Poděbrady: the Ukrainian Husbandry Academy

Goal: To understand how and why a Ukrainian higher school arose in Czechoslovakia in 1922, and who organised it.

Lesson plan

1. 3 min · Introduction. Show Poděbrady on a map. Say that the castle there goes back to the 13th century and is linked with King George of Poděbrady, and that today it holds a memorial exhibition about this king. Ask: what might Ukrainian students have studied in Czechoslovakia in 1922?
2. 4 min · How the academy began. Explain: after the defeat of the independence struggle, Ukrainians looked for a way to continue their studies. The statute of the Ukrainian Husbandry (Economic) Academy was approved on 16 May 1922 and lectures began on 22 June. At first it worked in the Hotel U krále Jiřího and later moved to the castle; the exact date of the move is not established.
3. 5 min · People and faculties. Split the class in two. One half reads the fact about Ivan Shovheniv, the other about Borys Ivanytsky. Each prepares a one-sentence report: what he taught or led and what he was known for. Then name the three faculties together.
4. 3 min · Wrap-up. Remind pupils that the academy worked until 1935. Add that its story is only one layer in the history of the castle. Discuss the questions and set the task.

Facts

• Poděbrady Castle stands at Jiřího náměstí 1; its history goes back to the 13th century, and in its second courtyard there is a memorial exhibition of King George of Poděbrady. R0071
• The statute of the Ukrainian Husbandry (Economic) Academy was approved on 16 May 1922, and lectures began on 22 June 1922. R0071
• The academy was first housed in the Hotel U krále Jiřího and later in the castle; the exact date of the move is not established. R0071
• The academy had three faculties: agronomy and forestry, engineering, and economics and cooperatives. From the academic year 1924/25 the course lasted four years. R0030
• Ivan Shovheniv (1874–1943), a hydraulic engineer, was the academy's first rector and the father of the poet Olena Teliha. His book "Hydraulics of Groundwater" appeared in Poděbrady in 1927. R0030
• Borys Ivanytsky (1878–1953), a forest scientist and dendrologist, taught at the academy; by the chronology adopted in the dossier he was rector in 1925–1926 and 1928–1935. The academy ceased operation in 1935. R0031

Questions to discuss

1. Why did Ukrainians look for a place to study in Czechoslovakia after 1917–1921?
2. Why was teaching technical subjects in Ukrainian important for more than the language itself?
3. How does the history of the castle differ from the history of the academy that worked in it?

Task

Find Poděbrady on a map of Czechia. Make a short profile card of one person (Shovheniv or Ivanytsky) in three sentences: who he was, what he did at the academy, and in which years.