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COLLECTION Identifier: HOLLIS 009838854

Records, 1922-1961 (inclusive), 1945-1958 (bulk).

Overview

Records of the Central Union of Ukrainian Students (TseSUS). This collection forms one part of the Ukrainian Student Movement Archive.

Dates

  • Creation: 1922-1964

Conditions Governing Access

Access is by appointment only. Contact the Institute Bibliographer/Archivist.

Extent

1 collection (6 boxes (5.5 linear ft.))

The material contains correspondence, minutes, and other materials related to the All-Student Founding Congress of 1945, as well as from the 11th to the 18th Ordinary Congresses of TseSUS. There are also administrative records from the Executive, Secretariat, and Departments of the organization. This material includes early correspondence from the 1920s and 1930s regarding the founding of TseSUS, with the bulk of the material comprised of administrative correspondence, circulars, minutes, reports, and student questionnaires from 1945 to 1955. Other administrative documents are from the departments of Culture and Education, Social Welfare, and International Affairs. The records of TseSUS also contain correspondence from its divisions and representatives in various countries such as Germany, Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Belgium, and the United States, as well as from member societies, including the Obnova Society of Ukrainian Catholic Students, the Alliance of Ukrainian Orthodox Students, and Ukrainian student societies in Geneva, Zurich, Rome, Paris, Galway, and Stockholm. TseSUS, its divisions, and member societies are also documented in their various internal and student publications, as, for example, Studentskyi shliakh and the bulletin Visnyk TseSUSu.

Biographical / Historical

Established in Prague in 1922, the Central Union of Ukrainian Students (TseSUS) was organized to act as a coordinating body between student organizations outside the Soviet Union and to represent Ukrainian students and their interests throughout the world. From 1922 to 1934, TseSUS headquarters were in Prague, and from 1934 to 1939 in Vienna. Membership included a number of national student unions based in Romania, Poland, Germany, as well as individual students' clubs abroad in other European countries, North America and Asia (Harbin). TseSUS was active in the international forum, informing non-Ukrainians about problems of Ukrainian students and about conditions in Ukraine in general under the different occupations. To maintain an effective relationship with non-Ukrainian organizations, TseSUS appointed representations in various countries. It participated in international student organizations, sent delegates to their conferences, collaborated with numerous national student unions, and published materials in foreign languages. The organization was a special member of the Confédération Internationale des Etudiants (later replaced by the International Union of Students), and a member of the aid organization the International Students' Service. TseSUS resumed its activities in Munich in 1946, and remained based there (except for a brief time when its head office was in Paris from 1952 to 1954) until its move to the United States. The early post-world war years were marked by resurgent organized student activity, with the union representing in 1947 at its peak 33 student organizations in ten countries with a total membership of nearly 3,000. The organization remained active until the early 1950s when many students living in Western Europe graduated and immigrated to North America.

Arrangement

Organized in five series:

  1. I. Congresses
  2. II. Administration
  3. ___ A. Presidium (Executive and Secretariat)
  4. ___B. Departments
  5. III. Divisions and representatives
  6. IV. Member societies
  7. V. Publications
  8. ___ A. TseSUS
  9. ___B. Member clubs and societies

Processing Information

Processed by: Ksenya Kiebuzinski

Title
TSentralnyi soiuz ukraïnskoho studentstva. Records, 1922-1961 (inclusive), 1945-1958 (bulk): A Finding Aid.
Author
Ukrainian Research Institute
Language of description
und
EAD ID
uri00014

Repository Details

Part of the Ukrainian Research Institute Repository

Special Collections at the Ukrainian Research Institute Library include primary sources documenting the history of Ukraine in the 20th century, and Ukrainian émigré social and cultural life in Europe, and the United States:
http://www.huri.harvard.edu/library/special-collections.html

Contact:
34 Kirkland Street
Harvard University
Cambridge MA 02138 USA
(617) 496-5891