Olha Franko

Franko was born on 24 July 1896.[1] She studied culinary cuisine at the Higher School of Agriculture in Vienna for two years.[2]

Franko wrote Kitchen in the Camp, published in 1929 in Kolomyia, a book focused on Galician recipes. It was said to be one of the first recipe books about Ukrainian cuisine.[3][4] The book was reprinted in 1991 retitled Practical Cuisine,[3][5] and again in 2019 with a foreword by Marianna Dushar.[6] It contained recipes focused on traditional dishes made from local ingredients.[6]

In 1937, Franko published her second book National Cuisine focused on the nutritional aspects of cooking.[2]

Franko used her writing to encourage housewives to demand food quality inspections from local authorities.[2]

Franko is from the famous Bilevych family.[5] After the death of his first wife (Kamenyar-Moses) she married Petro Franko, making her the daughter-in-law of activist and poet Ivan Franko.[3][5]

Olha Fyodorovna Franko is often confused with her mother in law, as both have exactly the same name. Informally they went by "junior" and "senior" to avoid confusion.[5]

Franko-Galushchak family tomb. Lychakiv Cemetery, field No. 69.

Franko died at age 91, in 1987.[3] Although her husband had been killed in 1941, she was unaware of that between 1941 and her death.[2]