YOUNG SPORT SCIENCE
OF UKRAINE. 2012. V.4. P. 124-130
МОЛОДА СПОРТИВНА НАУКА
УКРАЇНИ. 2012. Т.4. С. 124-130
УДК 94:796
IVAN BOBERSKYY'S LIFE AND WORK
Olga ROMANCHUK, Oksana KOVAL, Rostyslav KOVAL,
Olga MATVIAS, Liubov CHEKHOVSKA
Lviv State University of Physical Culture
ЖИТТЯ ТА ДІЯЛЬНІСТЬ ІВАНА БОБЕРСЬКОГО. Ольга РОМАНЧУК, Оксана КОВАЛЬ,
Ростислав КОВАЛЬ, Ольга МАТВІЯС, Любов ЧЕХОВСЬКА. Львівський державний університет фізичної культури
Анотація. Статтю присвячено дослідженню життєвого шляху та ролі Івана Боберського в історії
українського спортивного руху. Коротко подано його біографію. Зазначено, що професор І.Боберський
був одним із фундаторів української спортивної термінології.
Ключові слова: Іван Боберський, життя, діяльність, спортивна термінологія.
Motivation. 2012 is the 65-th anniversary of Ivan Boberskyy's death, while 2013 will be the
140-th anniversary of his birth. Professor Boberskyy was one of the founders of the Ukrainian physical education system. He gained significant notoriety after his death; a street in Lviv bears his name
and there are also numerous memorial plates in his honour. Many scientific and genealogical conferences have been held in Ukraine and abroad in his honour, which has lead to a resurgence in Boberskyy's popularity. Envelopes, stamps and badges in Boberskyy's honour are not the only way his
memory is celebrated; his entire catalogue has recently been edited and his book «Motion games and
amusements», which was dedicated to children's outdoor games, was republished in Lviv in 1994.
Boberskyy's grave can be found in the Slovenian town of Trzhych [14].
In 2003 Pastor Yuriy Mytsyk compiled and published the unique works of Boberskyy, known
as «The diary of 1918-1919». The book gives detailed description of historical events concerning the
Ukrainian-Polish war during 1918-1919, and the proclamation of the Western Ukrainian People's
Republic. Mytsyk work adresses the end of World War I, the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the effect this collapse had on states that subsequently acquired independence. The Lviv
Academic Gymnasium honours the memory of Boberskyy who taught "ruhanka" (physical training)
and the German language there [14].
Under the current circumstances it is extremely important that the young Ukrainian generation
understand the spiritual and physical importance of the Sokil movement. The Sokil movement is a
necessary aspect of ensuring that young Ukrainians acquire a sense of national pride and self consciousness, which is absolutely necessary in order of them to protect their country and secure its
© Romanchuk O., Koval O., Koval R.,
Matvias O., Chekhovska L., 2012
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Ivan Boberskyy's life and work
statehood in the future. The Sokil movement (from the Slavic word for falcon) is a youth sport
movement and gymnastics organization first founded in Czech region of Austria-Hungary, Prague, in
1862 by Miroslav Tyrš and Jindřich Fügner. Primarily a fitness training centre, the Sokil, also
through lectures, discussions, and group outings provided what Tyrš viewed as physical, moral, and
intellectual training for the nation. This training extended to members of all classes, and eventually to
women. The movement also spread across all the regions populated by the Slavic culture in German
Empire, Serbia, Bulgaria (Macedonia), Russian Empire (Poland, Ukraine, Belarus), and the rest of
Austria-Hungary such as Slovenia and Croatia. In many of these nations, the organization also served
as an early precursor to the Scouting movements.
It is important to note that every educational system has its own history, its own ideology.
"Every generation is responsible for the physical and spiritual well-being of the next generation, that
it should be better than their own. Raising the body is the way to raise the spirit", – Ivan Boberskyy.
During the course of history, Ukraine was under the Russian rule in the east, while and the
Austro-Hungarian Empire and Poland governed the west. Foreign occupation contributed to the decline of Ukrainian culture.
