Guest Lecture on Olena Teliha Held at BDPU

On September 23, Berdyansk State Pedagogical University hosted an open guest lecture entitled “Olena Teliha: So That Words Do Not Diverge from Deeds”, delivered by Roxana Kharchuk, a Ukrainian literary scholar, Candidate of Philological Sciences, translator, and Senior Research Fellow at the Department of Foreign Ukrainian Studies of the Shevchenko Institute of Literature of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. The lecture focused on the life, work, and legacy of Olena Teliha.

Bringing together more than 80 participants, the event provided the academic community with another opportunity to engage in an expert discussion of Ukrainian literature and culture and to deepen their understanding of figures whose lives and work are important for comprehending Ukraine’s historical and cultural experience. The lecture attracted not only BDPU faculty members and students, but also representatives of Zaporizhzhia National University and colleagues of the lecturer from the Shevchenko Institute of Literature of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine.

The lecture explored not only Olena Teliha’s literary work but also her personality, social circle, and the broader historical context of the first half of the twentieth century. Roxana Kharchuk spoke about the writer’s childhood and youth, her studies at the Mykhailo Drahomanov Ukrainian Higher Pedagogical Institute in Prague, and the development of her Ukrainian identity.

Particular attention was devoted to Teliha’s Prague period. It was there that she met her future husband, Mykhailo Teliha, became involved in the cultural life of the Ukrainian émigré community, and began actively developing her poetic work. The discussion also touched upon her friendship with Natalka Livytska-Kholodna and her acquaintance with Dmytro Dontsov, whose influence played an important role in the further development of the poet’s worldview.

During the lecture, Roxana Kharchuk also spoke about Olena Teliha’s literary activities. Her early poems were published in the Literaturno-naukovyi visnyk (Literary and Scientific Herald), edited by Dmytro Dontsov. The lecturer discussed the distinctive features of Teliha’s early writing and the preparation of her first poetry collection, Dusha na storozhi (The Soul on Guard).

An important part of the lecture was devoted to Olena Teliha’s character. According to the recollections of her contemporaries, she was energetic, cheerful, sociable, and at the same time a principled person. Her life stance was gradually reflected not only in her poetry but also in her journalism and civic activities.

Concluding the lecture, Roxana Kharchuk emphasized that Olena Teliha should be viewed by contemporary readers not only as a poet or critic, but above all as a personality whose life and work should be considered within the context of her time, relationships, and intellectual influences. The meeting provided an opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of Olena Teliha’s life and work and to explore Ukrainian literature of the first half of the twentieth century through the lens of personal stories and the cultural environment in which they unfolded.

Open lectures, workshops, and meetings with leading scholars and professionals from various fields have become an important and traditional part of the educational process at the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities of BDPU, which regularly initiates such academic events.

Daryna Smyshliaieva
1st-year student Specialty С7 Journalism