Ukrainians on the cultural map of Lodz in the interwar period (1920–1939)

Abstract

This article presents the most interesting Ukrainian artists and cultural activists who lived in Lodz in the interwar period and made a mark in the history of Polish culture with their work. The following scientific methods were used to study the problem: descriptive, inductive, historical, press analysis, document examination, analysis and criticism of literature. The historical factors which caused the appearance of a large group of Ukrainian nationality among the city’s inhabitants are shown. The life path of Poland’s most famous Ukrainian painter Zenobiusz Poduszko is described. His artistic output and participation in the artistic life of Lodz are analysed. The specificity and activity of the creative style of the talented landscape painter was pointed out. Other Ukrainian cultural activists – theatre artists, teachers – are also presented. Most of the analysed Ukrainian artists and cultural activists were political emigrants. They participated in the struggle for Ukrainian independence. In order to save their lives, they had to flee Bolshevik repression and permanently emigrate from Ukraine. The work of the well-known Ukrainian artist and musicologist Myroslav Antonovych, who performed at the opera theatre in Lodz from 1930 to 1940, performing arias in operas by world masters – G. Verdi, G. Donicetti, R. Wagner and others – is presented.