Olena Lototska. 1920s–1930s. UNWLA Archives.
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Olena Lototska
Olena Lototska was one of the most active leaders of the Ukrainian women’s movement in the Ukrainian diaspora, a long-time head of the Ukrainian National Women’s League of America (UNWLA) and co-founder of the World Federation of Ukrainian Women’s Organizations (WFUWO).
Olena Lototska (maiden surname Folis) was born on May 23, 1894 in the village of Rozhaliv in the Lviv region, into the family of a Greek Catholic priest. She studied at the Peremysh Institute, where she received a pedagogical education. In 1912, she married Vasyl Dobushovsky and left with him for the United States, where she joined the local Ukrainian community. After the death of her husband, Lototska worked in a bank for some time. In 1923, she married Volodymyr Lototsky, the editor of the newspaper “Svoboda”, which determined her further public path.
In 1925, Olena took part in the congress of the International Women’s Council and became a co-founder of the Ukrainian National Women’s League of America (UNWLA). She held the position of secretary, and later became the President of the organization (1931–1934). During this period, UNWLA participated in the organization of the Ukrainian Pavilion at the World Exhibition “Century of Progress” in Chicago (1933) and organized the The Emergency Relief Committee for Starving Ukrainians with a charity raffle for a sculpture by Oleksandr Archipenko (1934).
In 1943–1965, Lototska again headed the Ukrainian National Women’s League of America, making the organization an influential center of the Ukrainian community in the United States. Olena became a co-founder and editor of the magazine “Our Life”. On her initiative, the Ukrainian National Women’s League of America purchased a house in Philadelphia, where it located its office. Lototska contributed to the publication of an English-language volume of translations of Lesya Ukrainka’s works (1950), which became an important contribution to the popularization of Ukrainian literature in America.
In 1948, Olena Lototska participated in the founding of the World Federation of Ukrainian Women’s Organizations and headed it during 1969–1972. She represented the Ukrainian women’s movement at international congresses in Helsinki, Montreal, and Paris, and took an active part in the work of Ukrainian organizations as part of the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America and the United Ukrainian American Relief Committee.
She died on December 2, 1975 in West Sand Lake (New York, USA).
