Prosvita (Ukrainian: просвіта, 'enlightenment') is a society created in the nineteenth century in Ukrainian Galicia for preserving and developing Ukrainian culture and education among population.

By the declaration of its founders, the movement was created as a counterbalance to anti-Ukrainian colonial and Russophile trends in Ukrainian society of the period.

Prosvita was founded in 1868 in Lviv by 65 delegates from different regions and groups of intellectuals, mostly from the same city. Anatole Vakhnianyn was elected the first head of the Prosvita Society. By the end of 1913, Prosvita had 77 affiliate societies and 2,648 reading rooms.

In 1936 alone, when Western Ukraine with the city of Lviv were part of the Second Polish Republic, the Prosvita Society opened over 500 new outlets with full-time professional staff. By the end of the Interwar period, Prosvita has grown to include 83 affiliates, 3,210 reading rooms, 1,207 premises, 3,209 libraries (with 688,186 books), 2,185 theater clubs, 1,115 choirs, 138 orchestras, and 550 study groups. On May 22, 1938, a Ukrainian Congress was planned in Lviv to commemorate the 70th anniversary of creation of Prosvita,^{[citation needed]} but it was banned by the Polish authorities.^{[according to whom?]}