ALEXANDER DE DOBRA CHALBAZANY (? – 1825) – THE FIRST PROFESSOR OF THE CLASSICAL PHILOLOGY IN STANYSLAVIV AND HIS DESCENDANTS

Abstract

Historians have not yet responded to the popular public demand for genealogical research, which, as a rule, remains a private initiative of amateurs. Genealogy has a perspective especially in the field of the history of the cities and towns of the Galicia – another topic studied in Ukrainian historiography insufficiently, directly connected with the history of the economy and higher forms of culture in the broadest sense of the word. The purpose of the article is to demonstrate what important information genealogical research can convey to modern generations, especially in the field of social history, using the example of the family of Aleksander Halbazany, a gymnasium professor in Stanislaviv. Its founder – professor, historian and lawyer Aleksander Halbazany was one of the first representatives of the urban intelligentsia of Galicia, born precisely in the first decades of the Habsburg rule.

Aleksander Halbazany is one of the first Galician-Bukovynian enlightenners and intelligents, as well as perhaps the first historian of Bukovyna. He combined his ardent local patriotism with loyalty to the Habsburg

monarchy, which gave him everything: the position of a gymnasium professor in Stanislaviv, a translator of the Moldavian language in the courts of Stanislaviv and Černivci, and perhaps the first attorney in Černivci. In his case, the Austrian social elevators worked perfectly, that explains his dual Moldovan-Austrian identity.

Desiderius, Alexander’s son, founded a powerful dynasty of apothecaries. While Alexander was a Moldavian Greek, Desiderius, grandsons Dionysius and Karl felt themselves to be Austrian Germans, great- grandchildren Dionysius Jr., Erwina and Maria were Poles. The material fortune of the family blossomed in Stryj. This is indicated by the history of the charitable activities of its members: if Alexander bought school supplies for his students with his own money, Desiderius supplied the schools of Černivci with medicine for free, Dionysius and Erwina bequeathed their domestic villa, their main real estate, to the children of Stryj. The gradual growth of the family well-being explains the Austrian patriotism of all its members without exception, regardless of identity.

Key words: Halbazany, genealogy of Galicia, history of Bukovyna, history of gymnasiums of Galicia, history of medicine, history of pharmacies of Galicia, historiography of Moldova, history of Ivano-Frankivsk, history of Czernowitz, history of Stryj.