Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Volodymyr Lytvyn underscored significant role of Lviv National University in formation of Ukraine as a state.
During the grand academy on the occasion of the 350th anniversary of Lviv Ivan Franko National University, V. Lytvyn quoted famous surgeon Mykola Pirohov as saying "Society is seen in universities as in mirror. Universities are best barometers of the society."
"Educational work of Franko´s followers proves these words. Today the University is full of people who love this institution, who can not imagine their lives without fighting for Ukraine and thinking about its future," the Head of the Parliament declared. "Ivan Franko University has always supported the European processes. Establishment of the university was the first victory in fighting for the national education and spirituality."
"Establishment of the university was marked as a birth of a new intellectual circle of Ukrainian elite, people who have always supported Ukrainian national identity. I bow my head before all generations of apostles and Prometheuses who have been creating something more than a university for these 350 years. They formed Ukraine and the European civilization."
V. Lytvyn conferred the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine awards on the teacher´s board of the university.