Sofia Yablonska-Oudin (; fr. Sophie Yablonska-Oudin; 15 May 1907 4 February 1971) was a Ukrainian-French
travel writer
The genre of travel literature or travelogue encompasses outdoor literature, guide books, nature writing, and travel memoirs.
History
Early examples of travel literature include the '' Periplus of the Erythraean Sea'' (generally considered ...
, photographer, and architect. She was born in
Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria
The Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, also known as Austrian Galicia or colloquially Austrian Poland, was a constituent possession of the Habsburg monarchy in the historical region of Galicia (Eastern Europe), Galicia in Eastern Europe. The Cr ...
, but lived itinerantly, her family moved to Russia during the
World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
and moved back to Western Ukraine in 1921. In the late 1920s she emigrated to Paris. In Paris, Yablonska became a journalist and began travelling the world; she later used these experiences to write three books. Yablonska retired to
Noirmoutier
Noirmoutier (also French: Île de Noirmoutier, ; , ) is a tidal island off the Atlantic coast of France in the Vendée department (85).
History
Noirmoutier was the location of an early Viking raid in 799, when raiders attacked the monaster ...
in 1950 with her husband and three children (incl. future senator of France: Jacques Oudin) and became an architect.
Early life
Sofia Yablonska was born on 15 May 1907 in Germaniv (now ), in the Habsburg
Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria
The Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, also known as Austrian Galicia or colloquially Austrian Poland, was a constituent possession of the Habsburg monarchy in the historical region of Galicia (Eastern Europe), Galicia in Eastern Europe. The Cr ...
, near Lemburg (now
Lviv
Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...
). Her father was Ivan Yablonski, a
Ukrainian Greek Catholic
The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC) is a major archiepiscopal '' sui iuris'' ("autonomous") Eastern Catholic church that is based in Ukraine. As a particular church of the Catholic Church, it is in full communion with the Holy See. ...
priest and doctor, and her mother was also from a priestly family.
During the
Great Retreat
The Great Retreat (), also known as the retreat from Mons, was the long withdrawal to the River Marne in August and September 1914 by the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) and the French Fifth Army. The Franco-British forces on the Western F ...
, the withdrawal of the
Russian Imperial Army
The Imperial Russian Army () was the army of the Russian Empire, active from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was organized into a standing army and a state militia. The standing army consisted of Regular army, regular troops and ...
Russophile
Russophilia is the identification or solidarity with, appreciation of, or support for the country, people, language, and history of Russia. One who espouses Russophilia is called a russophile. Its antonym is Russophobia. In the 19th century, ...
views took the family to
Taganrog
Taganrog (, ) is a port city in Rostov Oblast, Russia, on the north shore of Taganrog Bay in the Sea of Azov, several kilometers west of the mouth of the Don (river), Don River. It is in the Black Sea region. Population:
Located at the site of a ...
, in southern Russia. In 1921, the Yablonskas returned to Galicia, residing first in
Kozova
Kozova (; ; ) is a rural settlement in Ternopil Raion, Ternopil Oblast, western Ukraine. It is located in the historical region of Galicia, east of Berezhany, some west of Ternopil, and southeast of Lviv. It hosts the administration of Kozova ...
and then in . Economic hardship necessitated the splitting up of the family at Yalinkova. Sofia and her brother, Yaroslav, initially lived with relatives at
Yazlovets
Yazlovets (; ) is a village in Chortkiv Raion, Ternopil Oblast, Ukraine. It is a Roman Catholic pilgrimage centre of local significance. The village belongs to the hromada, Buchach urban hromada. It lies on the Vilchivchik river, a tributary of t ...
, near
Buchach
Buchach (, ; ; or ; ; ; ) is a List of cities in Ukraine, city located on the Strypa River (a tributary of the Dniester) in Chortkiv Raion of Ternopil Oblast (Oblast, province) of Western Ukraine. It hosts the administration of Buchach urban h ...
but then moved to
Ternopil
Ternopil, known until 1944 mostly as Tarnopol, is a city in western Ukraine, located on the banks of the Seret River. Ternopil is one of the major cities of Western Ukraine and the historical regions of Galicia and Podolia. The populatio ...
. There, Sofia attended gymnasium and was taught sewing, bookkeeping, and acting. In 1927, she emigrated to Paris, aged 20, to attend film school and become an actress. Yablonska first found work as a window-cleaner, but eventually landed a small role in a
Pathé
Pathé SAS (; styled as PATHÉ!) is a French major film production and distribution company, owning a number of cinema chains through its subsidiary Pathé Cinémas and television networks across Europe.
It is the name of a network of Fren ...
film. She also worked as a model.
Journalist career and travels
While she lived in Paris, Yablonska made friends in the Parisian art scene. Among them was Stepan Levynsky, an orientalist and fellow Ukrainian migrant. Levynsky convinced Yablonska to become a photo reporter and to travel the world. Her career would take her to
Morocco
Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...
, China,
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...
,
Laos
Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR), is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and ...
,
Cambodia
Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...
,
Java
Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...
,
Bali
Bali (English:; Balinese language, Balinese: ) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller o ...
,
Tahiti
Tahiti (; Tahitian language, Tahitian , ; ) is the largest island of the Windward Islands (Society Islands), Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of France. It is located in the central part of t ...
, Australia, the United States, and Canada. Through the 1930s, she published stories about her travels in Galician magazines such as ' () and ' (). Yablonska's work and travels made her one of the first women documentary cinematographers. A recurring theme of her work was the negative effects of
European colonialism
The phenomenon of colonization is one that stretches around the globe and across time. Ancient and medieval colonialism was practiced by various civilizations such as the Phoenicians, Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Han Chinese, and Ar ...
on local culture and her own difficulties with Western Europeans.
