The First Ukrainian in the United States to Become a University Professor and a Doctor of Philosophy

On the list of “Ukrainian anti-soviet figures in America”, compiled by soviet authorities in 1929, Oleksandr Neprytskyi-Hranovskyi is listed as number 24. At that time, he was the first Ukrainian in the United States to earn a Doctor of Philosophy in the biological sciences (1925) and the title of Professor at an American university. People like him – successful, influential, and promising figures – were placed under surveillance by the chekists, who compiled dossiers on them and, based on the information collected, decided what to do with them next.

An excerpt from this list, attached to the case file on O. Neprytskyi-Hranovskyi – which is preserved in the archives of the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine – states the following: “Ukrainian poet. Emigrated to the United States long before the revolution. Not long ago visited Europe. Showed passive sympathy for the Petliura movement, and later – for the Shapoval movement” (FISU. – F. 1. – Case 10758. – P. 3).

The case file itself, entitled “Hlava”, was opened in 1938. It was opened in accordance with an instruction from P. Sudoplatov, whose resolution on this matter appears on one of the documents. Shortly before this, information was received that O. Neprytskyi-Hranovskyi had become the Head of the Organization for the Rebirth of Ukraine (ODVU) in 1935. This Ukrainian civic and political organization was ideologically linked to the OUN; its main focus was on preserving the national identity of Ukrainians in the United States and supporting the national liberation movement in Ukraine.

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