SOFIA PARFANOVYCH – UKRAINIAN DOCTOR AND ENLIGHTENER (DEDICATED TO THE 120TH BIRTH ANNIVERSARY)

• Main Author: Oleh Danylyak
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Shevchenko Scientific Society 2018-06-01
• Series: Праці Наукового товариства імені Шевченка. Медичні науки
• Subjects: female doctors, anti-alcohol community, paramedic and obstetric school, woman hygiene, sofia parfanovych
• Online Access: https://mspsss.org.ua/index.php/journal/article/view/134

The life and work of Sofia Parfanovych (1898-1968), one of the prominent ascetics of Ukrainian medicine, first female Ukrainian student of medical faculty of Lviv University, active public figure and writer is described. Together with Sofia Okunevska they belong to the first female doctors in Western Ukraine that woke Ukrainian womenfolk to education, struggle for gender equality and social progress. Sofia Parfanovych finished her study at Lviv University in 1926 and got the diploma of a doctor. She began her professional career as obstetrician and gynecologist at General hospital in Lviv, then started private medical practice and work on a voluntary basis at “Narodna lichnytsya”. In 1929 doctor Parfanovych became the head of anti-alcohol section of Ukrainian Hygiene Society as well as the chief of anti-alcohol and anti-nicotine society “Vidrodzhennya”. The members of these societies worked actively publishing about half a million educational postcards, posters and magazines. The slogan printed on each paper motivated for a healthy lifestyle, eradication of bad habits such as smoking and alcohol drinking. It was one of the ways of hygienic education of population. As a scientist Sofia Parfanovych wrote a plenty of articles dedicated to the diagnostics and treatment of pleural empyema in children, mycosis as a women’s disease, vaginal endometriosis, protein therapy of certain women’s diseases, trichomonas infection,  the relation between youth’s villainy and mental retardation and acute alcoholism. Moreover, doctor Parfanovych published works for hygienic education of families. The most famous of them are: “Women’s hygiene”, “Proper nutrition”, “Husband and wife”. At the end of 1939 Sofia Parfanovych became the director of paramedic and obstetric school in Lviv. Two years later she wrote a dissertation “Metastases of malignant tumors of ovaries to the central nervous system” and became a docent at Lviv Medical University. In 1944 due to the strained situation in Ukraine associated with the World War II the family of Sofia Parfanovych and her husband Pylyp Volchuk together with his son emigrated to Austria, firstly to Wienna and later to the small Austrian city of Telfs. A year later they continued travelling and settled in Bayern, Germany. Unfortunately, in 1946 Pylyp Volchuk after years of fighting against stomach cancer died. In 1949 Sofia Parfanovych emigrated to the USA where seven years later affirmed her doctor’s diploma and got the permission for a private medical practice. Due to the disease of retinal detachment of the left eye doctor Parfanovych stopped her work at the hospital and dedicated herself to the literary work. In December 1968 Sofia Parfanovych died and was buried at Mount Olivet Cemetery in Detroit. The life of a doctor and enlightener Sofia Parfanovych demonstrates the sacrifice and mercy, professionalism and patriotism, love to the people and Ukraine. All this contributed to the development of the Ukrainian culture and nation.