{"id":37600,"date":"2026-06-04T09:59:43","date_gmt":"2026-06-04T13:59:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ukrainianjewishencounter.org\/?p=37600"},"modified":"2026-06-04T10:08:55","modified_gmt":"2026-06-04T14:08:55","slug":"milena-rudnytska-a-feminist-and-philosopher-who-stood-up-for-ukrainians-rights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ukrainianjewishencounter.org\/en\/milena-rudnytska-a-feminist-and-philosopher-who-stood-up-for-ukrainians-rights\/","title":{"rendered":"Milena Rudnytska: a feminist and philosopher who stood up for Ukrainians' rights"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Presidium of the Ukrainian Women's Union with Milena Rudnytska in the center. Photo: archives.te.gov.ua.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Veronika Puh<\/em>ach,<\/em> a f<\/em>eminist researcher and<\/em> project coordinator at<\/em> Amnesty International Ukraine, discusses how Milena Rudnytska, <\/em>a renowned<\/em> political and public figure with a <\/em>Jewish background,<\/em> fought <\/em>for national and women's rights.<\/em><\/p>\n

The variety of contexts in which Milena Rudnytska grew up<\/h2>\n

Yelyzaveta Tsarehradska: Today, the guest of our studio is <\/strong>Veronika Puh<\/strong>ach, a <\/strong>feminist researcher, project coordinator at<\/strong> Amnesty International Ukraine, and PhD<\/strong> student at<\/strong> Kyiv-Mohyla Academy's<\/strong> Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies. Reading about Milena Rudnytska, I discovered that her mother, Ida, changed her name to Olga when she converted to Christianity. Let us start with <\/strong>this biographical detail <\/strong>and then discuss Rudnytska's <\/strong>contribution to Ukrainian culture and<\/strong> political affairs and <\/strong>her impact <\/strong>on Ukrainian society at the<\/strong> time.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Veronika Puhach:<\/strong> Her father, Ivan Rudnytsky, was a Greek Catholic with a law degree. So, Milena Rudnytska was born into a noble, well-off family. Her father met Ida Spiegel, who came from an Orthodox Jewish family, in Lviv in 1878. Importantly, Jewish families come in varying degrees of religiosity. Orthodox families are as religious as possible, trying their best to adhere to all the norms, celebrate holidays, and follow all the procedures.<\/p>\n

Some might think that Ida Spiegel came from a fairly wealthy family. However, Milena Rudnytska mentions in her parents' biographies that her mother's parents were indigent but cared about their children's education, trying to give them the best they could.<\/p>\n

Milena says that her parents met when Ida was still a minor while her father was a young adult man. Milena never knew how old her mother really was because Ida would keep her date of birth secret. She always said she was 10 years younger than her husband, Ivan. However, they met when Milena's father was a little over 20, and Ida could not have been 12 then. So, even Milena herself did not have a complete understanding of what her mother was like.<\/p>\n

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Milena Rudnytska. Photo: commons.wikimedia.org.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When her parents met in 1878, they were in love and had a good relationship. They wanted to get married, but Ida Spiegel's family was very much against this marriage, as Ivan Rudnytsky was a Christian. According to Milena, Ivan's mother was also against it because she believed that a mixed marriage of this kind would be a scandal and disaster for Ivan, who had a fairly high social status. They got married only 10 years later, in 1888, after Ida Spiegel converted to Christianity. Ivan's mother, who was radically opposed to their marriage, had already died by that time.<\/p>\n

Milena's name has an interesting history. She says it is the only thing her father gained from military service. He served in the Austro-Hungarian army, and they traveled to various locations, including Serbia. He heard the name Milena there and liked it a lot.<\/p>\n

Milena Rudnytska had a Ukrainian part of her heritage from Ivan Rudnytsky. She learned about her Jewish background through her mother, Ida, and through interaction with her family, including Ida's sister. After the Second World War, Galicia became part of Poland, and the Polish context strongly influenced Milena's life. She reports that the language spoken in the family was Polish.<\/p>\n

Milena was formed in a highly diverse context of different languages, experiences, and cultures, which seems to have a great impact, prompting her to adopt very progressive views.<\/em><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Unlike many activists and politicians of that time, Rudnytska had progressive views that would fit into the 21st century because she spoke consistently against authoritarianism and radicalization. She championed democratic foundations, greatly respected international law, and was deeply concerned about the issues of ethnic minorities. In many ways, this seemed to be due to the context, including the familial one, in which she grew up.<\/p>\n

Familial influence on Rudnytska's feminist views<\/h2>\n

Yelyzaveta Tsarehradska: What do we know about this context? How did the quite conventional distribution of roles in her family lead to her adopting such feminist views?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Veronika Puhach:<\/strong> In the biographies of her parents, Rudnytska recalls her upbringing and her parents' interactions. Her parents' roles appeared quite traditional: Ida was preoccupied primarily with raising the children, while Ivan provided for the family and built his career. However, Milena saw it differently. When recalling her childhood, she says her parents' marriage was very happy, and her father always consulted with his wife on important issues, taking her input into account.<\/p>\n

According to Rudnytska, her mother had a very strong character. It was not easy for her to integrate into the Ukrainian, predominantly Christian context, but no one could disrespect her in any way. Ida always carried a dignified posture and knew how to gradually build a positive reputation, even starting from the difficult position of a person who came from a Jewish family, converted to Christianity, and entered the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic context.<\/p>\n

Therefore, Milena believed that even in family life and in the way she raised her children, her mother showed an active feminine position, and her family did not have a traditional patriarchal division of roles.<\/em><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The good context and formation were due to Milena's parents' happy marriage. They both loved each other very much, so it was a fairly equal marriage on the inside. At least, that's how the children, including Milena, saw it.<\/p>\n

Yelyzaveta Tsarehradska: What do we know about the other children in their family in addition to the fact that they all received a good education that served as a strong foundation for them?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Veronika Puhach:<\/strong> As far as I remember, there were five children in the Rudnytsky family, and many of them eventually became respectable figures in their fields and were active in the Ukrainian political and cultural context. Remarkably, Milena speaks mostly about her father when discussing her family while making almost no mention of other members, including her brothers. So, honestly, I find it hard to comment on this competently, even though all members of her family were indeed strong personalities, and the parents tried to give the children a good education and a good start in society and politics.<\/p>\n

Who was Milena Rudnytska?<\/h2>\n

Yelyzaveta Tsarehradska: What would be the best way to describe who Milena Rudnytska was to a person hearing about her for the first time? Was she, first and foremost, a very progressive person promoting feminist views, a writer, politician, scholar, or a Ukrainian patriot?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Veronika Puhach:<\/strong> I think Milena Rudnytska is an example of a very strong woman who inspires me personally, above all, with her political and public activities. What makes Milena Rudnytska special is that she did an outstanding job combining the struggle for the rights of the Ukrainian people, including for Ukraine's autonomy and later independence, with the fight for women's rights. These issues were not at odds with each other for her. Rudnytska even wrote the article \"Nationalism and Feminism\" in the 1930s to explain that these issues overlapped harmoniously.<\/p>\n

For me, Milena Rudnytska is, first and foremost, a Ukrainian patriot and feminist who had an exciting and powerful impact on the women's movement and in championing the rights of the Ukrainian people during a very difficult time, primarily the interwar period.<\/em><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n