Women's Hromada in Lviv

Women's Hromada in Lviv [Жіноча громада; Zhinocha hromada]. A women’s organization that arose out of the merger of the Club of Ruthenian Women and the Circle of Ukrainian Women in 1909. In Lviv the Hromada organized public lectures, founded a girls’ dormitory, ran subsidized cafeterias and emergency kitchens, expanded the activity and branches of the Trud women’s co-operative, and popularized the Domestic Servants' Aid Society and the Ukrainska Zakhoronka nursery school society. It and its branches in 14 Galician counties and smaller village groups conducted cultural, educational, and charity work among Galicia’s Ukrainian women and waged a campaign for women’s suffrage. The Hromada’s first head was Maria Biletska. Prominent members were Konstantyna Malytska, O. Luchakovska, O. Budzynovska, Olena Zalizniak, O. Krushelnytska-Okhrymovych, E. Verhanovska, M. Mudrak, and M. Izhytska. On Malytska’s initiative, in 1912 the Hromada proposed the creation of the For Ukraine’s Needs fund, which gave considerable support to the Ukrainian Sich Riflemen. In 1917 the Hromada was transformed into the Union of Ukrainian Women.

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