The Vasyl' Stus Donetsk National University ( DonNU, ; ) is one of the leading higher educational institutions of

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

. In 2014, due to the

war in Donbas The war in Donbas, or the Donbas war, was a phase of the Russo-Ukrainian War in the eastern Donbas region of Ukraine. The war Timeline of the war in Donbas (2014), began in April 2014, when Russian separatist forces in Ukraine, Russian para ...

, a number of teachers and students left Donetsk and subsequently reestablished the university as Vasyl' Stus Donetsk National University in

Vinnytsia Vinnytsia ( ; , ) is a city in west-central Ukraine, located on the banks of the Southern Bug. It serves as the administrative centre, administrative center of Vinnytsia Oblast. It is the largest city in the historic region of Podillia. It also s ...

. At the same time, some teachers and most students remained in Donetsk, therefore splitting the university in two. Emblem of Donetsk National University

The university's history starts in 1937 from the moment of the creation of a pedagogical institute in

Donetsk Donetsk ( , ; ; ), formerly known as Aleksandrovka, Yuzivka (or Hughesovka), Stalin, and Stalino, is an industrial city in eastern Ukraine located on the Kalmius River in Donetsk Oblast, which is currently occupied by Russia as the capita ...

(then ''Stalino''). In 1965, the institute was transformed into ''Donetsk State University''. It was accorded the ''National'' status in 2000.

History

1937 to 1945

On July 15, 1937, a decree from the

Ukrainian SSR The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, abbreviated as the Ukrainian SSR, UkrSSR, and also known as Soviet Ukraine or just Ukraine, was one of the Republics of the Soviet Union, constituent republics of the Soviet Union from 1922 until 1991. ...

established the Stalin State Pedagogical Institute in the city of Stalino (Donetsk). Its first director was Oleksandr Yevdokymenko, who was arrested in 1938 and sentenced to ten years imprisonment during

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

Great Purge The Great Purge, or the Great Terror (), also known as the Year of '37 () and the Yezhovshchina ( , ), was a political purge in the Soviet Union that took place from 1936 to 1938. After the Assassination of Sergei Kirov, assassination of ...

. Originally the institute consisted of two departments, History and Philology, and had five chairs. Serhiy Ksenofontov became its head in 1940 and added the Physics-Mathematical Faculty in 1941. Due to

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

's invasion of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, in 1941 the institute was evacuated first to

Kungur Kungur () is a town in the southeast of Perm Krai, Russia, located in the Ural Mountains at the confluence of the rivers Iren and Shakva with the Sylva ( Kama's basin). Population: 62,173 ( 2023 Estimate). History Kungur was founded ...

and soon thereafter to Molotov, where it was liquidated. It was re-established in 1943, following the liberation of Donetsk, by a decision of the Council of People's Commissars of the

After World War II

The school's Student Scientific Association, composed of two divisions – historical-philological and physical-mathematical – was established in 1951. In 1961, Mykola Khoroshailov took over from Ksenofontov as the head of the institute and its name was changed to Donetsk State Pedagogical Institute. In 1964, the institute was subordinated to

Kharkiv State University The V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University (), also known as Kharkiv National University or Karazin University, is a public university in Kharkiv, Ukraine. It was founded in 1804 through the efforts of Vasily Karazin, becoming the second old ...

and became a ''Donetsk branch of Kharkiv State University named after

Maksim Gorky Alexei Maximovich Peshkov (; – 18 June 1936), popularly known as Maxim Gorky (; ), was a Russian and Soviet writer and proponent of socialism. He was nominated five times for the Nobel Prize in Literature. Before his success as an auth ...

''. On May 28, 1965, the Soviet of Ministers of the USSR enacted a decree on organizing the Donetsk State University (DonSU) based at the Donetsk branch of Kharkiv State University. Professor Leonid Lytvynenko became the first rector of the university (1965–1968). 1965 saw the launch of post-graduate studies (with an initial enrollment of 16 students), the addition of the faculties of biology and physics, and the construction of the students' campus. Appointed the second rector of the university, Professor Yuriy Shevlyakov managed the institution from 1968 to 1970, during which the main 12-storey building was constructed. Professor Hryhoriy Tymoshenko was the third University rector (1970–1975). In 1972, the university's history museum was opened in the main building. Professor Hryhoriy Ponomarenko became the rector in 1975, followed by Professor Volodymyr Shevchenko in 1986. On September 11, 2000, the university was accorded national status by a decree of the

President of Ukraine The president of Ukraine (, ) is the head of state of Ukraine. The president represents the nation in international relations, administers the foreign political activity of the state, conducts negotiations and concludes international treaties. ...

