Філософія витривалості митця-дипломата Ежена Деслава (Євгена Слабченка)
The Philosophy of Endurance of the Artist-Diplomat Eugène Deslav (Yevhen Slabchenko)

Summary/Abstract: The article is based on the personal documents of a representative of the French film avant-garde of the 1920s-1930s, a Ukrainian public figure in exile Yevhen Slabchenko (Eugène Deslav, 1899–1966). It shows the formation of the foundations of the endurance philosophy of a person who left his homeland due to insurmount-able circumstances, with no possibility of return. The dispersion of the archival documents covering the artist’s life and activities, as well as the lack of access to Deslav’s personal archive – owned privately – remains an unresolved problem in studying the life and creative path of the artist. This publication analyses the key points of Deslav’s endurance philosophy of an émigré and highlights the reflection on this problem in the documents of personal origin. The article traces Deslav’s fate from his birth in Tahancha in Kyiv region, participation in the formation of scout organisations in Bila Tserkva, to his recognition in the world of cinema, the foundation of the World Collection of Ucrainica and the Ukrainian Diplomatic Archive, and authoring the “Diplomatic History of Ukraine”. Deslav was the first among the owners of documentary collections to introduce the term “diplomatic archive” to denote the documents of diplomatic missions and personal documents of diplomats, he initiated the foundation of the Ukrainian literary prize for the work that best depicts Ukraine, the establishment of the title “Ambassador of Ukrainian Culture”, the creation of the Ukrainian Diplomatic Institute with a specialised publishing house. The premises of Deslav’s survival theory are self-identification, the ability to rise above circumstances and to be worthy of one’s kin, to support statesmen, to refuse physical labour for the sake of survival without losing the ability to dream, and to be energetic, resilient, and persistent.

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