However, Ivan Boberskyy's name is not widely known among physical education teachers, fitness and sports' icons or those who love and are engaged in physical activities. This year's anniversary provides us with the opportunity to celebrate the life and career of on of the founders of the
Ukrainian physical education system. Although considerable research has been done in the field of
Ukrainian sports history, there is still no information on this subject in any other languages besides
Ukrainian or Russian. This article will contribute additional information to its discussion in English.
Recent researches and publications. There are publications about Ivan Boberskyy by Yaroslav Bodnar, Oksana Vatseba, Natalia Velychkovych, Sergiy Ermakov, Yaroslav Malyk, Oleksandra
Chaban and others.
The aim of our article is to analyse the biography and career of one of the most influential
figures in Ukrainian sports history – Ivan Bobeskyy.
Research methods applied in the paper are: original source study (library research methods)
and historical survey.
Main body. During the late XIX and early XX century Pastor Mykola Boberskyy (1844-1918)
was an extremely powerful and respected authority among the priests in the Boykivschyna region
(pic.1). This young energetic priest was transfered to a different parish every year, where he gained a
reputation as a wise and good spiritual leader. He fought hard drinking and usury. Pastor Boberskyy
published numerous articles in «Vestnyk», «Russkiy Sion», «Galician Sion». He also issued a collection of sermons titled «About drinking». He founded one of the first «Sobriety Brotherhoods» on
Boykivschyna region.
Pic.1. Ivan Boberskyy's family in 1898
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Olga ROMANCHUK, Oksana KOVAL, Rostyslav KOVAL,
Olga MATVIAS, Liubov CHEKHOVSKA
While working for the Zlotske village parish near Novyy Sonch, he founded the «Russkiy
reading club» – one of the first reading clubs in Lemkivschyna, which later on became known as the
reading club «Prosvita».
From 1888 to 1918 he worked for the Vanovychi parish, a western Ukrainian village near the
city of Sambir. In Vanovychi he owned and operated his brick factory. He built a church, a house and
a shop for his religious brotherhood. Even though Priest Mykola Boberskyy died during a difficult
period of war, the city of Boiky honoured him by staging a magnificent funeral ceremony [15].
Ivan Boberskyy was the most famous among Priest Boberskyy's children. The name of Ivan
Boberskyy in the early XX century in Galicia region was associated with the «Sokil-Father» organization.
He was born in Dobrogostiv, a village located in the Sambir region. As a chield Ivan studied at
the gymnasium in Sambir, then in Lviv University. He continued his education in Graz, Austria,
where he studied new methods concerning physical education for youth. To enrich his experience, a
young and energetic Ivan went to Western Europe to visit such countries as the Czech Republic, Germany, Sweden and France. He started his teaching career in Europe, and then Boberskyy returned to
Lviv and worked as a teacher at the Lviv Academic Gymnasium. He wanted his students to not only
be physically fit, but also devoted to ideals of national pride and Ukrainian patriotism (pic.2) [12].
Pic.2.Ivan Boberskyy in 1910
In 1901 Ivan Boberskyy joined the Sokil athletic society, to which he devoted much time and
energy. Having made great contributions to the development of the «Sokil» organization, he was
elected deputy director. He initiated a training course and qualification criteria for physical education
teachers, while also introducing sports terminology for physical education teachers to use in their
classes. Ivan Boberskyy not only influenced physical education teachers; he was the first Ukrainian
to organize athletic societies for women, and he also encouraged many young, patriotic Ukrainians to
join Sokil. Because of a lack of physical education manuels in Ukrainian, Boberskyy began publishing manuels for physical education teachers in 1903. A few of the published manuels were «Motion
games and amusements», «Soccer», «New approaches to physical training», «Folk exercises» and
others. Also in 1903, Boberskyy organized the "Ukraine" football team.
