In Lviv, Maria Fedak – a prominent figure in the Ukrainian women’s and educational-enlightenment movement, who for many years worked to develop Ukrainian public life – has been reinterred. Dozens of people came to the farewell ceremony.
Maria Fedak was an active participant in the Ukrainian women’s movement, oversaw charitable initiatives, supported students and various forms of Ukrainian public life. Together with her husband, lawyer, public figure and patron of the arts Stepan Fedak, she raised eight children.
The couple’s two daughters, Olha and Sofiia, became the wives of prominent Ukrainian leaders Yevhen Konovalets and Andrii Melnyk. Maria Fedak herself held a significant place in the Ukrainian public and educational-enlightenment movement of her time.
Under the threat of Soviet repressions, Maria Fedak was forced to emigrate from Ukraine and later died in Luxembourg. Now, many decades on, her remains have returned to Lviv. From now on, she will rest in sector No. 49 of Lychakiv Cemetery, next to her husband, Stepan Fedak.
The reinterment was made possible as part of President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi’s initiative to bring outstanding Ukrainians buried abroad back to Ukraine and honour them with dignity. In the process of bringing back the remains, a coordinating role was played by the Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, Iryna Vereshchuk.
The organisers regard Maria Fedak’s return to Lviv as an important step in restoring historical memory of Ukrainian figures whose names were deliberately pushed out of the national narrative. Honouring her legacy highlights the contribution of Ukrainian women to the development of the national movement.