The Year of Shmuel Yosef Agnon in Ukraine: Five Major Events Connecting History and Modernity

Ukraine dedicated the years 2025–2026 to Shmuel Yosef Agnon. Exhibitions, conferences, and expeditions will revive memory and strengthen cultural ties with Israel.

Agnon and His Ukrainian Roots

Shmuel Yosef Agnon, born in Buchach, became the first Israeli writer to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. His books are filled with the atmosphere of Ukrainian shtetls, Jewish traditions, and personal memories of childhood. For Ukraine and Israel, his legacy is more than literature. It is a link between two cultures, two peoples, two histories.

The organizers of the “Year of Agnon” emphasize that now, during times of war and trials, it is important to remember those who built bridges between peoples.

“Agnon was the voice of memory. His words connect the broken and give birth to hope,” note the project curators.

His work is a combination of Jewish tradition, biblical and Talmudic motifs with images of Eastern European shtetls and contemporary Israel.

Main Works of Agnon

• “The Inn” (“הָאִשָּׁה וְהַבֵּית”) — an early story about life in a Jewish shtetl.
• “The Unfaithful Husband” (“עִם הָאִשָּׁה”) — a novel about the crisis of family and traditions.
• “She Just Stood There” (“עִם פְּנֵי הַשֶּׁמֶשׁ”) — a poignant story about faith and suffering.
• “Only Yesterday” (“תְּמוֹל שִׁלְשׁוֹם”) — one of Agnon’s most famous novels: about a young immigrant from Galicia who came to build a new life in Eretz Israel.
• “The City and Its Fullness” (“עִיר וּמְלוֹאָה”) — a monumental chronicle of Buchach, with its joys, tragedies, and vanishing Jewish culture.
• “The Mandate” — a novel about the clash of personal fate and historical events.

Themes and Style

• Memories of childhood in Buchach and the atmosphere of Jewish shtetls.
• Combining Jewish religious texts and folklore with modern prose.
• The theme of exile and return, the search for home.
• Images of loss, destroyed homes, and memory.
• Existential questions: faith, doubt, the meaning of life.

Agnon wrote in Hebrew, but many of his works are based on the experience and memory of life in Ukraine. Therefore, his work is perceived as part of the common Jewish-Ukrainian cultural heritage.

Five Major Projects

1. Art Exhibition “Strange Homes”

In September 2025, an exhibition by Matvey Weisberg opened in Kyiv. The artist, through images of empty interiors and ruined facades, shows what the loss of home and break with the past meant for Agnon. The paintings raise questions: what do we lose along with homes, and can we regain what was lost?

2. Scientific Conference in Fall 2025

In November, a conference with Ukrainian and Israeli researchers will take place in Kyiv. Scholars will discuss how cultural heritage can influence identity formation and how Jewish and Ukrainian traditions have intersected over the centuries.

3. Project “Jerusalem — Kyiv from A to Z”

This is an exhibition built as a kind of alphabet: each letter symbolizes a concept, place, or image associated with the two capitals. The exhibition will first open in Kyiv and then move to Odesa, Lviv, and Chernivtsi, making the project both national and international.

4. Ethnographic Student Expedition

In spring 2026, students will travel to Buchach and Sataniv. There they will collect materials, study old archives, and listen to stories from local residents. Such an expedition is not just an educational process but a return of memory, a revival of what seemed lost forever.

5. Final Conference and Work Competition

In summer 2026, the project will conclude with a major conference. A student essay competition is planned, where young researchers will present their vision of the dialogue between Agnon and Ukrainian philosophical tradition. A separate block — “Israeli Readings,” dedicated to parallels between Agnon and Hryhorii Skovoroda.

Geography of the “Year of Agnon”

• Kyiv — the center of scientific and artistic initiatives.
• Odesa, Lviv, Chernivtsi — cities where local exhibitions will take place.
• Buchach and Sataniv — expedition sites where Agnon’s legacy can be felt literally at every step.

These cities symbolically connect the East and West of Ukraine, large cultural centers, and small towns.

What It Gives to Ukraine

• Restoration of memory about Jewish history in the Ukrainian context.
• Strengthening cultural dialogue with Israel and the global Jewish community.
• Development of youth initiatives and student involvement in exploring the past.
• Potential for cultural tourism and international contacts.

The Effect Is Broader Than It Seems

The project helps Ukraine assert itself as a country capable not only of defending itself in wartime but also of building new cultural bridges. It is a signal to Europe and Israel: Ukrainian identity is open, alive, and based on respect for diversity.

Short Biography of Shmuel Yosef Agnon

Shmuel Yosef Czaczkes, better known as Agnon, was born in 1888 in the city of Buchach (now Ternopil region, Ukraine) in the family of a rabbi and a fur trader. From an early age, he absorbed the atmosphere of Jewish tradition, listened to the stories of elders about shtetl life, and studied texts in Hebrew.

In 1908, he moved to Jaffa, in Eretz Israel, where he began publishing stories. He lived in Germany for some time, got married, wrote extensively, and participated in the literary life of Europe. In 1924, he returned to Jerusalem, where he lived until the end of his life. He wrote exclusively in Hebrew, creating a unique style — a combination of biblical language, Talmudic expressions, and vivid observations. His works are a bridge between the Jewish past of Eastern Europe and modern Israel.

In 1966, he became a laureate of the Nobel Prize in Literature, the first among Israeli writers. He died in Jerusalem in 1970, leaving a rich literary legacy.

Israeli Context

For Israelis of Ukrainian origin, the “Year of Agnon” is not just a cultural project. It is a reminder of roots, of the cities where their ancestors lived, and of the values that connect Ukrainians and Jews.

NANews — News of Israel emphasizes: such projects are important for the entire diaspora. They strengthen the sense of unity and give Israelis the opportunity to better understand what Ukraine lived and lives by.

Conclusions

The “Year of Agnon” is more than exhibitions and conferences. It is an attempt to revive memory, make the past part of the present, and offer a new future for cultural dialogue.

Ukraine and Israel have the chance to show that literature and history can connect even where walls have existed for decades.