Ukrainian Community Members Donate Valuable Collections of 

Historical Maps to University of Alberta Library

Edmonton – The University of Alberta Library has recently acquired two new collections of historical maps of Eastern and Central Europe, including Ukrainian territories. They have been donated by prominent members of the Ukrainian community in Edmonton, Dr. Orest Talpash and Chrysant and Leslie Dmytruk. These are valuable additions to the sizeable map collection at the U of A, one of finest in North America. An exhibition of the maps in these collections is planned for later this year at the Library, with the collaboration of the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies (CIUS) and the Alberta Society for the Advancement of Ukrainian Studies.

Dr. Talpash’s interest in historical maps of Ukraine began in the 1960s, when Andrew Gregorovich of Toronto was publishing the English-language magazine Forum: A Ukrainian Review. Gregorovich often featured maps reproduced from his extensive personal collection on the centre pages of Forum, along with brief descriptions of the details and cartographic importance of the maps.

“At that time,” says Dr. Talpash, “I was also aware of the 1863 statement made by the Russian Tsarist Interior Minister [Piotr Valuev] in that ‘there never has been, is not, and never can be a separate Little Russian language.’ In similar vein, the Soviet authorities of the 1960s behaved as if there was not, never had been, and never would be an independent Ukraine.”

Dr. Talpash began collecting seventeenth- and eighteenth-century maps of Eastern Europe on which French, Dutch, and German cartographers clearly identified areas called Ukrainia, or Pays des Cosaques, or Kiovia. Even if those regions were claimed by Muscovy or greater Poland, cartographers would identify them as Ukrainia. By the early 1700s, maps of Ukraine itself were being published by the German geographer and cartographer Johann Homann and others. “No person, therefore, could claim that Ukraine had never existed in history,” Dr. Talpash emphasized. “The old maps showed it was right there.”

Dr. Talpash found his old maps in musty bins in Munich, London, Amsterdam, New York and Vancouver. Interestingly enough, he learned that geographers in Ukraine had far fewer old maps to work with than were held in private collections in North America.

Chrysant Dmytruk, who began collecting at the age of nine, became interested in historical maps in the mid-1980s after attending a map exhibition commemorating Ivan Lysiak-Rudnytsky, late professor of history at the U of A. Soon afterward, visiting Barcelona in 1987, he purchased his first map containing a reference to “L’Ukraine ou Pays des Cosaques”. The Dmytruk collection includes twenty-two maps acquired from bookstores in Stuttgart, Budapest, Amsterdam, Dűsseldorf, London, Helsinki, Cologne, and Ottawa.

“I have always been interested in Ukrainian history,” says Mr. Dmytruk, commenting on his hobby, “and collected different things - stamps, postcards and envelopes showing episodes of Ukraine’s history.”

Many of the historical maps in circulation today were produced in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries. What we now call “antiquarian maps” are simply pages removed from old atlases and sold individually to collectors. When these atlases were first published, they were exceedingly rare and valuable. Cartographers drew the maps to the best of their knowledge, traced the drawings onto wood blocks, and printed maps in very limited quantity. Later, drawings were etched onto copper plates for printing, and each map was coloured by hand. Often, the atlases were commissioned by members of the nobility or royalty of the wealthiest countries and presented as gifts. Renowned cartographers received designations of royal privilege.

The Director of Development (Collections and Donations) at the U of A Library, Josh Bilyk, and Librarian Virginia Pow are justly proud of the prestige of their collection among academic geographers. Along with the donors, they consider it important for the Alberta public to be aware of the precious materials and fine human resources at the University. By the same token, it is incumbent on the University to make community outreach a primary goal. That outreach will motivate individuals to take an interest, become involved, and donate time, effort, and funds to the University.

Orest Talpash was born in Saskatchewan in 1940. In 1963, he graduated from the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Saskatchewan. After completing a residency in dermatology in Toronto, he and his wife, Olesia, moved to Edmonton. Dr. Talpash practised dermatology and taught in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Alberta for twenty-six years. Dr. Talpash served on the executives of many Ukrainian-Canadian organizations and was a founding member of several others: Canadian Foundation for Ukrainian Studies, Canada-Ukraine Foundation, Friends of the Ukrainian-Canadian Heritage Village, and Alberta Society for the Advancement of Ukrainian Education.

Chrysant Dmytruk was born in 1936 in Strusiv near Terebovlia (in Ternopil region), Western Ukraine. In 1944, he and his family fled to Graz, Austria, before the Soviet Red Army offensive. In 1949, they immigrated to Canada and settled in Edmonton. Mr. Dmytruk, P. Eng., MBA, FEC, studied chemical engineering and worked in the chemical industry and in various industry-development functions at the Department of Economic Development, Government of Alberta (1973-88). Leslie Dmytruk, RN, BSc.N, was born in Edmonton in 1940 and worked as a registered nurse. They have both been active in the Ukrainian-Canadian community, including membership in Ukrainian Catholic Youth and the Obnova student club.

PHOTO

Historical map of Ukraine also identified as “the Cossack Land,” with adjacent countries (Chrysant and Leslie Dmytruk Collection)