The object of the investigation: establishing, development, closure and renewal of “Prosvitas societies” in the Kharkiv region during XX – the beginning of XXI centuries. The aim of the investigation: the integral study of the directions of the activity, generalization of practical results, objective renewal and estimation of the historical development of “Prosvitas” of the Kharkiv region. Methods of the investigation: historical-genetic, problematic-chronological, descriptive, historical-comparative, statistical, bibliographical, structural-functional methods; the method of actualization, historical-typological method; the methods of induction, deduction, logical generalization; analysis and synthesis. Practical value of the obtained results: their significance in carrying on both generalizing investigations on the history of Ukraine, the culture of its people and regionstudies; in making synthesized books on cultural-educational organizations, lectures and special cources on the history of Ukraine,historical regionstudy, culturology. The systematized material can be used in the further activity of “Prosvita” centres because it is logically connected with the State national program “Ukraine. Education of the XXI century”, 1994 and “National doctrine of the development of education in Ukraine in the XXI century”, 2001. In the present paper for the first time a comprehensive investigation of the emerging and activity of “Prosvita” societies in the Kharkiv region during XX – at the beginning of the XXI century in the context of the development of the Ukrainian national movement has been made. The dynamics of these processes, common and different both for separate societies of the same historical period and during the whole period of their existence has been established. The degree of the “Prosvitas” interaction between themselves and other public organizations, power institutions, the evolution of the “Prosvitas” movement in time and space due to specifics of society-political, society-cultural developmentof Slobozhanshina region has been found. The main directions, forms and methods of “Prosvitas” work at all stages of the activity have been revealed. New data on the quantitative and qualitative composition of “Prosvitas” have been obtained. The step-by-step character of the “Prosvitas” movement development has been traced.
