This page lists published obituaries, with a link and a brief initial excerpt. Notices from societies to their members are recorded in the guest book.
The New York Times
“Ihor Sevcenko, a leading scholar of Byzantine and Slavic history and literature who as a young man persuaded George Orwell to collaborate with him on a Ukrainian translation of ‘Animal Farm’ for distribution to refugees, died at his home in Cambridge, Mass., on Dec. 26. He was 87....”
The Scotsman
The Boston Globe
“Trilingual by dint of birth, Ihor Sevcenko grew up in a Ukrainian family that lived in Poland at a time when Russian was often the language of necessity. To his native Ukrainian, Polish, and Russian, he added fluency in many other Slavic and Western languages in their ancient, medieval, and modern forms while establishing himself as an international scholar of Byzantine literature and history.
“‘He was one of the most eminent Byzantinists of the past 50 years anywhere in the world,’ said John Duffy, who chairs the classics department at Harvard University....”
The London Times
“Ihor Sevcenko was a man of many attainments and remarkably wide learning: a Byzantinist, a Slavist, a Classical scholar, a paleographer, an epigraphist and a gifted linguist in addition to being a keen angler. Perhaps he could best be described as a cultural historian....”
Український Католицький Університет
“26 грудня 2009 року о 17:30 за місцевим часом після важкої хвороби упокоївся в Господі заслужений професор класичної філології Гарвардського університету, вчений-візантиніст світової слави Ігор Іванович Шевченко.
“Ігор Шевченко народився 1922 р. в містечку Радосць (тепер дільниця Варшави) в родині офіцера і члена уряду УНР в еміграції....”
Українська правда
Introduces and reprints the obituary above, from the Ukrainian Catholic University:
“26 грудня 2009 року відійшов у вічність один з найвидатніших вчених ХХ століття українського роду Ігор Іванович Шевченко (10.02.1922 – 26.12.2009).
“Людина, що в світовій науковій спільноті стояла поруч з такими велетнями українства, як Володимир Вернадський, Юрій Шевельов, Омелян Пріцак....”
Panakhyda and “mini-conference”
The memorial event just finished. It went very well.
We are in the middle of another cold snowy spell in a winter that started with
an epidemic, which apparently is returning in a second wave. Today many in this
part of Ukraine are stunned by the presidential election. Despite the fact that
the roads and sidewalks are unplowed and treacherous (keeping away older
people) and it was already dark when we were beginning there was a good
turnout.
About 120–130 people participated. There were faculty and students from UCU and
young and established scholars from various institutions in Lviv. There were
also a number of civic leaders including Myroslav Senyk, the head of the Lviv
Oblast Council (the local parliament), Pavlo Khobzey, the local oblast minister
of education, and Borys Voznytsky, a legendary museum director.
We began with a panachyda at 16:30 concelebrated by three of us priests from
the university staff. The panachyda was beautifully sung by our university
singers supplemented by Rev. Prof. Peter Galadza from the Sheptytsky
Institute of the University of Ottawa. After a brief break we held what in
effect was a mini-conference from 17:00 to 20:00.
Frank Sysyn gave a very good talk, the point of departure of which was the
25-year process of drafting and publishing what eventually became Ukraine
Between East and West. The text of the book had its genesis in a course that
Prof. Ševčenko taught jointly with Omeljan Pritsak. Frank contextualized
the book with biographical information from the pre-war period and complemented
the discussion with a incisive description of Prof. Ševčenko's role in the
creation and development of HURI and the various Institute publications.
An associate of Yaroslav Isaievych, Dr. Mykola Lytvyn, read
Prof. Isaievych's text which was informative and warm, focussing on the
International Congress of Historians in Moscow in 1970 and
Prof. Ševčenko's stunning talk there.
At this point I read Michael Flier's text. In general HURI was often mentioned
throughout the evening.
Unfortunately, Yaroslav Dashkevych called in sick this morning and was very
sorry that he could not make it. His text will be published, but he did not yet
know where.
Maria Zubrytska, a literary scholar and pro-rector of Lviv National University, spoke about her encounters with Prof. Ševčenko, his talks at LNU, and the
assistance that he rendered to the revival of the humanities in Ukraine and the
example that he set for young scholars.
Yaroslav Hrytsak gave a sophisticated talk hypothesizing
what characterized the great scholars born in pre-war Central Europe, and how
Prof. Ševčenko's scholarship and stance regarding things Ukrainian stood
out in quality and nature.
