At the invitation of the director of the public organization “Ecological and Humanitarian Union Green World,” Oleksandr Stepanenko, students from the Faculty of Philology at Vasyl Stefanyk Precarpathian National University, under the guidance of Associate Professor of the Department of World Literature, Tamara Tkachuk, participated in literary readings dedicated to the 136th anniversary of the birth of the great “Homer of the Black Mountains” and “singer of Hutsul region” – Stanisław Vincenz. The event took place in the village of Sloboda, Kolomyia District.
Our students prepared a mosaic of original fragments about the life of the Hutsuls, as recorded by the writer in his tetralogy *On the High Meadow*: their way of life, customs, harmony, the unique beauty of nature and respect for it, farming methods, love for animals, wedding rituals, and carol singing, which serve as evidence of the unique culture and mythology of the inhabitants of the Carpathian region. These fragments were presented in both Ukrainian and Polish.
The participants of the event — students from the Educational Programs “Secondary Education: Polish Language and Literature,” “Secondary Education: Ukrainian Language and Literature,” “Polish Language and Literature and English Language,” as well as Associate Professor Tamara Tkachuk, in their speeches emphasized the importance of Vincenz’s unique work for Ukraine, especially today, during the difficult struggle for our existence.
The initiator of the readings was the director of the Vincenz Library in Sloboda village, enthusiast Love Motrynets, who brought together the youth of the Sloboda and Pechenizhyn villages with the goal of commemorating the local writer and the talented “Socrates of the Hutsul region.”
It was Stanisław Vincenz who glorified the Hutsuls as authentic inhabitants of the Carpathians and depicted the Hutsul region as a harmonious Atlantis, a powerful macrocosm whose energy charges with goodness, love, tolerance, mutual respect, creating an anthem to the beauty of the Carpathians.
A presentation about unique and little-known facts from Vincenz’s life was given by Oleksandr Stepanenko.
The event was attended by the local community of Sloboda village, parents, students, teachers of the Sloboda Gymnasium, and activists from Pechenizhyn village.
Ukrainian Hutsul songs were performed, and the strong, optimistic word of Oleksa Dovbush echoed through the mountains, along with unforgettable Hutsul melodies performed by the music teachers of the Pechenizhyn Lyceum, Mykola Smetaniuk and Bohdan Matskiv.