 Antonych was born and raised in the Lemko village of Nowica where his father, Vasyl, was a parish priest.In 1928 Antonych left Nowica to study at Lviv University, where he remained until he received his degree in Slavic studies in 1933.In order to help finance his chosen career of professional writer, he occasionally worked as an editor for journals such as "Dazhboh" and "Karby".