Variah publishing house

Variah publishing house [Варяг; Varangian]. A publishing house in Warsaw, established in 1933 by a group of Ukrainian émigré writers formerly known as Tank, who changed their name to My and were also known as the Warsaw Group. The publisher and chief editor of Variah was Modest Kunytsky. Variah published the literary journal My and a number of books by the contributors to this journal and other talented authors. It released poetry collections Vohon' i popil (Fire and Ashes, 1934) and Sim liter (Seven Letters, 1937) by Nataliia Livytska-Kholodna, Rizbliu viddal' (I Sculpt the Distance, 1935) by Ya. Dryhynych (pseudonym of Volodymyr Kirshak, also know as Vadym Lesych), and Buruny (The Breakers, 1936) by Sviatoslav Hordynsky, as well as Hordynsky’s translation of Slovo o polku Ihorevi (The Tale of Ihor’s Campaign, 1936). Variah’s series Library of a Ukrainian Statesman (sometimes not indicated on printed books) published politological works Skoropadshchyna (on Pavlo Skoropadsky, 1934) and Dontsovshchyna (on Dmytro Dontsov, 1938) by Andrii Kryzhanivsky (both appeared under pseudonym S. Dolenga), Vilnyi narid (Free Nation, 1937) by Borys Olkhivsky, and Zavdannia ukraïn'skoï viiskovoï dyktatury (The Tasks of Ukrainian Military Dictatorship, 1937) by Symon Petliura. The publishing house closed down in late 1939, following Germany’s invasion of Poland and the outbreak of the Second World War.

The logo of the Variah publishing house, designed by Petro P. Kholodny, depicted a Viking with a raised sword. This symbol was derived from the poetry of one of the members of the Warsaw Group, Yevhen Malanіuk, who contrasted the strength and discipline of the Vikings (Varangians), who played an important role in the history of Kyivan Rus’, with the Hellenistic component of Ukrainian psyche, which Malaniuk interpreted as associated with anarchy and weakness.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Livytska-Kholodna, Nataliia. ‘Vydavnytstvo “Variah,”’ Suchasnist’ no 11 (1980)
Strumins'kyi, Bohdan; Skorups'ka, Marta (comp.). Materiialy do istoriï literatury i hromads'koï dumky: Lystuvannia z amerykans'kykh arkhiviv 1857–1933, vol 3 (New York 1992)

Roksana Kharchuk

[This article was updated in 2026.]