Little Ukraine in Brazil: interesting facts about Prudentopolis, a city where Ukrainian is second official language

Prudentopolis is a municipality in Brazil that is boldly called "little Ukraine" because 75% of its residents are of Ukrainian descent. You can often hear people speaking Ukrianian on the streets, and a few years ago it was recognized as second official language.

In particular, one of the municipality's residents is the director and screenwriter Guto Pasko. In an exclusive interview with OBOZ.UA, the cultural activist said that despite the fact that his ancestors emigrated to Brazil at the end of the nineteenth century, his parents preserved the traditions of their native land, so he knows Ukrainian perfectly, and his family celebrates Christmas, Easter, and the Holy Evening.

Formation of the Ukrainian community

Immigrants from Ukraine first arrived in Prudentopolis in 1885. About 1,500 families, who were natives of Galicia, settled in the municipality. The city was officially founded only in 1894 after a decree by the governor of the state, Maria Candida Ferreira de Abreu. In 1895, Prudentopolis was completely built up, and tax and police services gradually began to appear there.

The second wave of Ukrainian emigration took place between the First and Second World Wars, and the third wave took place in 1946. Most of the immigrants knew how to farm properly, so they started growing wheat and setting up flour mills. Another part of Ukrainians developed industry.

Culture

Prudentopolis, which is also called the capital of "Ukrainian Brazil," is a very interesting place because our fellow citizens preserve the traditions of their native land there. For example, here you can see the Greek Catholic Church of St. Josaphat, where services are mostly conducted in Ukrainian. For more than 60 years, the municipality has had the Ukrainian Cossacks Brotherhood, as well as the Veselka folk dance ensemble and the Soloveiko bandura ensemble.

"The Ukrainian-Brazilian community maintains cultural traditions through its crafts. Embroidery, ceramics, motanka dolls, pysankas - everything is preserved, we have it all. By the way, one of my brothers is an Easter egg painter. He can paint up to ten pysankas in a day. This is his trade. And anyone who comes to our city can buy a lot of Easter eggs here," said one of the Ukrainians living in the Brazilian city.

In particular, there is the Millennium Museum (Museu do Milênio), which tells about the history and culture of our country. In some institutions, education is conducted in Ukrainian. Emigrants in Brazil have also preserved their native dishes, as many families often cook borscht, varenyky dumplings, holybtsi cabbage rolls, lard, aspic, kutia grain, sausage, etc.

Ukrainian language

On October 5, 2021, Ukrainian was recognized as second official language of Prudentopolis. The relevant law was passed by the city council.

It was stated, "In Prudentopolis, the meaning of the Ukrainian language is unique, since there are still publications in the Ukrainian language, religious festivals and radio programs in the Ukrainian language. The municipality of Prudentopolis is called the capital of 'Ukrainian Brazil', because 75% of the total population of the city are ethnic Ukrainians, mainly from the Ternopil region."

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