The next speaker was Ulana Holavach, who just buried her father last Thursday
with the participation of our community, and who has single-handedly done more
for the revival of Classical scholarship in independent Ukraine than probably
any single individual. She offered insights regarding Prof. Ševčenko's
role in the development of UCU's Classics program. In a very noble manner she
related a number of reminiscences including a light-hearted one concerning a
lunch at the Harvard Faculty Club.
Andriy Yasinovsky, who edited the translation of Ukraine Between East and West,
spoke about Prof. Ševčenko's contribution to the growth of the UCU library
Classics collection, his general advocacy of our cause, and his numerous
recommendations that opened doors for various young scholars. He closed with a
slide show reflecting Prof. Ševčenko's four visits to UCU and a
video-audio clip of comments Prof. Ševčenko made regarding the importance
and growth of our library.
I served as MC, introducing the speakers and connecting the talks with personal
reminiscences from seminars, casual encounters, and the conversations of the
last months.
The formal program concluded with a Christmas carol (our Christmas season is
just finishing!) that I sang to/with Prof. Ševčenko in our last encounter
on December 23.
The evening ended with a simple reception that had a Greek/Mediterranean
quality: wine, Greek bread, cheese, and olives.
The evening was characterized by intellectual vitality, gratitude,
lightness, and respect.
Now that we only be faithful to the standards that have been bequeathed to us.
The Harvard Gazette
“Ihor Ševčenko, the eminent Byzantinist and Dumbarton Oaks Professor of Byzantine History and Literature, Emeritus, at Harvard, died peacefully at his Cambridge home on Dec. 26 after eight months of failing health, just short of his 88th birthday.
“At Harvard he was a member of the Department of the Classics from 1973 to 1992....”
The Harvard Crimson
“Ihor Ševčenko once said that some historians, in their compulsion to ponder the same questions repeatedly, were like mindless dogs who urinated on the same tree in a forest—leaving other trees unexplored for no specific reason. But according to one colleague, this metaphor — called Ševčenko's law — did not apply to Ševčenko himself, who never sought to follow just one trail, both as a historian and a man....”
Літературна Україна
from the newspaper Literaturna Ukraina [Literary Ukraine], 21 Jan 2010, p. 2
“26 грудня 2009 року, напередодні 88-ліття від дня народження, перестало битися серце видатного візантолога, всесвітньо відомого вченого, іноземного члена НАН України Ігоря Шевченка.
“Народився Ігор Шевченко у м. Радосьць, що поблизу Варшави, у сім’ї, яка опинилася на чужині разом із урядом Симона Петлюри. Ігор Шевченко здобував освіту в кращих університетах Чехії та Бельгії. У кращих університетах Старого та Нового Світів він викладав, ділячися глибокими знаннями з візантології, розкриваючи сторінки візантійсько-слов'янських взаємин, висвітлюючи важливі етапи української історії.
“Його літературний хист із блиском виявився в українському перекладі важливого як для світової, так і для української літератур твору Дж. Оруела „Колгосп тварин" (1946), в редагуванні листів М. Драй-Хмари, перекладених французькою мовою (1948). Він залишив, окрім блискучих власне візантологічних праць, низку досліджень про князя Святослава, про Ізборник 1073 року, про Кирила й Мефодія, про Петра Могилу. Патріотизм Ігоря Шевченка, його любов до України виявилися під час обговорення і втілення в життя ідеї створення Міжнародної асоціації україністів (1989), у його готовності допомагати молодим науковцям з України.
“Ігор Шевченко володів знаннями про українську й візантійську цивілізації, які впродовж багатьох століть перепліталися й переливалися одна в одну. Це звернення до витоків української православної віри, це прізвище, яке носив Великий Кобзар, накладали на Ігоря Шевченка особливу відповідальність, особливу місію. І він стоїчно й несхитно йшов із цією ношею ціле життя, показуючи приклад старшим і молодшим колегам. З нагоди 60-річчя Ігоря Шевченка в Гарвардському університеті вийшов збірник на його пошану. Називався він «Okeanos». Сьогодні ми прощаємося з ученим, чиї знання відзначалися океанічною глибиною, широтою та величчю. Немає Ігоря Шевченка, але є витворений ним Океан, невичерпний і незнищенний.
“Микола ЖУЛИНСЬКИЙ, Дмитро НАЛИВАЙКО, Дмитро ПАВЛИЧКО, Іван ДРАЧ, Віталій ДОНЧИК, Григорій СИВОКІНЬ, Микола СУЛИМА, Тамара ГУНДОРОВА, Оксана ПАХЛЬОВСЬКА, Богдан ЯНКОВИЙ”
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