George Gajecky ( uk, Юрій Теодозійович Гаєцький, ''Yurii Gajecky''; born 23 April 1941) is a

Ukrainian American Ukrainian Americans ( uk, Українські американці, Ukrayins'ki amerykantsi) are Americans who are of Ukrainian ancestry. According to U.S. census estimates, in 2021 there were 1,017,586 Americans of Ukrainian descent represent ...

historian, educator, and public activist. He currently serves as president of the Ukrainian Educational Council, the central organ of Ukrainian Saturday schools in the United States.

Biography

George Gajecky was born in

Lviv Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in western Ukraine, and the seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is one of the main cultural centres of Ukraine ...

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

. Along with his parents, he immigrated to Austria in 1944, during the Second World War. In 1950, the family moved to the United States. Gajecky lived in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. During his school years, he actively participated in the cultural life of the Ukrainian diaspora in the US. Particularly, he was a member of Ukrainian Plast and graduated from a school of Ukrainian studies. Gajecky graduated from the

DePaul University DePaul University is a private university, private, Catholic higher education, Catholic research university in Chicago, Illinois. Founded by the Congregation of the Mission, Vincentians in 1898, the university takes its name from the 17th-centu ...

in 1964 with a Bachelor of Arts History degree. In 1966, he obtained a Master of Arts degree in history in the

Roosevelt University Roosevelt University is a private university with campuses in Chicago and Schaumburg, Illinois. Founded in 1945, the university was named in honor of United States President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. The unive ...

. Gajecky moved on to work in the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

(1967–1978). In 1978, he obtained a Ph.D. in history in the

. Gajecky's scholarly career has been mostly connected with his work in the field of

Ukrainian history Prehistoric Ukraine, as a part of the Pontic steppe in Eastern Europe, played an important role in Eurasian cultural contacts, including the spread of the Chalcolithic, the Bronze Age, Indo-European migrations and the domestication of the hors ...

and Ukrainian studies in general. Particularly, he was a senior fellow at the

Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute The Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute (HURI) is a research institute affiliated with Harvard University devoted to Ukrainian studies, including the history, culture, language, literature, and politics of Ukraine. Other areas of study include s ...

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

(1981–1992). After Ukraine gained independence in the early 1990s, Gajecky worked as a history professor in

National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy ( NaUKMA) ( uk, Національний університет «Києво-Могилянська академія» (НаУКМА)) is a national, research university located in Kyiv, Ukraine. The ...

(1994–1997). Apart from scientific activities, George Gajecky has been engaged in educational work related to schools of Ukrainian studies in the United States. Particularly, he was a principal of the Ukrainian studies school in Chicago (1979–1981) and a history teacher in the Ukrainian studies school "Samopomich" (1997–2004). Since 1986, Gajecky has been teaching history at teacher-training courses organized by the Ukrainian American Educational Council at

Soyuzivka Soyuzivka Heritage Center (Ukrainian: Союзівка), also known as Soyuzivka, Suzi-Q, or the Q, is a Ukrainian cultural center located in the hamlet of Kerhonkson, New York in Ulster County, in the Shawangunk Ridge area south of the Catskill ...

, a Ukrainian cultural center in

New York State New York, officially the State of New York, is a state in the Northeastern United States. It is often called New York State to distinguish it from its largest city, New York City. With a total area of , New York is the 27th-largest U.S. stat ...

. Since the late 1990s–early 2000s, Gajecky has been occupying leadership positions in the Ukrainian Educational Council, serving as a member of the executive board of the Educational Council. Since 2003, he served as deputy president under president Eugene Fedorenko. Upon Fedorenko's retirement in 2016, George Gajecky was elected the next president of the Ukrainian Educational Council. He currently serves in this position as of 2019.

Works

The scholarly interests of George Gajecky's as a historian relate to the history of

Ukrainian Cossacks The Zaporozhian Cossacks, Zaporozhian Cossack Army, Zaporozhian Host, (, or uk, Військо Запорізьке, translit=Viisko Zaporizke, translit-std=ungegn, label=none) or simply Zaporozhians ( uk, Запорожці, translit=Zaporoz ...

and the

Cossack Hetmanate The Cossack Hetmanate ( uk, Гетьманщина, Hetmanshchyna; or ''Cossack state''), officially the Zaporizhian Host or Army of Zaporizhia ( uk, Військо Запорозьке, Viisko Zaporozke, links=no; la, Exercitus Zaporoviensis) ...

. Besides, he explores the development of

Orthodox brotherhood Brotherhoods ( uk, братства, bratstva; literally, "fraternities") were the unions of Eastern Orthodox citizens or lay brothers affiliated with individual churches in the cities throughout the Ruthenian part of the Polish–Lithuanian Com ...

s and the history of education, particularly school education, in Ukraine. Some of Gajecky's major works include a two-volume work ''Cossack Administration of the Hetmanate'', a two-volume book ''Cossacks in the Thirty Years War'', contribution to several contemporary history encyclopedias, and around 200 scholarly articles published throughout his scientific career.

References

Bibliography

* G. Gajecky. Cossack Administration of the Hetmanate, 2 volumes, Cambridge, MA, 1978. * G. Gajecky, A. Baran. The Cossacks in the Thirty Years' War, 1619—1624. Vol. 1. Rome, PP. Basiliani, 1969. * G. Gajecky, A. Baran. The Cossacks in the Thirty Years' War, 1625—1648. Vol. 2. Rome, PP. Basiliani, 1983. * Золота книга: 50 років Школи українознавства ОУА «Самопоміч» у Нью-Йорку, 1949—1999. Нью-Йорк, 1999. * Ю. Гаєцький. Новітня історія України. 1945—2001 рр. Нью-Йорк: Вид-во Шкільної Ради УККА, 2002. * Альманах Станіславівської землі: збірник матеріалів до історії Станіславова і Станіславівщини. Том 3. Редактор-упорядник Ю. Гаєцький. Іван-Франківськ, 2009

External links

George Gajecky's works in online library Chtyvo.org,ua
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gajecky, George 1941 births Living people Historians of Ukraine Soviet emigrants to the United States