A forgotten figure of Ukrainian culture: the lexicological, editorial, and translational legacy of Viktor Dubrovskyi

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This article addresses the issue of the systematic exclusion of Viktor Hryhorovych Dubrovskyi (1876 – after 1943?) from the scientific discourse due to Stalinist repressions, which led to the prolonged suppression of his significant contribution to lexicography, scholarly editing, and translation studies. The article reconstructs a scholarly-biographi­cal portrait of Viktor Hryhorovych Dubrovskyi as the author of a national-political treatise on the autonomy of Ukraine, “Chy ye v nas po zakonu avtonomiia? “ [“Do We Ha­ve Autonomy by Law?”] (1917), compiler and editor of the first Ukrainian-language cook­book in the Dnieper region, “Stravy y napytky na Ukraini” [“Dishes and Drinks in Ukraine”] (1911, 1913, 1918), under the pseudonym Z. Klynovetska, lexicographer, scien­tific language editor, reviewer, and translator. For the first time, previously censored and unknown works are introduced into scholarly circulation, and several cryptonyms used by the researcher are decoded.

The article also offers a detailed analysis of Viktor Dubrovskyi’s activities as part of the editorial team of the journal Knyhar (The Bookseller), which played a crucial role in popularizing Ukrainian publishing under conditions of political repression. A comprehensive bibliography of 47 items is provided, significantly expanding access to sources and allowing for a better understanding of the scope of V. H. Dubrovskyi’s scientific legacy. The study corrects historical distortions in the biographical and bibliographical data concerning both Viktor Hryhorovych and Vasyl Vasylovych Dubrovskyi, which had hindered the attribution of the former’s legacy.

In the process of writing this article, catalogs of repressed literature from the Vernadsky National Library of Ukraine and the Ivan Fedorov Book Chamber of Ukraine were examined. The study of archival and bibliographical materials, particularly the “Consolidated Index of Outdated Publications” (1954) and “Special Fund of the Book Chamber of Ukraine” (2003), helped to expand the source base of the research. These materials confirm the fact of the removal and destruction of Dubrovskyi’s works during the Soviet period.

Keywords: Viktor Hryhorovych Dubrovskyi, Vasyl Vasylovych Dubrovskyi, Z. Klynovetska, lexicography, scholarly editing, repressed literature, attribution of printed works, Knyhar: litopys ukrainskoho pysmenstva [The Bookseller: Chronicle of Ukrainian Literature].

doi: 10.32403/0554-4866-2025-2-90-245-262


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