Ukrainian Free University

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For other uses, see UFU (disambiguation)

Ukrainian Free University logo

The Ukrainian Free University (Ukrainian: Український Вільний Університет, German: Ukrainische Freie Universität, Latin: Universitas Libera Ukrainensis) is a private higher education institution in Munich, Germany.

[edit] History

The Ukrainian Free University (UFU) was founded in Vienna, January 17, 1921. In the Fall of the same year, the University was transferred to Prague, then capital of the Czechoslovak Republic. The government of Czechoslovakia, headed by President Tomáš Masaryk, provided a legal basis and financial support to the University.

The initiative to organize a Ukrainian university outside Ukraine came from Ukrainian professors, who previously held chairs at universities in the Austrian and Russian empires. Writers, journalists and students, who found themselves in exile following the World War I and the collapse of the Ukrainian National Republic. It was actively supported by the government of the West Ukrainian People's Republic headed by President Evhen Petrushevych.