Sofia Rusova

Sofia Lindfors-Rusova was born in the small village of Oleshnia, Ripky district, Chernihiv region, Ukraine, a part of the Russian Empire at the time.[1] Her father, Fedir Lindfors, was of Swedish ancestry, and her mother, Hanna Gervais, was of French descent. The everyday languages in the Lindfors household were Russian and French. Rusova was a youngster when her ten-year-old sister, Natalia, and six-year-old brother, Volodymyr, died. Heartbroken over the deaths of her children, Hanna contracted tuberculosis and died soon after. Rusova's older sister, Maria, barely a teenager, stepped in to fill the role of mother. The family moved to Kyiv when Rusova was ten years old, and there Rusova completed the Fundukleiev Gymnasium.[2]

Sofia Rusova is recognized as a prominent pedagogue and an advocate for national education.[1] It was only a few decades ago that her pedagogical works, memoirs, and diary became accessible to the general public in Ukraine.

In 1871 Rusova’s father died, leaving Rusova, her 27-year-old sister Maria and 31-year-old brother Oleksander orphaned. Soon after, the two sisters moved into a small apartment to begin a new, independent life. The death of their father left a gaping hole in their hearts and in their lives. The sisters yearned to live a life full of purpose, to follow the example of their esteemed father. They had few options. The best option, they decided, was to open a kindergarten. In those days, kindergartens and daycare centers were nonexistent in Kyiv. Recognizing the deficiency, the sisters set out to study the varied methodology of early childhood education and to eventually open a kindergarten. In 1872 the first kindergarten in Kyiv was founded by Sofia (at the time Lindfors) Rusova and Maria Lindfors.[2]

By the 1800s the political and military institutions of Ukraine had been dismantled by the Russian Empire. Ukrainians were labeled “Little Russians” and treated as subordinates. Ukraine was reduced to provincial status. By the late 1800s the Russian Empire was promoting a fierce anti-Ukrainian sentiment.[3] The imperial regime under Tsar Alexander II issued a secret Ems Ukaz,[3] which outlawed the use of the Ukrainian language in print. The Ukrainian intelligentsia was determined to publish Taras Shevchenko’s complete Kobzar [4] in two volumes, including the parts of the text that had been censored and were virtually unknown in Ukraine. The dangerous and honorable task was delegated to Sofia Rusova and her husband, Oleksander Rusov. The couple spent time in Prague preparing the text for publication. Fedir Vovk, a renowned anthropologist and archeologist, furnished Shevchenko’s manuscripts that he had purchased from Shevchenko's brothers with money donated by well-to-do Ukrainians. At great personal risk, the couple brought the complete, published Kobzar back to Ukraine.[5]

The Rusov couple was exiled to St. Petersburg, Russia more than once for their civic and political activity. Rusova was arrested and imprisoned on several occasions for her “revolutionary” views and writing. In 1917 she became a member of the Ukrainian Central Rada. Rusova served in the Department of Preschool and Adult Education in the Ministry of Education. She was professor of education at the Froebel Pedagogical Institute in Kyiv before the First World War and at Kamyanets-Podilsky National University after the war. Rusova was a founding member and first president of the National Council of Ukrainian Women.[1] She served as the representative of Ukrainian women at several international women’s conferences.[2]

Rusova promoted daycare, continuing education, human rights, and the political organization of the peasants. She escaped from Soviet Ukraine in 1922 and settled in Prague, where she taught at the Ukrainian Higher Pedagogical Institute between 1924 and 1939. She died in Prague at the age of 84 and was buried at the Olsanske Cemetery.[6]

In 2016 a commemorative coin was minted in Ukraine in honor of the 160th anniversary of the birth of Sofia Rusova.[7] A monument was installed on the school grounds in the town of Ripky. The Sofia Rusova School in Oleshnia, where Rusova was born, houses a modest museum [8] and hosts scholarly workshops dedicated to Rusova.