''The Free Thought'', also known as ''Vil'na dumka'', ''Vilna Dumka'' and in ( uk, Вільна думка); is a weekly Ukrainian newspaper published in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

since 1949. Gilson, M. Zubrzycki, J. (1967) ''The foreign-language press in Australia, 1848-1964'' Australian National University
/ref> In addition to serving post- World War II

immigrant Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...

s and the second and third generations of those immigrants, the newspaper also caters to newer immigrants from post-Soviet Ukraine. It has sections in both Ukrainian and English.

History

A large group of Ukrainian immigrants arrived in Australia in 1948, 1949, and 1950 with the assistance of two-year work contracts offered by the Australian government. This was the impetus for the creation of two Ukrainian-language newspapers in Australia, one of which was ''The Free Thought''. Upon receiving the Federal Government's permission, the first edition was published on 10 July 1949. Since then, the newspaper has had a role in reporting on the establishment and development of Ukrainian Australian cultural and social life. In the 1980s, ''The Free Thought'' helped establish the Ukrainian Studies Foundations in Australia Ltd. to support Ukrainian studies at the university level. In 1994, ''The Free Thought'' joined with the Ukrainian Studies Foundation to publish a history called the ''Almanac of Ukrainian Life in Australia,'' . Another book was published in 2001, this time with the Ukrainian Heritage Society in Australia, containing over 2000 biographies of Ukrainian Australians, titled ''Ukrainians in Australia: an Encyclopedic Guide'' .

Organization

The founder, owner, and editor was Wolodymyr Shumsky (Szumskyj), who edited more than 3000 editions of the newspaper since its launch in 1949. An active member of the Ukrainian Australian community, Shumsky was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia in 2009 for "service to the Ukrainian community through cultural, educational and literary contributions". Over the years, contributors to ''Vilna Dumka'' have included

Dmytro Nytczenko Dmytro Nytczenko ( uk, Дмитро Нитченко; literary pseudonyms: Dmytro Chub or Ostap Zirchasty; February 21, 1905 Bohdan Podolianko Bohdan may refer to: * Bohdan, a Slavic masculine name, a variant spelling of Bogdan (which includes a list of people named Bohdan as well as Bogdan) * Bohdan, Podlaskie Voivodeship, a village in Poland * Bohdan (bus) Bogdan ( uk, Богда ...

, and Wasyl Onufrienko.

References

Bibliography

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External links

catalogue entry for ''Vil'na Dumka''
from the National Library of Australia
''The Free Thought'' product details on www.wrapaway.com.au
{{DEFAULTSORT:Free Thought, The 1949 establishments in Australia Newspapers established in 1949 Newspapers published in Sydney Ukrainian diaspora in Australia Ukrainian publishers (people) Non-English-language newspapers published in Australia European-Australian culture Ukrainian-language newspapers