Hrytsak Yaroslav

Born January 1, 1960, in the village of Dovhe, Lviv Oblast (then Ukrainian SSR). He's one of Ukraine's most prominent historians. He earned his PhD at the University of Lviv in 1987 and completed his habilitation in 1996. Academic career: He's been director of the Institute for Historical Studies at Ivan Franko National University of Lviv since 1992, and is also a professor at Ukrainian Catholic University. He spent time as a guest professor at Central European University in Budapest (1996–2009) and holds an honorary professorship at the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy. He's also chief editor of the journal Ukraina Moderna and sits on the editorial boards of Ab Imperio, Kritika, and Slavic Review, plus the supervisory board of Harvard Ukrainian Studies. Other roles: Co-chair of the German-Ukrainian Historical Commission, was First Vice-President of the International Association of Ukrainians (1999–2005), and has served on the competition commission for Ukraine's National Anti-Corruption Bureau since 2015. Books: His major works include The Spirit that Moves to Battle: A Political Portrait of Ivan Franko (1990), Essays in Ukrainian History: Making of Modern Ukrainian Nation (1996), and Ukraine: The Forging of a Nation (2022), his most internationally known book, tracing Ukrainian history and identity through a global lens. Recognition: He's won the "Przegląd Wschodni" award for best foreign book on Eastern Europe (1998), the Antonovych Prize, "Best Book in Ukraine" from Korrespondent magazine, and the Jerzy Giedroyc Award (2014). His focus is Ukrainian history, nation-building, intellectual history, and contemporary geopolitics, he's become a go-to public commentator explaining Ukraine's history and the war to international audiences.