Polish architects of Kharkiv in the 19th–early 20th century — lecture by Prof. Lubow Żwanko

Lecture: “Polish architects of Kharkiv in the 19th–early 20th century” — lecture by Prof. Lubow Żwanko

Lubow Żwanko — professor, habilitated doctor of historical sciences, head of the Museum Center of the State Agrarian University in Kharkiv (Ukraine), Honoured for Polish Culture.

Specializations and research areas:

• Social history of World War I, including the history of refugees and survival practices.
• Migration processes in the 20th and 21st centuries; history of the Polish community of Kharkiv and Poles in Left‑Bank Ukraine.
• History of Polish diplomacy and history of medicine and veterinary medicine.

Selected international projects (Austria, United Kingdom, Germany, Poland):

• 2014–2017: initiator of the centenary project on World War I “Europe on the Move: The Great War and its Refugees” (grant from the British Academy).
• 2022–2023: POLONISTA Program (NAWA) — project “Polish architects and their legacy in Kharkiv (19th–early 20th century): buildings die moodily” (WSP UMK in Toruń).
• 2021–2022: project “The outstanding Polish scientist Leon Cienkowski (1822–1887): per aspera ad astra” with the PAN Archive in Warsaw.
• 2025: project “The Last Stop – pits of death, lies and memory” (85th anniversary of the Katyn Crime 1940–2025) in cooperation with the Kuyavian‑Pomeranian Heritage Centre and the local authorities of the Kuyavian‑Pomeranian Voivodeship in Toruń.

Publications and achievements:

• Author of approximately 311 scholarly works, including 8 monographs (1 co-authored), 16 collective works and about 120 international articles.
• Among publications: “Per aspera ad astra. Letters of Leon Cienkowski (1822–1887)”, “Outstanding Poles and Kharkiv: a biographical dictionary (1805–1918)”, co-editor of “Europe on the Move: The Great War and its Refugees”.
• About 30 publications devoted to Polish heritage in eastern Ukraine.

Projects carried out in cooperation with the Consulate General of the Republic of Poland in Kharkiv (2012–2025), including:

• “Calendars about outstanding Poles in Kharkiv” (coordinator).
• “Outstanding Poles and Kharkiv” (2018).
• “Polish Artists in Kharkiv” (2019).
• “Polish Scientists and Kharkiv” (2020).
• “Polish doctors and Kharkiv” (2021).
• “Poles in Kharkiv: milestones of Polish diplomatic service” (2021).
• “Polish women in Eastern Ukraine. 19th–20th century” (2022).
• “Polish temples in Left‑Bank Ukraine (19th–early 20th century)” (2024).
• “Places of Polish memory and Kharkiv” (2025).

Selected exhibitions (author/co-author):

• 2025: “The Last Stop Kharkiv. 1940–2025” (cooperation with the Kuyavian‑Pomeranian Heritage Centre and the local authorities of the Kuyavian‑Pomeranian Voivodeship in Toruń).
• 2024: “Outstanding Polish doctors and Kharkiv across the centuries” (celebrations of UMK and Collegium Medicum in Bydgoszcz).
• 2023: “Polish architects and Kharkiv. Polyphony of a stony melody” (project with the National Institute of Polish Cultural Heritage POLONIKA).
• 2023: “200 years of Polish veterinary medicine: from Vilnius to Toruń via Kharkiv” (UMK Institute of Veterinary Medicine).
• 2021: “Outstanding Polish veterinarians in Kharkiv: figures, achievements, discoveries (19th–early 20th c.)” (170th anniversary of the founding of the Veterinary School in Kharkiv).

Event details:

• Date: 26 February
• Time: 17:30
• Place: Association headquarters, Warsaw, Rynek Starego Miasta 27
• Admission: free
• The lecture will be streamed live on the Association's Facebook.

We invite everyone interested to participate!