Without Territory: the life of a Ukrainian community in exile
Argumentary of the scientific event
Without Territory is the title of the book by Olexandr Shulgin, Foreign Minister of the Ukrainian People's Republic (UNR), exiled in France where he came to represent his country at the Peace Conference. Published in 1934, the title is a perfect illustration of the situation in which many Ukrainians found themselves, faced with the dismay of losing their country, which they kept alive in the uncertainty of exile.
Following on from two colloquia organized in 2017 and 2019, the present Study Day seeks to explore the life of the Ukrainian community in France, after the failure of the first attempt at independence, in interwar Europe, which was barely recovering from the trauma of the First World War.
After reviewing the circumstances that led many Ukrainians to leave their country, the Day will study the various aspects of their existence in France and their political, societal and cultural activities. It will conclude with an exploration of the documentary traces of this emigration, between the various archive locations and family memories.
Scientific event program
Wednesday, May 27, 2026
INALCO - PLC
Amphi 2
65, rue des Grands Moulins - Paris 13e
- 10h - 12h : Moderation: Etienne Boisserie (CREE, Inalco)
- Iaroslav Lebedynsky (Inalco), Jean-Bernard Dupont-Melnyczenko and Alisa Menchykova: Reconstructing a national community in exile
- 12pm - 2pm:Lunch break
- 14h - 15h30: Continuing to act for Ukraine
Moderation: Iaroslav Tyntchenko,
Ukrainian military in France
- Fabian Baumann (Heidelberg University): Oleksandr Shul'hyn's Memoirs and the Consolidation of Ukrainian Nationhood in the Interwar Emigration
- Iryna Dmytrychyn (CREE, Inalco): The Ukrainian community facing the Holodomor
- 3:30 - 4:30 pm: Preserving the traces
Moderation:Hanna Fabre
- Maryna Palienko, Alla Lazareva (BUPS)
- Iryna Sobtchenko (BULAC)
- 4:30pm - 5pm : Coffee break
- 5pm - 6pm: Cultural reminiscences
Moderator: Iryna Dmytrychyn (CREE, Inalco)
- Olha Khomenko(Lviv-Paris-Harbin): The Entangled Life of Stefan Lewinski as a Transnational Intellectual
- Halyna Dranenko (Sorbonne University): Sophie Jablonska's insular thought: the (re)conquest of Ukrainianity
General discussion
- 6:30 pm - 8 pm : The memory of our grandfathers
Moderation:Iryna Dmytrychyn (CREE, Inalco)
- Rencontre avec Marie-France Clerc and Nadine Kobylko
Organizer
- Iryna Dnytrychyn (CREE, Inalco)