From Valentina Gayui’s first boarding school to today’s accessible environment: the evolution of attitudes towards the blind

Every year on 13 November, in accordance with a decision by the World Health Organisation (WHO), the world marks International Day of the Blind. The date was not chosen at random: it was on this very day in 1745 that the eminent French educator and innovator Valentin Haüy was born; he was the first person in history to establish a school for blind children in Paris and to develop a special raised-letter script for teaching reading.

The main aim of this day is to draw public attention to the issues faced by people with total or partial loss of sight, and to highlight their right to inclusion, accessible education, employment and barrier-free urban environments.

Outstanding blind figures who have brought fame to Ukraine

Ukrainian history has seen many blind artists, scholars and thinkers whose contribution to the national and global cultural heritage cannot be overestimated:

• Ostap Veresai (1803–1890): A legendary Ukrainian kobzar from the Chernihiv region, who lost his sight as a child but went on to become one of the most famous performers of folk dumas and historical songs. His work inspired Taras Shevchenko, Panteleimon Kulish and Mykola Lysenko, whilst Veresai himself became a symbol of the preservation of Ukrainian oral history.
• Vasyl Yeroshenko (1890–1952): A Symbolist writer, poet, translator, musician and teacher, originally from Slobozhanshchyna. Having lost his sight at the age of four, he mastered several foreign languages and Esperanto, travelled the world, taught at schools for the blind in Japan, China and India, and his fairy tales became classics of Japanese children’s literature.
• Ivan Kuchugura-Kucherenko (1878–1937): Among blind folk singers, a special place is held by Ivan Kuchugura-Kucherenko (1878–1937) — an outstanding kobzar, who was the first folk performer to be awarded the title of People’s Artist of the Ukrainian SSR, and who taught the bandura at the Kharkiv Music and Drama Institute, mentoring a whole generation of musicians.
• Oleksandr Shkurupii (1910–1986): A renowned Ukrainian physicist and educator who completely lost his sight in his youth, yet went on to graduate from university, defend his doctoral thesis and teach theoretical physics and advanced mathematics at universities for over three decades, developing unique teaching methods.
• Yakiv Batyuk (1918–1943): Hero of Ukraine, lawyer and leader of the Nizhyn anti-Nazi underground during the Second World War. Having lost his sight as a child, he obtained a degree in law, worked as a solicitor and, during the years of occupation, organised an effective underground resistance network.

Contemporary challenges and the development of an inclusive environment

Today, the issue of support for blind people has become particularly pressing in Ukraine due to the consequences of the war, as the number of military personnel and civilians who have lost their sight as a result of mine and explosive injuries has risen significantly.

International Day of the Blind serves as a reminder of the need for genuine accessibility: fitting streets with tactile paving and audible traffic lights, labelling medicines and public spaces in Braille, adapting digital services for screen-reading software, and fostering a culture of respectful interaction and consideration in everyday life.

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