Lavrivsky, Ivan V.

Lavrivsky, Ivan V. [Лаврівський, Іван; Lavrivs’kyj; also Лавровський; Lavrovsky], b 15 May 1773 in Terka, Lisko county, Galicia, d 25 June 1846 in Peremyshl, Galicia. Greek Catholic priest, educator, and civic figure. He graduated (D TH, 1801) from and taught at Lviv University before becoming a teacher of religion, pastoral theology, and Greek at the Lviv Lyceum (1805–14). He served as rector of the Greek Catholic Theological Seminary in Lviv (1814–20) and then as a professor of biblical studies at the Peremyshl Greek Catholic Theological Seminary and a priest at the Peremyshl cathedral. His major writings (all of which remain unpublished) include a Church Slavonic grammar for seminarians, a translation of the Primary Chronicle into Polish, and a Ukrainian-Polish-German dictionary. A promoter of the use and study of the Ukrainian language, Lavrivsky was one of the pioneers of the Ukrainian revival in Galicia. He donated his large library to the Peremyshl chapter and his estate to a foundation for promoting elementary education in Ukrainian and aiding widows and orphans of the clergy.

[This article originally appeared in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine, vol. 3 (1993).]