The Free Academy: Lenka Víchová

Ukraine used to be dubbed the unwanted child of Europe. Until the Russian invasion in 2022, it was absent from the “mental map of Europe”. However, it was not a nation that had not existed until then which stood up to the second-largest army in the world, but rather one that had been forming in this territory for more than a millennium. Regardless of whether it was wanted or not. In this lecture, we will focus on the genesis of the Ukrainian political nation. 

Lenka Víchová, who graduated with a degree in Ukrainian and Polish Studies from the Faculty of Arts at Charles University, specialises in the contemporary history of Ukraine. She founded the Ukrainian Journal in 2005 and remains active in the project. She is also the programme director of the Ukrainian Film Week, which supports the country’s cultural diplomacy efforts.