"A Collector of Cossack Legends": Dmytro Yavornytskyi

State Enterprise "Ukrainian Studio of Television Films "Ukrtelefilm", 1991. The documentary film “The Collector of Cossack Glory” tells the story of the life and work of Dmytro Yavornytsky, a historian, ethnographer, archaeologist, folklorist, and researcher of the history of the Ukrainian Cossacks. Recollections from colleagues and figures in various fields who collaborated with the Ukrainian scholar, along with exhibits from the D. I. Yavornytsky Memorial House-Museum, help shed light on his attitude toward his work during different periods, particularly during his dismissal on charges of “bourgeois nationalism.”

In the video: archaeological excavations on Khortytsia Island; a rally held at the grave of Koshovy Ataman Ivan Sirko in the village of Kapulivka, Nikopol District; views of the Dnieper River; the unveiling of a monument to Koshovy Ataman P. I. Kalnyshevsky in the village of Pustovoytivka, Romny District, Sumy Oblast; the Dnieper rapids; scenery of Samarkand (Uzbekistan); the Solovetsky Monastery; a photo of a museum in Cairo; a commemorative plaque at the site of Dmytro Yavornytsky’s house in the village of Borysivka, Kharkiv District, Kharkiv Oblast; an exhibition at the D. I. Yavornytsky Memorial House-Museum: a photo of the scholar; portraits of Cossacks and hetmans of Ukraine; title pages of editions of his works; Yavornytsky’s letters; the album “From Ukrainian Antiquity” with text by D. I. Yavornytsky, illustrations by M. Samokish, and lithographs by S. Vasylkivsky; excerpts from newsreels featuring the figure.

Commentary by: Maria Oliinyk-Shubravska, senior research fellow at the Rylsky Institute of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine; Oleksandr Kyrychenko, director of the Museum of Cossack Glory; Arkadiy Kozlovsky, research fellow at the Institute of Archaeology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine; historian, museum curator, and local historian Angelina Perkova, the first director and long-time head of the Memorial House-Museum; housekeeper Kateryna Litvinenko; writer Roman Ivanychuk; Alla Zhurba, research associate at the Memorial House-Museum; writer Yuriy Mushketik; local historian Oleksandr Bodianskyi; and pilot Hryhorii Omelchenko.

The film was produced by director Rodion Yefimenko, screenwriter Roman Furtak, and cinematographer Mykola Markovskyi.