The goal of the article is to draw attention of the art community to the little‑known memoirs of Leonid Chernov (1915–1990), a famous Ukrainian graphic artist, professor of Kharkiv Art and Industrial Institute. These memoirs are called A Word about Alma Mater and exist as a 120‑page self‑published book. They provide an opportunity for modern readers to learn firsthand how art education was organized in Kharkiv Art College and Kharkiv Art Institute in the 1930s–1950s. The original text is kept in the artist’s family and exists only as a single typewritten copy. In recent decades, about a dozen scholars have had the opportunity to get acquainted with the literary heritage of L. Chernov. Only some theses from this unique text have been quoted in individual academic papers. Chernov’s memoirs are valuable both in terms of literary merit and in terms of truthful testimony about the aspirations and feelings of the author himself and the people close to him, about real historical facts and personalities with whom his fate and the fate of his home university were closely related. L. Chernov wanted to publish his memoirs in the form of an illustrated photo album, back in the 1980s. However, something then thwarted his intentions. At this stage, with the permission of the artist’s family, one of the fragments of such valuable material – the author’s theses to the memoirs and the first section of the main text is published. Unique photo documents from the artist’s albums are published together with the text.
Fotoalbum Ludevíta Procházky z let 1862 − 1888 / The Procházka Photo Album (1862−1888)
