Lviv: Ukrainian voices curate Ukrainian culture. This series is produced in collaboration with the Folkowisko Association/Rozstaje.art, thanks to co-financing by the governments of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia through a grant by the International Visegrad Fund. The mission of the fund is to advance ideas for sustainable regional cooperation in Central Europe. It has been translated from Ukrainian by Iryna Tiper and Filip Noubel.
According to Global Voices, three Ukrainian women writers of the 1930s—Sofia Yablonska, Daria Vikonska, and Olena Kysilevska—emerged as pioneers of travel literature, shaping women’s emancipation and literature in Western Ukraine, then part of Poland. These writers embarked on journeys that broadened their horizons and allowed them to capture the essence of distant lands through their unique perspectives.
Sofia Yablonska, often described as a woman with a camera, left her homeland in 1939 for China, where she met her husband, Jean Houdin. Her travelogues were a testament to her desire to explore the world, and she continued writing until her life was tragically cut short in a car accident in 1971. Yablonska’s work continues to inspire, capturing the allure of foreign lands with vivid descriptions.
Daria Vikonska, whose real name was Joanna Karolina Mayer-Fedorovych, hailed from a noble family and embraced a life of intellectual pursuits. She was one of the first in Ukraine to discuss James Joyce, and her travel writings offered rich descriptions of places like Venice. Vikonska’s life was marked by tragedy, as she lost her inheritance for defying social norms and later died escaping Soviet arrest in 1945.
Olena Kysilevska, born into a priestly family, was a leader in the women’s movement and served as a senator in the Polish parliament. Her travelogues vividly depicted coastal landscapes and unique regions like Polesia. Kysilevska’s journeys revealed the challenges faced by local inhabitants while highlighting the beauty of untouched lands. She emigrated to the US in 1948, where she continued her work until her death in 1965.
Yablonska, Vikonska, and Kysilevska ventured beyond the constraints of their time, leaving an indelible mark on literature and paving the way for future generations of women writers. Though not as widely known today, their contributions to travel literature remain significant, offering insights into a world rich with culture and history.