Vasyl Chebanik

Vasyl Chebanyk is an outstanding figure who can be discussed for a long time. He is a Ukrainian graphic artist, book illustrator, teacher, member of the National Academy of Arts of Ukraine, professor (1980), head of the Department of Graphic Design at the Boychuk Kyiv State Academy of Art and Design, corresponding member of the National Academy of Arts of Ukraine, honorary doctor of the National Academy of Arts of Ukraine. In 2019, Vasyl Yakovlevych received the Shevchenko Prize for his project «Graphics of the Ukrainian Language». Thanks to his work, the revived fonts have given the ceremonial copies of the Constitution of Ukraine, starting in the mid-1990s, clear signs of Ukrainian identity.

The Ruthenia alphabet - Ukrainian language graphics

The idea for the Ruthenia font arose during Vasyl Chebanyk's meeting in Leipzig in 1971 with the rector of the Higher School of Graphic and Book Arts, Albert Kaprom, who asked why Ukrainians did not develop their own alphabet. Later, Vasyl Chebanyk learned that Karl Faulmann's Book of Alphabets of All Nations and All Ages (1880) presented the Ruthenian alphabet separately from the Russian alphabet, which was the beginning of his search.

Ruthenia fonts are the common name for fonts and font sets for the Ukrainian alphabet created in 2000-2024 by Professor Vasyl Chebanyk based on the customs of the Russian era and Cossack cursive scripts as part of the Ukrainian Language Graphics project. Chebanik notes:

“Every sovereign state has its own constitutional symbols: flag, state emblem and language. And every state language consists of two parts: a melody and its visual part - the historical alphabet.”. 

The Ukrainian alphabet has existed since the days of Rus-Ukraine, a thousand years before the present day. Masterpieces such as the Ostromyr Gospel (1056-1057) and the Peresopnytsia Gospel of the 16th century were printed in this alphabet. The modern Russian alphabet, which is semi-Latin in form, was created in 1708 by order of Tsar Peter the Great of Moscow. Since 1721, this alphabet has been used throughout the Russian Empire, including the territory of occupied Rus-Ukraine. 

Russian TV channels repeat like a mantra that Ukraine is allegedly the territory of Russia, as we are «marked with the same font» with a slight difference in the letters «i» and «ї». Unfortunately, this is partly true: the Ukrainian language in official documents and symbols uses the Moscow font, which was used to print imperial decrees banning the Ukrainian language, as well as execution lists of Ukrainians. Today, this font is used in the labelling of government agencies, Ukrainian educational institutions, and the names of cities, villages, and streets. This gives the impression that there is no difference between us, and therefore no free Ukraine.

Suggesting changes to the graphic representation of the modern Ukrainian alphabet, Vasyl Chebanyk designed 60 fonts so that no one would consider Ukraine part of Russia anymore.

Kateryna Pashchenko, editor-in-chief of ADEF-Ukraine, explains why the Ruthenia alphabet is so important to Ukrainians and talks about the steps taken to integrate these fonts into everyday life:

“When we started to get acquainted with the Ruthenia project, we were surprised to learn that the global digital space does not identify Ukraine as a separate state precisely because we and our north-eastern neighbours use the same set of letters. The difference in the spelling of a few letters was not enough. Interested and inspired by the idea of contributing to the formation of Ukrainian identity, we gladly joined the project «Ruthenia. Ukrainian Language Graphics» project. Our publishing house has already published a number of books aimed at deepening knowledge of Ukrainian history, ethnography and culture. I would like to note that the NGO InfoWarta is making every effort to ensure that Ukrainians switch to the Ruthenian alphabet. A petition in support of this project is one of the most important steps that we urge everyone to take. We also participate in events aimed at promoting this project. We are convinced that spreading information about Ruthenia and explaining the importance of the official use of our own Ukrainian alphabet will help to promote its implementation at the official and public levels. I would also like to note that we have already published two books using the Ruthenian alphabet fonts. These are «Ukrainian Fashion: From Trypillians to the Glass Generation» by the talented artist and scholar Zinaida Vasina, as well as its English translation «Ukrainian Fashion Through the Ages: 8 Millennium BC to the Present Day». By the way, a Latin version of the Ruthenia font called Didukh was specially developed for the English-language edition, which we proudly used for the book's presentation at the Frankfurt Book Fair in 2024.

Of course, we plan to continue using the fonts of the Ruthenia alphabet in our publications. Moreover, Vasyl Yakovlevich donated all his incredible fonts to the Ukrainian people, so everyone can use them by simply indicating the name of the font in the copyright column. We are especially pleased when our authors ask us to use one of Ruthenia's fonts. After all, in addition to being stylish and sophisticated, they carry the code of our Ukrainian identity. So read books, write in Ruthenia and love Ukraine!