Taras Wozniak

Taras Wozniak

Taras Stepanowytsch Wozniak ( Ukrainian Тарас Степанович Возняк ) (born May 11, 1957 in the village of Svarychiw Oblast Ivano-Frankivsk , Ukrainian SSR ) is a Ukrainian cultural scientist, political scientist, founder and editor of the independent quarterly journal "Ji" .

Taras Wozniak was born after his father returned from the Magadan forced labor camp , where he spent from 1945 to 1956. His family moved to the town of Brochniv-Ossada in Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast . From 1974 to 1979 he studied at the Technical University in Lviv , from 1980 to 1984 he served as an officer in the Soviet Army. During this time he dealt with the translations of philosophical writings by Edmund Husserl , Roman Ingarden , Gabriel Marcel , Martin Heidegger , Hans-Georg Gadamer and Max Scheler . After demobilization in 1984, he worked as a programmer in the Lviv milling machine factory. Thanks to the political thaw of the " glasnost " initiated by Mikhail Gorbachev , Wozniak became a democracy activist and took part in organizing the first strike in Ukraine in the Lviv milling machine factory. Wozniak made contact with the group of intellectuals that worked in Lviv in the 1980s. He organized the publication of illegal cultural studies publications. He also published the works of Bruno Schulz .

In 1987 Wozniak and Mykola Jakowina started preparing the publication of an independent cultural studies journal. The name “Ji” was suggested by the Ukrainian translator Grigori Kotschur and the linguist Yuri Shevelev. The first issue appeared in 1989 under the direction of Taras Wozniak, who is still in charge of the magazine today. The first five issues were reproduced in Vilnius thanks to the support of the Sąjūdis party. The magazine was not legalized until 1995. “Ji” is currently appearing in print and web versions. It is dedicated to human rights, multiculturalism, globalization, etc. Most of them are themed anthologies, which are often dedicated to individual cities or regions in western Ukraine. The subject is also artists and writers who played an important role in Galicia , for example the writer Bruno Schulz , the sculptor Johann Georg Pinzel and the painter Zygmunt Haupt . "Ji" was intensively financed by the Heinrich Böll Foundation , particularly in the first few years of its existence . The Internet version appears in Ukrainian, English, German and French. In addition to the magazine, Wozniak has published a number of books, including several on Galician Judaism. Wozniak has been General Director of the Lviv National Gallery since 2016.

Web links

Commons : Taras Wozniak  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• "Ji" - Magazine (German)
• Polish-Ukrainian Cooperation Foundation (English)