Levytsky, Venedykt Rudolf

Levytsky, Venedykt Rudolf [Левицький, Венедикт Рудольф; Levyc'kyj], b 24 May 1783 in Ivanivtsi, Zhydachiv circle, Galicia, d 14 January 1851 in Lviv. Priest, pedagogue, and censor. A graduate of Lviv University (PH D, 1810), he was a priest at Saint George's Cathedral in Lviv, vice-rector (1815–19) and rector (1820–4) of the Greek Catholic Theological Seminary, and professor of moral theology at Lviv University (from 1818). From 1828 to 1847 he was dean of the theology faculty of Lviv University. From 1832 Levytsky also served as a censor of Cyrillic books for the Austrian government in Galicia. In this capacity he fought the modernization of Ukrainian (favoring the etymological spelling based on Church Slavonic) and opposed the publication (and importation, if they were published elsewhere) of works such as Rusalka Dnistrovaia, because they were too close to the vernacular. He also criticized Rusalka Dnistrovaia for its political liberalism, although it had been approved for publication by the Viennese censor. In 1837 he again became rector of the Greek Catholic Theological Seminary in Lviv. He published two textbooks on biblical studies and several articles on religious topics.

[This article originally appeared in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine, vol. 3 (1993).]