He established Ukrainian sports terminology. Among the terms introduced by Boberskyy were
"kopanyy miach" for soccer, "sitkivka" for volleyball, "hakivka" for hockey, "stusan" for boxing,
"koshykivka" for basketball, "bulavka" for a Ukrainian throwing sport involving a metal cylinder and
"leschatarstvo" for skiing [12].
In 1907, he initiated and sponsored the «Sokil news». The Sokil organization once had a stadium were the current Lviv tax administration is located. In 1910, under the guidance of Ivan Boberskyy, the «Sokil-Father society» began to purchase land in order to build the stadium in Stryiskyy
park.
Ivan Boberskyy's life and work
127
Pic.3. Ivan Boberskyy at the former stadium of Lviv State University of Physical Culture
(Ivan Iaremko's photo)
Ivan Boberskyy published hundreds of articles on sport and topics of national interest. In 1914,
Ivan Boberskyy finally achieved his dream, having merged Sokil and Sich societies into the SokilSich Union.
The Ukrainian Sokil movement reached its peak in August 28, 1908 when Ivan Boberskyy became Ukrainian Sokil Society's director. Thanks to Boberskyy's hard work, by 1914 there were 974
Sokil centres throughout Ukraine where over 70,000 members recieved a physical education training.
Famous historian Ivan Krypiakevych, writer Bohdan Lepkyy, doctor of theology Osyp Kotsylovskyy, lyrical and melodic composer of Sokil's anthem Yaroslav Vintskovskyy, director of Taras
Shevchenko Scientific Society Museum Yaroslav Pasternak and sons of Ivan Franko, Taras and Andriy, were just a few of the well-known members of the Lviv Sokil organization [12].
Thanks to Ivan Boberskyy dedication and hard work, the First Plast organizations Congress of
Galicia took place in April, 1913 in Lviv. Due to Boberskyy's initiative and financial funding, the
book «Plast» by Oleksander Tysovskyy was published in 1913 in Lviv. "Sokil children" Stepan Bandera and Roman Shukhevych prominent leaders in the struggle for Ukrainian liberation, were heavily
influenced by the Sokil organization during their younger years.
Ivan Boberskyy wanted to incorporate all Ukrainian sports and firefighting organizations into
one unified group, which he actually accomplished during the celebration of the Taras Shevchenko
holiday in Lviv, June 1914. More than 12,000 representatives of the Sokil, Sich, Plast and Sichovi
Striltsi organizations participated there. This gathering of Galician people and guests from the Dnipro
region turned out to be a glorious union of all Ukrainian people.
For the first time Ivan Boberskyy's "spiritual children" performed at the celebration. The "spiritual children" were members of the Ukrainian Sichovi Striltsi organization, and they represented a
more sophisticated version of Ukrainian armed forces. Boberskyy believed that today's athlete is tomorrow's defender of his homeland in case of outside aggression. Ukrainian athletes educated under
the careful supervision of Ivan Boberskyy did well during World War I. Boberskyy published titled
«Ukrainian Sichovi Striltsi in the Carpathians» and «Ukrainian Sichovi Striltsi songs collection» in
which he details his athletes' involvement in World War I. Boberskyy was able to write these books
because he carefully collected and preserved documents about the Ukrainian army.
At the end of XIX century Boberskyy started designing Sokil symbols, but creating a flag
proved to be difficult. According to the society rules the organization had to have its own flag; thus,
designing a flag became of the upmost importance.
When Yaroslav Vintskovskyy was placed in charge of the flag committee, the design process,
as well as a money raising campaign gained momentum. In June, 1904 it was decided that the society's flag had to resemble the hetman flag. Therefore, the image of Saint Michael would be necessary.
The flag committee asked the director of the Ancient Acts of Lviv Archive, Oleksander
Cholovskyy, and an expert in heraldry from Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland, Franciszek
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Olga ROMANCHUK, Oksana KOVAL, Rostyslav KOVAL,
Olga MATVIAS, Liubov CHEKHOVSKA
Pekoszyńskyj for guidance concerning Saint Michael image on the flag. Unfortunately their professional assistance was inadequate, resulting in a poorly executed final product.