The Ukrainian publishing house republished Jablonska's three travel journals in 2015.
Morocco
In early 1929, Yablonska traveled to
Morocco
Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...
and spent three months in-country. She later used her experiences there to write ''Charm of Morocco'' (''Char Marokko''; ), published by the
Shevchenko Scientific Society
The Shevchenko Scientific Society (), founded in 1873, is a Ukrainian scientific society devoted to the promotion of scholarly research and publication.
Unlike the government-funded National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, the society is a pu ...
in 1932. The book is a collection of Yablonska's encounters with traditional Moroccan culture, structured like a diary and was illustrated with 12 photographs. It was translated into French in 1973 by . A German edition of ''Charm of Morocco'' was published in 2020.
China
Yablonska returned to France from Morocco in the same year as her departure. found work making documentaries with the Societe Indochine Films et Cinema and inspiration from Levynsky, and decided to travel to China. There, while shooting film, she met Jean Oudin, a French ambassador, whom she wed in 1933. The couple had three children in China and
French Indochina
French Indochina (previously spelled as French Indo-China), officially known as the Indochinese Union and after 1941 as the Indochinese Federation, was a group of French dependent territories in Southeast Asia from 1887 to 1954. It was initial ...
, and resided in both countries until 1946. Yablonska used a fake business as a front to record daily street traffic in China, and introduced Chinese passers-by to Ukrainian culture. Yablonska wrote ''From the Land of Rice and Opium'' (''Z kraïny ryzhu ta opiiu''; З країни рижу та опію), published in 1936, from her experiences in China and Southeast Asia. It was followed in 1939 by ''Far Horizons'' (''Daleki obriï''; Далекі обрії).
Return to France
Yablonska and her family returned to Paris in 1946. They moved in 1950 to the island of
Noirmoutier
Noirmoutier (also French: Île de Noirmoutier, ; , ) is a tidal island off the Atlantic coast of France in the Vendée department (85).
History
Noirmoutier was the location of an early Viking raid in 799, when raiders attacked the monaster ...
, where she worked as an architect, and where Jean died in 1955. Yablonska died in a car accident on 4 February 1971 while en route to Paris with the manuscript of her final work, ''Two Weights, Two Measures'' (''Dvi vahy—dvi miry''; Дві ваги — дві міри). Sofia and Jean were buried next to each other in
Vernouillet, Yvelines
Vernouillet () is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France in north-central France.
Population
Twin towns – sister cities
Vernouillet is twinned with:
* Hainburg, Germany (1962)
* Alberndorf im Pulkautal, Austria (1972 ...
but were reinterred on Noirmoutier in 1973.
List of works
Books
Travel writing
* ''Le Charm of Morocco'' (''Char Marokko''; '; ''The Charm of Morocco; Der Charme von Marokko. Travelogue''):
** Ukraine: Lviv:
Shevchenko Scientific Society
The Shevchenko Scientific Society (), founded in 1873, is a Ukrainian scientific society devoted to the promotion of scholarly research and publication.
Unlike the government-funded National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, the society is a pu ...
, Lviv, 1932 ;
** France: Paris .n.1973 Paris Impr. P.I.U.F. (in French) ;
**Ukraine: Rodovid 2018 (in Ukrainian) ;
**Germany: KUPIDO Literaturverlag 2020 (in German) ;
* ''Au pays du riz et de l'opium (Z kraïny ryzhu ta opiiu; З країни рижу та опію; From the Land of Rice and Opium):''
** Ukraine: Lviv: Biblioteka "Dila" (2 vols) 1936 (in Ukrainian) ;
** France: Paris: Nouv. éd. latines, cop. 1986 (in French) / ;
**Ukraine: Rodovid 2018 (in Ukrainian) ;
* ''Two Weights, Two Measures'' (''Dvi vahy—dvi miry''; ''Дві ваги — дві міри; Deux poids – deux mesures: contes et essais''):
** France: Paris 1972 (in Ukrainian) ;
** France: Paris 1972 (in French);
* ''L’année ensorcelée: Nouvelle:''
** France: Paris a Guérinière. Kalytovska1972 Paris Impr. P.I.U.F. (in French);
* ''Les horizons lointains (Daleki obriï: podoroz︠h︡ni narysy; Daleki gorryzonty; Distant Horizons''):
** Ukraine: Lviv: Biblioteka "Dila" (2 vols): 1939 '';''
** France: Paris: Nouvelles éditions latines, 1977 (in French) / ;
** Ukraine: Kyiv: Rodovid 2018 (in Ukrainian) ;
* ''Mon enfance en Ukraine: Souvenirs sur mon père'' (''Kniga pro bat:':ka z mogo ditinstva''; ''Book about yFather: From My Childhood''):
** France: 1977,
** France: Paris: Nouvelles éditions latines, 1981 (in French) / ;
** France: Edmonton Paris Slovo
978
Year 978 ( CMLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place
Byzantine Empire
* Battle of Pankaleia: Rebel forces under General Bardas Skleros are defeated by the Byzantine army loyal to Emper ...
Paris Impr. PIUF (in Ukrainian) ;
* Листи з Парижа. Листи з Китаю: Подорожні нариси, новели, оповідання, есеї, інтерв’ю (''Lysty z Paryza. Lysty z Kytaju. Podorozni narysy, nowely, opowidannia, іnterwju)''
** Ukraine: Piramida 2018 (in Ukrainian) .
* ''Чар Марока. З країни рижу та опію. Далекі обрії'' (3 in 1 volume)
** Ukraine: Piramida 2015 (in Ukrainian) ;
Photography
* ''Téoura: Sophie Jablonska'' (Intro: Oksana Zabozhko):
** Ukraine: Kyiv: Rodovid 2018 (in Ukrainian; photographies by Sofia Yablonska-Oudin) .