The winner of Ukraine’s most prestigious non-governmental award in the humanities has been announced

Mykola Lehkyi, Doctor of Philology, has been named as the latest laureate of Ivan Franko International Prize for his monograph “Ivan Franko’s prose: poetics, aesthetics, reception in criticism.”

This was first reported on the website of Ivan Franko International Fund,which also lists the other candidates who were nominated:

• Natalia Bilous, Doctor of Historical Sciences, with the monograph “One step to Eternity. Residents of the cities in Volyn in the light of testaments of the late 16th and 17th centuries.”
• Group of authors with the publication “Galician-Volyn Chronicle: Textology.”

“Mykola Lehkyi is a well-known expert of Ivan Franko’s creative work, Doctor of Philology, Head of the department of Franko’s studies of the Ivan Franko Institute of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine and senior researcher at the Institute of Franko’s Studies of Ivan Franko National University of Lviv, author of thorough studies of prose by Ivan Franko. Special words of greeting from Franko House — the Franko Museum, for the laureate and scientific communities and institutions he belongs to. Congratulations! Vivat! Glory to Ivan Franko, let Franko studies live and flourish!” said Bohdan Tykholoz, the Director of Lviv National Literary and Memorial Museum of Ivan Franko.

The laureate of the Prize received a diploma, a gold badge and monetary reward of 200,000 UAH.

“Continuing to hold the Ivan Franko International Prize means that despite the war Ukrainians are capable of thinking about the most important things: their history, science and education. We must take care of our past and the future generations even in the times of devastation, suffering and tragedies. Ivan Franko International Prize gives us hope that we can go through this unbelievably difficult and dangerous period of Ukrainian being,” added Ihor Kurus, the Director of Ivan Franko International Fund.

The Ivan Franko International Prize is the most prestigious non-governmental award in the field of humanities. It was founded in 2015 by the writer’s grandson Roland Franko. The prize recognizes scholars whose works have made a significant contribution to the development of social sciences and humanities, have international importance and are based on the principles of scientific understanding of historical or contemporary processes in the culture, politics and social life of Ukraine.

The Prize is organized by the Ivan Franko International Fund with the support of the European Union and the International Renaissance Foundation in the framework of grant component of the EU4USociety project, in partnership with Drohobych City Council, Lviv Regional State Administration, Ivan Franko Drohobych State Pedagogical University, Nahuyevychi State Historical and Cultural Preserve and the Lviv Society in Kyiv.

It is worth noting that the laureate of the 2021 Ivan Franko International Prize was Leonid Tymoshenko, a professor at the Ivan Franko Drohobych Pedagogical University. The prize was not awarded in 2022 due to a full-scale invasion of Russia to Ukraine.

Ivan Franko was Ukrainian poet, translator, journalist, literary critic and political activist. He was the first author of detective novels in Ukrainian, famous for translating works of such authors as Lord Byron, Victor Hugo, William Shakespeare, Friedrich Schiller and many others.

Main image: frankoprize.com.ua