Despite the fact that education is considered to be predominantly a «women’s sphere», there is a part of the scientific and educational space where women are not mentioned enough. The reason for this was the long-standing stereotypical attitude to the role of women in society. In order to recreate historical justice, it is necessary to talk about the achievements of women in those areas of life that for some reason were mistakenly considered the territory of the achievements of only men. For example, in Turkology – a set of humanities that study languages, ethnography, history, literature, folklore of peoples who speak Turkic languages. Many graduates of the Zhytomyr Pedagogical Institute will remember Ita Fedorivska, who taught there for almost 30 years. However, do university graduates know that Ita Fedorivska’s works have become classics of Turkology? Svitlana Kolyadenko, Head of the Department of Social Technologies, Candidate of Pedagogical Sciences, Associate Professor, tells about a woman-scientist, our compatriot, within the framework of the contest «Portraits of Women’s Leadership»

I personally met Ita Ovsiyivna in 1996, when I was preparing to enter the philological faculty of the Zhytomyr Pedagogical Institute. It is worth explaining that in those days to enter the philological faculty was quite difficult and very prestigious. Since the gold and silver medals «did not threaten» me, I had to carefully prepare for the entrance exams: the oral exam in Russian language and literature, writing a work and an exam in the history of the USSR. So, preparing for admission, I met Ita Ovsiyivna, who skillfully prepared me for exams in philological disciplines – I got «excellent».

Remembering Ita Ovsiyivna, I realize how much she has done for people. And not only for Zhytomyr men and women. Ita Ovsiyivna was born in the city of Volodarsk-Volynsky (now Khoroshiv), but lived almost all her conscious life in Zhytomyr. She received her higher education by correspondence from Leningrad State University named after Herzen, which she successfully graduated in 1962. Ita Ovsiyivna’s pedagogical activity began at the Veresivka school, where she worked as a teacher of Russian language and literature. But for almost 30 years of her life from 1965 to 1992 she gave to the Ivan Franko State Pedagogical Institute. The demanding and fair teacher was known and loved at the institute. Among the years devoted to teaching, Ita Fedorivska worked with students from Uzbekistan for five years. For the successful preparation of students from the Union Republic, she received a high award – awarded the Diploma of the Verkhovna Rada of the Uzbek SSR.

When we met Ita Ovsiyivna, she was already a well-known Turkologist: in 1972, under the guidance of Professor Mykola Nikonchuk, she began working on a dissertation study «Turkic vocabulary in the dialects of right-bank Polissya», conducted field research from 1973 to 1975. 100 settlements of Ukraine and Belarus, and the collected material was systematized in a card index numbering 560,000 cards. In 1974, while training in Dnipropetrovsk, Ita Ovsiyivna made nine expeditions to study the spread of Turkism in the southern Ukrainian regions. After speaking at the All-Union Conference in Voronezh with a report «On the Atlas of Turkism in the dialects of right-bank Polissya», the name of Ita Ovsiyivna Fedorivska became known in the scientific circles of Turkologists of the former USSR and the world.

In November 1987, at a meeting of the specialized council of the Kyiv State Pedagogical Institute named after M. Gorky, Ita Fedorivska successfully defended her dissertation for the degree of Candidate of Philological Sciences, and on February 28, 1991 she received the title of associate professor. Ita Ovsiyivna’s scientific works became part of the scientific classics of Turkology.

However, her high achievements did not leave an imprint of arrogance or contempt on her – she was an intelligent and bright person. Our meetings with her were never purely academic classes in language theory. It was a school of life from a woman who knew a lot, read, was able, experienced. In unhurried conversations, we cooked pilaf in Uzbek, strudel (unspeakable delicacy, by the way), drank koumiss, ate matzo and talked a lot. These were unforgettable evenings, days, weeks, months, years…
When I entered the Pedagogical Institute, we communicated less and intermittently, because Ita Ovsiyivna was working with students from Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan at the time, although sometimes we still met at her house and talked about everything. When I was in my third year, I needed her help again: we worked extra to strengthen my knowledge of the Old Slavonic language. Everyone who has studied knows that it was a very complex discipline that required an understanding of the processes that take place in the development and formation of languages, the ability to make logical connections and simply assimilate a lot of information in the form of language paradigms. And again, this amazing woman helped me learn hard discipline. I still keep its «leaves» – an explanation. Ita Ovsiyivna is a unique example of a scientist and teacher who was able to explain difficult things simply.

At that time, in addition to teaching, Ita Fedorivska was actively involved in public activities – solving current issues related to the life of the Jewish diaspora. She put a lot of effort into organizing the education of young people in schools that were established in Ukraine with the assistance of the Jewish missions in Israel and America. At her initiative, an elective course in Judaism was opened at the Zhytomyr Pedagogical Institute, and a Jewish public library was established in Zhytomyr. After retiring in December 1992, Ita Ovsiyivna stopped working at the Russian language department, and in the spring of 1993 she moved to the United States. Before leaving, she handed over to Professor Mykola Nikonchuk her most precious possession – a file of Turkisms and a library of Turkology. She also gave me presents before I left: I received the book «Children’s Encyclopedia» and Russian dictionaries.

While in Florida, she maintained ties with the university: in 2002 she participated in the International Conference «Problems of text analysis», and in 2006 in the book «Monuments and memorials of history and culture of Zhytomyr and Zhytomyr region» was published six articles prepared by her. Together with the Department of Philology Ita Fedorivska, several projects were implemented: in 2007 the project «Jewish Parable of the Essence of Happiness (an example of home education)», in 2009 – the project «Russian-language press of America». We corresponded for a long time, but then the connection was broken. On that occasion, she sent me congratulations, and when in the difficult nineties I defended my dissertation, Ita Ovsiyivna handed over astronomical funds at that time – $ 100. But for me it was an invaluable support, because, in addition to money, the wise woman also handed over a note with the phrase that she once said after defending her dissertation: «Svetochka, everything must be done in time!»
Ita Ovsiyivna raised a daughter, Maya, who graduated from the Faculty of Philology at ZhDPI and now lives and works in Florida.

In 2020, Ita Ovsiivna Fedorivska, at the age of 86, left us for other worlds, leaving behind an almost thirty-year epoch in the history of the department, the Pedagogical Institute, Zhytomyr and the entire Polissya region. Over time, we realize: happiness to meet on his way to life such women leaders, which was Ita Ovsiyivna Fyodorovskaya – a wonderful teacher, a talented scientist and a wonderful person.
From the editors. Thanks for the help in preparing the photo material for Olena Kuklych. The material was prepared in the framework of the project «Women’s Portraits of Leadership», which was supported by the Department of Family, Youth and Sports of the Zhytomyr City Council.