Mykola Prokopovych Vasylenko ( uk, Микола Прокопович Василенко; 14 February 1866 – 3 October 1935)Profile of Mykola Vasylenko
/ref> was a Ukrainian academician historian and law professor, important public and political figure. He was a temporary Otaman of Council of Ministers (

Prime Minister of Ukraine The prime minister of Ukraine ( uk, Прем'єр-міністр України, ) is the head of government of Ukraine. The prime minister presides over the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, which is the highest body of the executive branch of th ...

), minister of Education, and director of the All-Ukrainian Academy of Sciences (

National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine The National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (NASU; uk, Національна академія наук України, ''Natsional’na akademiya nauk Ukrayiny'', abbr: NAN Ukraine) is a self-governing state-funded organization in Ukraine th ...

Biography

Mykola Vasylenko was born on in a village Esman (today a small settlement of Hlukhiv Raion). He finished a progymnasium in

Hlukhiv Hlukhiv ( uk, Глу́хів, ) or Glukhov (russian: Глухов, translit=Glukhov) is a small historic town on the Esman River. It is a city of regional significance in the Sumy region of Ukraine. Hlukhiv is administratively incorporated as ...

and a full gymnasium in

Poltava Poltava (, ; uk, Полтава ) is a city located on the Vorskla River in central Ukraine. It is the capital city of the Poltava Oblast (province) and of the surrounding Poltava Raion (district) of the oblast. Poltava is administrativel ...

. After that Vasylenko studied at the history and philology faculty of Yuriev University (

University of Tartu The University of Tartu (UT; et, Tartu Ülikool; la, Universitas Tartuensis) is a university in the city of Tartu in Estonia. It is the national university of Estonia. It is the only classical university in the country, and also its biggest ...

). In 1890 he defended his scientific work "Critical overview of literature from the history of regional assemblies" and became a candidate of Russian history. Since 1890 Vasylenko worked as a teacher of history in Kyiv gymnasiums, simultaneously working for the Historical society of Nestor the Chronicler. At the same time he attended lectures of Volodymyr Antonovych, Volodymyr Ikonnikov, Oleksandr Lazarevsky and others in Kyiv University. Vasylenko also was co-editor and published his scientific works in magazine "Kievskaya starina" (''Kyiv olden''). In 1893-94 there appeared his first fundamental scientific works particularly the

monograph A monograph is a specialist work of writing (in contrast to reference works) or exhibition on a single subject or an aspect of a subject, often by a single author or artist, and usually on a scholarly subject. In library cataloging, ''monogra ...

"Servitude and the issue of servitude in Southwestern Krai". During 1903-05 Vasylenko was a researcher for the Kyiv Governorate Statistic Committee. He also was a member of Kyiv Old

Hromada A hromada ( uk, територіальна громада, lit=territorial community, translit=terytorialna hromada) is a basic unit of administrative division in Ukraine, similar to a municipality. It was established by the Government of Ukra ...

as well as other public and cultural societies. Vasylenko was a sympathizer of the 1905 Revolution in

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War ...

and during the period he edited a newspaper "Kievskie otkliki" (''Kyiv feedbacks''). For illegal fundraising to help workers of

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

and

Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the seventh-most populous city in Europe. Ky ...

, support of 1905 sappers revolt in Kyiv, connections with revolutionary leaders, publication of articles of "anti-state" content in "Kievskie otkliki", Mykola Vasylenko was convicted to a year in prison which he served in

Kresty Prison Kresty (russian: Кресты, literally ''Crosses'') prison, officially Investigative Isolator No. 1 of the Administration of the Federal Service for the Execution of Punishments for the city of Saint Petersburg (Следственный изо� ...

