Lesia Khraplyva-Shchur. 1950s (?). Museum of Ukrainian Diaspora
Lesia Khraplyva-Shchur’s poems, fairy tales, and short stories are filled with great love for Ukraine, the customs and traditions of the Ukrainian people. Many generations of Ukrainians abroad were raised on her works. It’s great that the writer’s works can be read in Ukraine today!
Olena Podobied, historian
Lesia Khraplyva-Shchur is a Ukrainian writer, journalist, Plast activist and educator in the diaspora.
Lesia Khraplyva-Shchur was born on May 27, 1927, in Lviv, where she lived until 1944. At 17, she emigrated with her family to Germany, where she studied medicine and biology and actively participated in the Ukrainian scouting organization Plast.
In 1949, the American period of her life began. While living in New York, she continued her work in Plast: she held the position of the Regional Commandant of Plast members, a press officer for the Regional Plast Sergeant Major, organized camps for newcomers and tutors, edited the “Plastova Vatra” (The Plast Bonfire) column in the Svoboda newspaper, the “Iskra Sokilskoi Vatry” (The Spark of the Sokol Bonfire) newsletter, and in 1954-1970 the magazine “Hotuis” (Get Ready).
In 1974, Lesia Khraplyva married Orest Shchur, who she met in Lviv. The couple left New York and moved to Canada, where Lesia continued working actively as a writer and public figure. Khraplyva-Shchur headed the Association of Literature Workers for Children and Youth (ALCWY) and was a member of the board of the Educational Council of the World Congress of Free Ukrainians. In 1992, the writer participated in the World Congress in Ukraine, in Kyiv. On her 90th birthday in 2003, Lesia Khraplyva-Shchur was awarded the St. Volodymyr the Great Medal, the highest honor of the UWC.
Lesia Khraplyva-Shchur has written numerous children’s poems, fairy tales, and short stories. She was a member of the Ukrainian Writers’ Association in exile “Slovo” and the National Writers’ Union of Ukraine. She has published seventeen books for adults and children in Germany, the United States, Canada, and Ukraine.
She actively collaborated with the Ukrainian artist Petro Andrusiv, who designed the children’s collections “Pysanka ukrainskym ditiam” (Pysanka for Ukrainian Children, 1965), “Viter z Ukrainy” (Wind from Ukraine, 1965), and “Charodiyne avto” (Magic Car, 1967). Some of the books are illustrated with “vytynankas”—cutouts created by Khraplyva-Shchur herself. Among the topics the author addresses in her works are national traditions, life in exile, and prominent Ukrainian history and culture figures.