In August, 1910 Ivan Boberskyy went to Paris to seek support from Ukrainians living in
France. Artist Oleksander Zinoviev agreed to draw sketches for the price of 225 francs. In February
2, 1911 the flag's sketches were due in Lviv. February 4, 1911 the «Sokil-Father» society received
the sketches, which were approved by the nine member committee on the condition that one necessary correction to be made. The committee demanded that a circle be placed at Saint Michael's head,
and the inscription "Fight and ye shall overcome!" must be on both sides of Saint Michael's feet. The
French firm from Lyon Dalger produced a silk flag of high quality that included the image of a lion
and Saint Michael.
Ivan Boberskyy presented the flag at a Sokil congress in Prague on June 30th, 1912. In addition to the flag's design, Sokil organizations honoured active participants by placing upon the flag
various metal decorations. One of these metal decoration of great significance was the jubilee insignia, which was designed by Boberskyy himself [13].
In 1915 Ivan Boberskyy was a member of the Central Ukrainian Council and from 1918 to
1919 he was the propaganda advisor for the Western Ukrainian People's Republic State Secretariat of
Military Affairs. It was a short-lived republic that existed in late 1918 and early 1919 in eastern
Galicia. It consisted of parts of Bukovyna and the Carpathian Ruthenia and included the cities of
Lviv, Przemysl, Kolomyia and Stanislaviv. It is often referred to by its Ukrainian-language acronym,
ZUNR. The Western Ukrainian People's Republic was politically dominated by the Ukrainian National Democrats.
In November 1920, on behalf of the State Secretariat of the Western Ukrainian People's Republic and the Ukrainian People's Republic he went to the United States and Canada as plenipotentiary to seek help and support for the Strilets army. During his time abroad, he would frequently communicate with government officials in Ukraine.
In 1925, Ivan Boberskyy was the Representative of the Lviv Guardians Society of Ukrainian
immigrants in Canada, an organization that formed an alliance the Saint Raphael Charity Organization. During his stay in America, he was actively involved in the life of Ukrainian diaspora. His work
was diverse, ranging from posting articles in the American media about the work of Vasyl Avramenko (the director of Ukrainian Dance School in New York) to collecting materials about Ukrainian newspapers, bookstores, printing houses and schools in United States of America [14].
Boberskyy edited such almanacs as «New Field» (1927), «Prairie» (1928) and «Maple Leaf»
(1929). In the «New Field» he also published a map detailing Ukrainian settlements in Canada. He
assembled a large collection of photos, which is now stored in the Ukrainian library in Winnipeg,
which named in his honour [14].
Pic.4. Ivan Boberskyy and his wife Yosyfana in 1910
Ivan Boberskyy's life and work
129
In 1932, Ivan Boberskyy moved from Canada to the small Yugoslavian town of Trzhych,
which was the birth place of his wife. He lived in Trzhych until his death. He continued to maintain
close ties with his native Galicia. Since moving to Yugoslavia, he visited Lviv twice. Ivan Boberskyy
worked to promote Olympic ideals in hopes of seeing Ukrainian athletes in the Olympic Games. Living far away from his native land, he actively corresponded with Stepan Haiduchok and Osyp Nazaruk, and he also regulary published articles in the Galician press.
As an elderly man Ivan Boberskyy wrote his memoirs and catalogued his archives, hoping to
eventually send them to Ukraine. In 1947, this great Ukrainian man died. He was buried in Trzhych.
Conclusions. Ivan Boberskyy was and still is for the Ukrainian people the Father of the
Ukrainian physical education system. His legacy is of great importance to all Ukrainians. Boberskyy
devoted his life to promoting physical fitness ideals and a true sense of patriotism amongst the
Ukrainian people. Boberskyy believed that for a Ukrainian to achieve mental and physical health,
both daily exercice and a patriotic spirit were of paramount importance. Boberskyy dedicated his life
toward the health of the Ukrainian people, a lifetime pursuit that helped revitalize and unify his countrymen.
