Olesia Hudymiak

Olesia Hudymiak
Olesia Hudymiak in 2026
Born (1958-05-10) 10 May 1958
Vorkuta, Komi ASSR, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Citizenship Soviet Union
 Ukraine
Alma materSyktyvkar State University (1975–1982)
Years active1986–now
Known fordaughter of political prisoners, history teacher
ChildrenNadiia (died 1990), Yuliia (born 1989)[1]

Olesia Ivanivna Hudymiak (née Proshak) (Ukrainian: Олеся Іванівна Гудимяк (з роду Прошак); born 10 May 1958) is a history teacher[2] and daughter of political prisoners and UPA soldiers Ivan Proshak and Mariia Kushnirchuk.[3][4]

Biography

Olesia Hudymiak was born on 10 May 1958 in Vorkuta in a Ukrainian nationalist family, where her parents were the UPA militaries and Vorkutlag camp victims.[3] She studied at the local school No. 16 till 1975, because KGB had prohibited her family from living in Ukraine.

Then Olesia tried to go to Ivanovo State University, but, after passing entrance exams, she was refused because of her family's biography. So, in 1975, she began to study history at Syktyvkar State University, which from gratulated in 1982.[3] She had already had an older daughter Nadiia.

In the 1980s, she returned to Ukraine and started living in Kolomyia with her family. Olesia initially worked as a librarian at a local library No. 3, but later she was fired because of her repressed parents.[5] In 1986–1989, Hudymiak worked as a labor teacher and a language laboratory assistant at school No. 1 named after Vasyl Stefanyk till her birth of younger daughter Yuliia.[3] Because of Chernobyl disaster, her older daughter died from blood cancer on 19 August 1990.[6]

In 1993–2022, Olesia Hudymiak was an history teacher of school No. 1.[2][7] She has a rank of a "specialist of higher category".[8] In May 2010, she organized the meeting with famous participant of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army Myroslav Symchych at the school. It was initiated by a political party "For Ukraine" as a protest against a pro-Russian policy of the minister of education and science of Ukraine Dmytro Tabachnyk.[9] In 2017, she prepared her pupil Ivan Feniak to the 3rd place of the 4th stage of the All-Ukrainian pupils' history olympiad.[10][3][11]

In 2019, together with her pupils, Olesia initiated a trip to a three-day seminar in Ivano-Frankivsk, dedicated to the memory of Anne Frank, a Jewish girl who kept a diary during the war and described the horrors. And then there was a field trip, which was conducted by the children participating in the seminar.[3]

Lots of pupils are characterising Olesia as an interesting, principled, honest and professional history teacher.[12]

Since 2022, Olesia Hudymiak is a history teacher of school in Lisna Slobidka. Olesia is also a member of the Society of Political Prisoners and Repressed People.[13] On August 24, 2023, she was awarded the diploma of a mayor of Kolomyia as a member of the society for contribution to the struggle for Ukrainian independence.[1][3][14]

References

  1. ^ a b Криворучко І. «Про Івана Прошака, репресованого воїна УПА». Вільний голос. 3 жовтня 2024. - С. 6-7.
  2. ^ a b Слово прощання. - Коломийський вісник. - 20.01.1999. - No. 7 (1002). - с. 8
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Криворучко І. «Про Олесю Гудимяк, вчительку історії та доньку Прошаків». Вільний голос. 13 листопада 2025. - С. 6.
  4. ^ Криворучко І. «Марія Кушнірчук, волонтерка і зв'язкова УПА». Вільний голос. 16 жовтня 2025. - С. 6.
  5. ^ Прошак І. Не вірте дезинформаторам. - Вісник Коломиї. - 19.12.1991. - No. 124. - с. 2
  6. ^ По кому дзвін. - Вісник Коломиї. - 11.09.1990. - No. 34. - с. 2
  7. ^ "Викинули за борт: за відому вчительку історії з ліцею №1 заступилися діти й батьківський комітет". kl.informator. Retrieved 2026-02-03.
  8. ^ "Список вчителів, що атестуються поточного н/р". kolosvita.ucoz.ua. Retrieved 2026-02-03.
  9. ^ "У школах розповідають правду про війну". YouTube. Retrieved 2026-02-03.
  10. ^ "Обдарованість року - 2017". kolosvita.ucoz.ua. Retrieved 2026-02-03.
  11. ^ "Коломийські школярі стали переможцями ІV етапу Всеукраїнських учнівських олімпіад". dzerkalo.media. Retrieved 2026-03-22.
  12. ^ "За пів доби Інформатору надійшло десятки листів на підтримку звільненої вчительки з ліцею №1". kl.informator. Retrieved 2026-02-03.
  13. ^ Допоки живе пам'ять. "Вільний голос" - Коломия: Цифрова друкарня "Файно. Друк". - 2023. - 116 с.
  14. ^ "Кого нагородили в Коломиї до Дня Незалежності". kl.informator. Retrieved 2026-02-04.
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