BOOK REVIEW  Long-Awaited Ukrainian Genealogy Guidebook Published

By Marko R. Stech

In order to satisfy a growing demand to help North Americans explore their family roots in Ukraine, the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies Press published in January 2007 John D. Pihach’s  Ukrainian Genealogy. A Beginner’s Guide.

Ukrainian Genealogy is primarily a guide to tracing one's Ukrainian ancestry in Europe. Consideration, however, is also given to North American records that are specifically Ukrainian or relate to the immigrant experience. Due to the overwhelming majority of people of Ukrainian origin in Canada and the United States have roots in Western Ukraine or southeastern Poland, the guide concentrates on the resources of those regions. Although this handbook is intended primarily for those whose ethnic roots are Ukrainian, it also offers the material that may be very useful to other ethnic groups with roots in Ukraine.

The book consists of twelve chapters, three appendices, a bibliography, and an index. It also contains numerous maps, charts, and personal documents that undoubtedly add to its overall value. In addition, readers will find throughout the book valuable advice on various practical issues pertaining to one’s genealogical research, ranging from accessing archival information to working with factual evidence. 

Chapters 1 and 2 discuss general topics that are preliminary to research and offer a short overview of relevant literature and library resources, a closer look at genealogical societies, and a brief survey of Ukrainian history with emphasis on emigration issues.

Chapter 3 examines problems associated with personal names and includes a serviceable chart of first names and their possible interlingual transliterations and variations. Chapters 4 and 5 outline the early religious experiences of Ukrainians in North America and explain ways of locating church records. The crucial question of determining the proper name of one’s European ancestral community is addressed in Chapter 6. Chapter 7 explains the essentials of locating places on a map, describes the various administrative divisions that existed in the past, and looks at the many types of maps that pinpoint the location of the ancestral village and even the actual home.

The resources for learning the history of a specific region are covered in Chapter 8, while Chapters 9 and 10 are devoted to metrical (church-registered) birth, marriage, and death records, which constitute the principal resources for genealogical research. The last two chapters, 11 and 12, survey Austrian land records and other specific documents. Several appendices describe Ukrainian transliteration schemes and present a guide to various languages and scripts that were used in record keeping. They also provide instructions for genealogical research for members of other ethnic groups with roots in Ukraine and list useful Web-sites.

The author of Ukrainian Genealogy, John D. Pihach, received his B.Sc. Degree in Physics from the University of British Columbia and studied Fine Arts at Vancouver Community College. He spent many years travelling across Asia and Europe and also made some trips to Eastern Europe, where he conducted genealogical research at several archives. Currently, he works as a weather observer and is Library Chairperson of the East European Genealogical Society in Winnipeg. Mr. Pihach is also the author of several articles on Galician genealogy.

Ukrainian Genealogy is available in a paperback edition for $34.95 and in hardcover for $54.95 (plus taxes and shipping; outside Canada prices are in U.S. Dollars). Orders can be placed via CIUS Press’s secure on-line ordering system (www.utoronto.ca/cius), by e-mail (cius@ualberta.ca), by phone (780-492-2973), by fax (780-492-4967), or by writing to CIUS Press, 450 Athabasca Hall, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, T6G 2E8, Canada.