Introduction. Every nation prides itself on its nobles, yet Ukrainians distance themselves from this wreath of human decorations as if there is no dignity in descending from noble ancestors or sharing noble blood. I would not suggest that being of noble origin is of greatest importance to humans, and nobody should place nobility before moral standards or honors earned through hard work and study, or separate him/herself from commoners as it happened in the past. However, it is neither advisable nor beneficial to give in to the power of commonners just because they form the majority. In any event, we should preserve nobility not only in our souls but also in our names; in other words perpetuate the memory of our ancestors who polished and glorified these names through honorable deeds.
- Olha Kobylanska, "Over the bridge".

Mission. The Ruthenian Nobility Association aims to unite the descendants of Ruthenian (Ukrainian) noble origin to protect our economical and social interests, support our national, cultural, educational, languistic, and other needs, preserve and extend our traditions and values, and revive the extinct communities of Ruthenian nobility. We are proud to continue the work of the association of the same name that was founded at the beginning of the 20th century in Galicia (1907) and ceased to exist shortly before World War II.

Membership. Membership in the Ruthenian Nobility Association is open to any person with no restriction to citizenship who shares our mission and goals, wishes to participate in development of the Association, and requests to become a member of the Association. Three levels of membership are available: honorary, basic, and associate. Honorary membership requires an applicant to provide a documental proof of Ruthenian noble descend based on authentic document, certificate, metric or armorial record. Ruthenian noble descendant can be defined as a person who belongs to the family of a) de facto Ruthenian nobles or cossack nobles of Ruthenian origin; b) foreign noble families integrated with Ruthenian nobility during the period of 1340-1782; or c) families nobilitated in Ruthenian lands of Austro-Hungarian empire during 1782-1918. Basic membership is assigned to a person from above mentioned categories who has no documental evidence for such a claim, but has another reason to assume his/her Ruthenian origin based on the family name or birth records. Associate membership is presented to a person of other than Ruthenian noble descend who shares our vision and made a significant contribution to the Association, its activities, or studies on hisory or culture of Ruthenian nobility.

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