The study of Ivan Boberskyy's work in foreign languages is not only of scientific importance,
but is also necessary for practical and political reasons. Further research concerning this topic would
be of great importance for the world sporting community.
Список літератури
1. Боберський І. Щоденник (1918 – 1919 рр.) / упор. проф. о. Юрій Мицик. – К. : Академія, 2003. – 260 с.
2. Боднар Я. Роль Івана Боберського у становленні і розвитку спортивно-гімнастичного
руху Галичини // Педагогіка, психологія та медико-біологічні проблеми фізичного виховання і
спорту : зб. наук. пр. / за ред. С. С. Єрмакова. – Х. : ХДАДМ (ХХПІ), 2003. – № 15. – С. 18-23.
3. Вацеба О. М. Нариси з історії спортивного руху в Західній Україні. – Івано-Франківськ : Лілея-Н.В, 1997. – 232 с.
4. Ващенко Г. Тіловиховання як засіб виховання волі і характеру. – Л. : Українські технології, 2001. – 56 с.
5. Величкович Н. Особисте листування Івана Боберського як джерело вивчення його
життєвого і творчого шляху // Педагогіка, психологія та медико-біологічні проблеми фізичного виховання і спорту : зб. наук. пр. / за ред. С. С. Єрмакова. – Х. : ХДАДМ (ХХПІ), 2003. –
№ 18. – С. 3-8.
6. Єрмаков С. С. Творча постать Івана Боберського у матеріалах глобальної мережі Інтернет // Педагогіка, психологія та медико-біологічні проблеми фізичного виховання і спорту
: зб. наук. пр. / за ред. С. С. Єрмакова. – Х. : ХДАДМ (ХХПІ), 2003. – № 18. – С.44-50.
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(Спеціальний випуск за темою : Традиції української фізичної культури і формування системи фізичного виховання в Україні, присвячений 130-річчю від дня народження фундатора
української системи фізичного виховання проф. Івана Боберського) : зб. наук. пр. / за ред.
С. С. Єрмакова. – Х. : ХДАДМ (ХХПІ), 2003. – № 15. – 168 с.
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30-х років ХІХ ст. до 1939 р.) : навч. посібник. – К. : ІЗМН, 1997. – С. 34-45.
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12. Яремко І. 100 персон львівського спорту. – Л. : Тріада плюс, 2010. – 338 с.
13. Access mode: www.boberskiy.org.ua/docs/Sova.doc
14. Access mode: www.boberskiy.org.ua/docs/Vaceba2.doc
15. Access mode: www.wz.lviv.ua/articles/67631
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Olga ROMANCHUK, Oksana KOVAL, Rostyslav KOVAL,
Olga MATVIAS, Liubov CHEKHOVSKA
ЖИЗНЬ И ДЕЯТЕЛЬНОСТЬ ИВАНА БОБЕРСКОГО
Ольга РОМАНЧУК, Оксана КОВАЛЬ, Ростислав КОВАЛЬ,
Ольга МАТВИЯС, Любовь ЧЕХОВСКАЯ
Львовский государственный университет физической культуры
Аннотация. В статье проанализирован жизненный путь и роль Ивана Боберского в истории украинского
спортивного движения. Кратко рассматривается его биография. Отмечается, что профессор И. Боберский был
одним из основателей украинской спортивной терминологии.
Ключевые слова: Иван Боберский, жизнь, деятельность, спортивная терминология.
IVAN BOBERSKYY'S LIFE AND WORK
Olga ROMANCHUK, Oksana KOVAL, Rostyslav KOVAL,
Olga MATVIAS, Liubov CHEKHOVSKA
Lviv State University of Physical Culture
Annotation. This article investigates the life and work of Ivan Boberskyy, a man who was instrumental in initiating a sports movement within Ukrainian society. After providing a short biography, this article will clearly demonstrate
that professor Boberskyy was a founder of Ukrainian sports terminology.
Key words: Ivan Boberskyy, life, work, sports terminology.