LIFE AND ACTIVITIES OF UKRAINIANS IN BRAZIL IN THE EARLY 20th CENTURY (BASED ON MATERIALS FROM THE NEWSPAPER “RADA”)

DOI 10.17721/2521-1706.2025.20.10

Oleh Kupchyk,

Ph. D. (History), Associate Professor, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Kyiv, Ukraine

ORСID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9908-3752

Abstract. The outbreak of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, triggered another wave of mass migration of Ukrainians abroad. Most of the migrants found refuge in European countries, fewer in North America,and only a small number in South America, especially in Brazil, where they faced challenges of adaptation, everyday settlement, employment, and the acquisition of Spanish or Portuguese. Similar problems confronted Ukrainian migrants in Brazil at the beginning of the 20th century, during the period of mass immigration.

Therefore, the article aims to highlight the challenges of everyday life as well as the principal forms and methods of activity of Ukrainians in Brazil at the beginning of the 20th century, as reflected in materials from the newspaper “Rada”.

The scientific novelty of the study lies in introducing into scholarly circulation press materials covering the life and activities of Ukrainians in Brazil during 1907–1914.

The methodological framework of the research is based on approaches of historical source studies. By applying scientific and historical research methods, the author identified and selected from the newspaper “Rada” sources related to Ukrainians in Brazil in the early 20th century and analyzed them using the method of historical analysis.

Conclusions. Through the prism of materials from the newspaper “Rada”, the article reveals the life and activities of Ukrainians in Brazil during 1907–1914. These materials were published in the column “Ukrainians in America” and were mostly reprints from Brazilian Ukrainian newspapers and journals, including “Prapor” and “Zoria” (Curitiba) and “Pratsia” (Prudentópolis). Some publications were prepared by correspondents of the newspaper “Rada” and focused on the lives of Ukrainian immigrants from Galicia and the Dnipro region.

Overall, the articles published in “Rada” described the everyday life of Ukrainians in Brazil, as well as their cultural, educational, and religious activities. Particular attention was paid to harsh working conditions, the dry tropical climate, water shortages, and fraud by immigration agents.  The materials also reported on the establishment of the national organization the “Shevchenko Society”, cultural initiatives, the activities of “Prosvita”, the founding of Ukrainian schools, and the problem of the ‘Brazilianization’ of Ukrainian children. The emergence of ‘Brazilian Ukraine’, formed primarily by Ukrainians in the state of Paraná, was also noted.

Key words: Brazil, newspaper “Rada”, immigration, Parana, plantation, Ukrainian diaspora.

Надійшла до редколегії: 11.09.2025

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References:

  1. Vladyka, O. (2020). “In Childhood, We Spoke Only Ukrainian”, – Vitorio Sorotyuk about Ukrainians in Brazil. Local History, https://surl.li/jwqija. [In Ukrainian].
  2. Slushchenko, O. (2020). Nache Ihude Everywhere. Ukrainian Diaspora in Brazil. Local History, https://surl.lu/wwbchz. [In Ukrainian].
  3. Тsipko, S. (2022). Three Waves of Ukrainians Immigration to Brazil, 1890s–1940s: A Historical Overview on the 130th Anniversary of Ukrainian Settlement. Ukraina Moderna, 32–33, 40–66. https://surl.li/vbwtkr. [In Ukrainian].