TARAS FRANKO'S LITTLE-KNOWN REMINISCENCE OF HIS FATHER

Abstract

The article republishes and offers an analysis of Taras Franko's little-known reminiscence of his father. The substantial heuristic potential of the memoir has been ascertained. It has been emphasized that the son's testimony about Ivan Franko's personal and creative life stands out as sparkling and vivid. Specifically, attention has been drawn to the information on the Frankos' changing accommodation in Lviv; on the family visits to the Regional exhibition which was held from June to October 1894 in Stryiskyi Park; on Ivan Franko's contribution to arranging the books in the ethnography section of the exhibition and further reports on the activities of this section in a number of publications in the Kurjer Lwowski; on the father's adoration of fishing and implementation of various methods of fish "hunting", in particular so- called "poisoning" approach involving the use of mysterious "black nuts", i.e. toxic plant substances meant for "benumbing the fish genus"; on the background story of one saying which, once caught in the net of Franko's memory, eventually enriched the collection of folk wisdom in the collection of thirty-thousand entries of "Halychyna- Rus' folk proverbs and sayings"; on remarkable spiritual and intellectual settings of the genius's creative workshop, in which, craving for a perfect piece, he would systematically proceed from scrupulous "disposition" to a refined literary canvas; and numerous other facts allowing the perception of Ivan Franko as a "holistic man".