(

). During his detention in Kresty, Vasylenko studied law and eventually passed the test of the Justice faculty program of Novorossiya University ( Odesa University). In 1909 he was admitted to Kyiv University as an assistant professor (

privatdozent ''Privatdozent'' (for men) or ''Privatdozentin'' (for women), abbreviated PD, P.D. or Priv.-Doz., is an academic title conferred at some European universities, especially in German-speaking countries, to someone who holds certain formal qualific ...

). At the time Vasylenko was a member of secret public organization and political alliance, the Society of Ukrainian Progressors. In 1910 he received the academic degree of

Master of Law A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is an advanced postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in a related subject. In mo ...

. However, due to "political unreliability" the imperial administration prohibited him to teach in higher educational institutions. Therefore, Vasylenko worked as a fellow barrister for the Odesa court chamber. Around that time in 1910 Vasylenko joined the

Constitutional Democratic Party The Constitutional Democratic Party (russian: Конституцио́нно-демократи́ческая па́ртия, translit=Konstitutsionno-demokraticheskaya partiya, K-D), also called Constitutional Democrats and formally the Party of P ...

that agreed to

Ukrainian language Ukrainian ( uk, украї́нська мо́ва, translit=ukrainska mova, label=native name, ) is an East Slavic language of the Indo-European language family. It is the native language of about 40 million people and the official state lan ...

in schools, courts, churches and promoted only the cultural autonomy of Ukraine. Affiliation to Kadets affected relationships of Vasylenko with activists of Ukrainian national-liberation movement. After the

February Revolution The February Revolution ( rus, Февра́льская револю́ция, r=Fevral'skaya revolyutsiya, p=fʲɪvˈralʲskəjə rʲɪvɐˈlʲutsɨjə), known in Soviet historiography as the February Bourgeois Democratic Revolution and some ...

on initiative of

Mykhailo Hrushevsky Mykhailo Serhiiovych Hrushevsky ( uk, Михайло Сергійович Грушевський, Chełm, – Kislovodsk, 24 November 1934) was a Ukrainian academician, politician, historian and statesman who was one of the most important figure ...

, Mykola Vasylenko was invited to the

Central Council of Ukraine The Central Council of Ukraine ( uk, Українська Центральна Рада, ) (also called the Tsentralna Rada or the Central Rada) was the All-Ukrainian council (soviet) that united deputies of soldiers, workers, and peasants deputie ...

on position of deputy chairman, but he did not actively participate in the council's sessions. On March 24, 1917 the

Russian Provisional Government The Russian Provisional Government ( rus, Временное правительство России, Vremennoye pravitel'stvo Rossii) was a provisional government of the Russian Republic, announced two days before and established immediately ...

appointed Vasylenko as a curator of the Kyiv school district and on August 19, 1917 he became a deputy minister of Education in the

. Vasylenko was supporter of evolutionary development of system of the Ukrainian National Education that did not correspond to the policy of Ukrainiazation of education, established by the I and II All-Ukrainian Teachers congresses and carried out by the General Secretariat of Education ( General Secretariat of Ukraine).

References

External links

*
Mykola Vasylenko
at the Kyiv University website
Mykola Vasylenko
at the Encyclopedic handbook Kyiv (web version)
Mykola Vasylenko
at the Heritage of Ukraine portal (''Spadshchyna Ukrayiny'') {{DEFAULTSORT:Vasylenko, Mykola 1866 births 1935 deaths People from Sumy Oblast People from Glukhovsky Uyezd Ukrainian people in the Russian Empire University of Tartu alumni Odesa University alumni Academic staff of the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv 20th-century Ukrainian historians Legal historians Otamans of Council of Ministers Education ministers of Ukraine Foreign ministers of Ukraine Russian Constitutional Democratic Party members Hromada (society) members Society of Ukrainian Progressors members Inmates of Kresty Prison Ukrainian prisoners and detainees Prisoners and detainees of Russia Presidents of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine Members of the Central Council of Ukraine Members of the Grand Orient of Russia's Peoples Ukrainian diplomats Burials at Lukianivka Cemetery 19th-century Ukrainian historians