the press in Russia is difficult, the situation of the Ukrainian press is unbearable. The Ukrainian press is completely deprived of the opportunity to address any issues, having long been limited in its rights to exist and doomed to eradication since 1863. By virtue of the well-known decree of May 18-30, 1876, current literature in the Ukrainian language is prohibited altogether, with the exception of works of fiction…” read the statement.
The authors of the statement put their demands for the abolition of all restrictions “for our (Ukrainian) native word,” “equal rights of Ukrainian literature in the legal field along with the literature of other nations,”and “the opportunity to use the native language in all areas of literature and science, in books and periodicals.”
It was not only the statements of Ukrainian cultural figures of the time that disturbed the “quiet” tide of public life in the empire. Panteleimon Kulish, for example, dared to translate and publish William Shakespeare’s works in 1882, without regard to the Ems Decree.
But the Russian repressive machine could not be stopped.
Nationalization of Ukrainian private publishing houses and creation of one for all
The monarchy and the Russian Empire collapsed in the 1920s. The Ukrainian struggle for independence and revolutionary romance gave rise to a large number of various state, cooperative, and private publishing houses in Ukraine. However, with the establishment of a rigid authoritarian Soviet regime, this could not last.
The “Decree on Printing” signed by Vladimir Lenin on November 9, 1917, was one of the first documents of the Bolsheviks and marked the beginning of the curtailment of freedom of speech in Russia. All opposition newspapers were closed by decrees of the Council of People’s Commissars, authorized to do so.
On January 11, 1918, the “Decree on State Publishing” was signed, and it was later extended to the Ukrainian territories occupied by the Bolsheviks. The decree stated that state publishing houses must produce “cheap popular editions of Russian classics.” This document laid down a norm that for the first time gave grounds for new publishers in the Soviet Union to infringe copyright since the works of all authors who passed from private to public ownership belonged to the state.
On May 5, 1919, the Soviet government introduced a decree “On the unification of all Soviet publishing houses into the All-Ukrainian Publishing House,” creating Vseukrvydav (Vsevydav). The liquidation of private publishing houses was justified by the expediency of new state publishing houses that could produce Soviet books. The difficult conditions of Soviet publishing houses were also emphasized, as there was a lack of authors capable of creating Soviet party propaganda books.
In 1922, there were more than 100 party, departmental, and cooperative publishing houses, though most of them closed after the order of August 30, 1922. In the first years of Soviet rule, Russian-language book publishing prevailed. In 1922, Vsederzhukrvydav published 301 titles, with only 130 in Ukrainian.
After World War II, republican publishing houses in the Ukrainian SSR resumed activity, and newspaper publishing houses were founded in the centers of the regions. They published mainly propaganda publications, school textbooks, and mass brochures on collective farming. The State Committee of the Council of Ministers of the Ukrainian SSR for the Press was in charge of publishing.
Between 1966 and 1985, only 24 publishing houses functioned in Ukraine. In the late 1980s, books were published by 26 publishing houses of both state and non-governmental organizations (Molod, Naukova Dumka, and Radiansky Pysmennyk), 51 organizations that were granted publishing rights, and 25 editorial and publishing departments. These publishing houses were powerful and had monopoly rights to publish.
At the same time, the number of Ukrainian-language publications decreased from 6394 (79% of the total) in 1930 to 1895 (43%) in 1939. According to Yurii Sheveliov, the reason for the relative decline in Ukrainian publications was primarily government policy, but the decline in absolute numbers “was also due to the reader’s disgust with works imbued with official propaganda, and even of a low artistic level, and a noticeable decrease in the number of readers themselves as a result of the defeat of the intelligentsia and the more educated circles of the peasantry.”
After the declaration of independence, Ukrainian state publishing houses gradually declined and private ones emerged, but Russian books remained dominant on the Ukrainian market for a long time.
Number of publications in Ukrainian and Russian
Custom-made repertoire, censorship of originality
The resolution of the Central Committee of the CPSU of December 28, 1928 “On Serving the Mass Reader with Books” became a sort of programmatic document for Soviet publishers that welcomed the publication of propaganda literature. At once, books of all kinds emerged, popularizing Marxism-Leninism, the history of the CPSU and the revolutionary movement. Literature was mass-produced to raise the technical knowledge of workers and peasants, and popular science books related to the socialist reconstruction of the country’s economy were released. Literature outside of these genres required authors to use significant quotes from Marxism-Leninism classics and be accepted by the Communist Party congresses for publication.
One of the most striking examples of the fight against censorship is found in Serhiy Bilokon’s book. “Together with Ananii Lebid and Maksym Rylsky, Mykhailo Mohyliansky compiled a textbook entitled “For 25 Years.” When the book was printed, authorities from Kharkiv “suggested” that the latter author’s name be removed as a counterrevolutionary, otherwise the publication would not be able to be issued. The wrapper had to be reprinted to remove the name, but Mohyliansky himself, as Danylo Suhenko later recalled during interrogation in 1931, continued to work at the publishing house under a different name.
Publishers and authors faced dismissal, imprisonment, or even exile for the slightest deviation, real or nonexistent, from the guidelines, and later, particularly in 1934 and 1937-1939, executions. Many editions that were ready for printing were destroyed. A far from complete list of such publications (35 titles) was compiled by the well-known historian Natalia Polonska-Vasylenko.
Unfortunately, these losses continued. Books were repressed along with their authors, scientific ideas, and academic institutions.
Ukrainian scientists sought publication in academic journals abroad as a means to communicate with colleagues and promote Ukrainian science. This was practiced by geneticists, Byzantine scholars, and lawyers. However, their activity was quickly banned. Researchers had to apply to Okrlit through the institution they worked at, submitting their manuscript, and Okrlit either allowed or forbade sending the text abroad.
Russian aggressor’s repressions in the current war against Ukrainian book publishing
The arrival of the occupier on Ukrainian territory today is accompanied by repressive actions against Ukrainian books.
Occupiers send data on the destruction of books directly to the Russian Ministry of Education. The occupiers position Ukrainian books as extremist literature. The list of “extremist” literature that is recommended to be removed from the collections of school libraries in the occupied part of Luhansk region includes books by contemporary Ukrainian authors such as Maria Matios, Oksana Zabuzhko, Oleg Sentsov, Serhiy Loiko, Vakhtang Kipiani, Serhiy Bilokon, Dmytro Kuleba, Artem Chekh, Oleksandr Irvants, and many others. This list includes books that were published between 1994 and 2021. At the same time, in 2023, Russia brought about 2.5 million Russian books to the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine to “re-educate” Ukrainian children.
In the first days of the full-scale invasion, the enemy destroyed not only books, but also publishing and printing houses. The greatest destruction of buildings occurred in Kharkiv. The occupiers destroyed the First Experimental Printing House, Unisoft, Globus, where many publishers printed, and the warehouses of the Ranok publishing house. In May 2024, the Russians launched a devastating missile attack on the Factor Druk printing house in Kharkiv, one of the largest full-cycle printing complexes in Europe. Seven employees were killed and 21 people were injured.
Despite the full-scale invasion, Ukrainians continue to open new publishing houses and bookstores, and organize literary festivals, even near the frontline. The victorious march of the Ukrainian book is logical and unstoppable, because it is filled with true emotions and deep, civilizational meanings based on centuries-old cultural values.
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Copy editing: Terra King
Translation: Iryna Saviuk
Author: Valentyna Bonchkovska
This article is a part of the special project ‘Erasure of a Word’ created in support of the exhibition ‘Antitext’. The project is implemented by the Chytomo media in cooperation with the Kharkiv Literary Museum