Chapelsky, Ivan

Chapelsky, Ivan [Чапельський, Іван; Čapel's'kyj], b 18 June 1850 in Rybnyk, Drohobych county, Galicia, d 31 March 1918 in Lviv. Priest, catechist, civic figure. Chapelsky studied at Lviv University. He served as a village priest and later became prefect at the Greek Catholic Theological Seminary in Lviv and catechist in Lviv schools. In 1895 he was appointed canon in the Lviv metropolitan consistory and priest of Saint George's Cathedral. For many years Chapelsky headed the Ridna Shkola society, a Ukrainian pedagogical society. Under his direction the society grew from a few hundred to 10,000 members, the number of branches grew to 60, and many new schools and residences were established. Briefly he edited the journal Uchytel’. In 1918 the Apostolic See appointed him its domestic prelate.

[This article originally appeared in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine, vol. 1 (1984).]