Ukrainian Hromada in France

Ukrainian Hromada in France (Українська громада у Франції; Ukrainska hromada u Frantsii). The first Ukrainian community-cultural organization to emerge in France after the First World War. It was established in 1924 in Paris, and its membership initially included émigrés of varying political and ideological leanings. Soon the Sovietophiles formed their own Union of Ukrainian Citizens in France (1925); the Ukrainian National Republic supporters established the Union of Ukrainian Emigré Organizations in France (1926); and the nationalists founded the Ukrainian National Union in France (1932). Also known as the Shapoval Hromada, the UHF adhered to the political ideals of Mykhailo Drahomanov and Mykyta Shapoval. In the 1930s it had 22 branches, which sponsored reading rooms and Ukrainian language schools for children, with a membership of 600 to 1,200. The Hromada ceased its activities during the German occupation (1940–4) but revived after the Second World War. It was headed successively by Mykola Kapustiansky (1924–9), Mykola Yu. Shapoval (1929–48), A. Shapoval (1948–53), I. Bondar, and P. Turkevych. It published Vistnyk ukraïns’koï hromady u Frantsiï (1929–38, 68 issues), Ukraïns’ka volia (1938–9, 13 issues), and Vistnyk (1948, 3 issues). In 1976 the Hromada formally disbanded. That same year Arkadii Zhukovsky wrote a brief history of the organization.

[This article originally appeared in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine, vol. 5 (1993).]