MUSEUM STUDIES OF ILARION SVENTSITSKYI (1905–1930S)

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to highlight the museum activity of Ilarion Sventsitskyi (1876–1956) during 1905–1930s – a linguist, art critic, public figure, long-term director of the National Museum in Lviv, founded in February 1905 by the Greek Catholic Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytskyi. The article emphasizes that, despite numerous publications, there is still a need to analyze the scientist’s museological achievements. The study reveals the theoretical and practical activities of I. Sventsitskyi, in the field of museology, in particular, characterizes his scientific works and speeches, in which the issues of the tasks of museums are raised. It demonstrates the essence and main stages of the formation of the museum as a cultural institution, makes an overview of foreign and Ukrainian museums, and determines urgent tasks of the National Museum in Lviv. The article draws attention to the organization of I. Sventsitskyi’s exhibition and publishing work in the museum institution headed by him. It notes that I. Sventsitskyi was a popularizer of the development of the National Museum in Lviv – in annual reports, he documented in detail the issues of the museum’s internal activities and efforts to find and study monuments. The scientist conducted active research and foundation work, systematically replenishing museum collections with monuments of Ukrainian art and other relics. I. Sventsitskyi was an active member of the public organization “Union of Museums in Poland”, participated in congresses of representatives of museums in Poland, and made efforts to implement the activities of museum institutions in Galicia at a high professional level. It has been proved that the scientific achievements of the museum curator remain relevant for the study of the history, theory, and practice of museum construction in Galicia in the first third of the 20th century.