Leonid Kuchma Leonid Danylovych Kuchma (, ; born 9 August 1938) is a Ukrainian politician who was the second president of Ukraine, serving from 19 July 1994 to 23 January 2005. The only president of Ukraine to serve two terms, his presidency was marked by demo ...

War in Donbas and move to Vinnytsia

During the

, the university officially relocated to

. In June 2016, 75 out of 105 staff members voted in favour of naming the university after one of its alumni, the poet

Vasyl Stus Vasyl Semenovych Stus (; January 6, 1938 – September 4, 1985) was a Ukrainian poet, translator, literary critic, journalist, and an active member of the Ukrainian dissident movement. For his political convictions, his works were banned by th ...

Vinnytsia Campus Infrastructure

Vasyl' Stus Donetsk National University unites educational and research centers forming a complex that includes: 6 Faculties; 2 regional Training and Retraining Centers; Department of International Education, the UNESCO Department for Ecology in the Technogenous Region; Business Centre; Youth Centre for Legal Studies; the Laboratory for International Scientific and Technical Cooperation; Consulting Centres of the British, German and French Councils; Postgraduate Courses and Doctoral Studies etc.

Notable alumni

Ivan Dziuba Ivan Mykhailovych Dziuba (; 26 July 1931 – 22 February 2022) was a Ukrainian literary critic, social activist, and Soviet dissident. Honoured as a Hero of Ukraine in 2001, Dziuba was an academic of National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, the ...

, Ukrainian academician, minister of culture, literary critic, author of "

Internationalism or Russification? ''Internationalism or Russification?'' () is a book by Ukrainian writer and social activist Ivan Dziuba. It was written in late 1965 as a supplement to a letter sent to the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Ukraine, Petro Shelest, in de ...

Holodomor The Holodomor, also known as the Ukrainian Famine, was a mass famine in Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, Soviet Ukraine from 1932 to 1933 that killed millions of Ukrainians. The Holodomor was part of the wider Soviet famine of 1930–193 ...

survivor, co-founder of the

People's Movement of Ukraine The People's Movement of Ukraine () is a Ukraine, Ukrainian political party and one of the first Opposition (politics), opposition parties in Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, Soviet Ukraine.The first officially registered opposition politica ...

Iya Kiva Iya Kiva (another spelling - Ija Kiva) (; born May 4, 1984) is a Ukrainian poet, translator, journalist, and critic. She is the author of the books, ''Подальше от рая'' (Further from Heaven), ''Перша сторінка зими'' ...

(born 1984), Ukrainian poet, translator, journalist, critic *

Hryhoriy Nemyria Hryhoriy Mykhailovych Nemyria (also spelled Nemyrya; ; born 5 April 1960) is a Ukrainian politician, historian, and sociologist, who served as Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine for European Integration from 2007 to 2010. It is believed that, as ...

, Ukrainian politician, vice prime minister in the Second Tymoshenko Government *

Volodymyr Rafeienko Volodymyr Volodymyrovych Rafeyenko (born November 25, 1969) is a Ukrainian prose writer, poet, translator, literary and film critic, a member of PEN Ukraine. From 1992 to 2018, was writing in Russian language, Russian, published his works mostly ...

, Russian and Ukrainian writer *

, Ukrainian poet, Soviet dissident *

Dmytro Bilokolos Dmytro Zakharovych Bilokolos (; 5 February 1912 – 9 February 1993) was a Ukrainian politician and diplomat. Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Ukrainian SSR (1966–1970). He was also Soviet ambassador to Zambia and Botswana (1970–76). Pro ...

, politician and diplomat, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Ukrainian SSR.

Notes and references

''This article incorporates text from "History of the University" at th
Official Web Site of the University
whose republication is expressly allowed if referenced to www.donnu.edu.ua.'' {{authority control Universities and institutes established in the Soviet Union Universities and colleges in Donetsk Buildings and structures in Vinnytsia Education in Vinnytsia 1937 establishments in Ukraine Universities and colleges established in 1937 Institutions with the title of National in Ukraine National universities in Ukraine