Volodymyr Ivanovych Barvinok (; July 22, 1879 in Okhramiievychi,

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

– 1943 in

Kiev Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

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 ...

) was a Ukrainian historian,

theologist Theology is the study of religious belief from a religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of ana ...

, bibliographer, writer, archaeologist, prominent archivist, statesman of the

Ukrainian National Republic The Ukrainian People's Republic (UPR) was a short-lived state in Eastern Europe. Prior to its proclamation, the Central Council of Ukraine was elected in March 1917 as a result of the February Revolution, and in June, it declared Ukrainian ...

, honorary citizen of the Chernihiv region, scholar at the Ukrainian Academy of Science and teacher of Ukrainian culture and history.

Early life

Volodymyr Barvinok was born in 1879 at the family country house, which was located in the Okhramiievychi village in the Russian Empire. In 1905, Barvinok graduated from the

Kyiv Mohyla Academy The National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy ( NaUKMA, ), colloquially known as Mohylianka (), is a highly ranked national state-sponsored research university located in a historic section of Kyiv, Ukraine. The university is bilingual in Uk ...

, which today is called the

National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy The National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy ( NaUKMA, ), colloquially known as Mohylianka (), is a highly ranked national state-sponsored research university located in a historic section of Kyiv, Ukraine. The university is bilingual in U ...

. On the same year, he married Yevheniya Volovik, who was originally from

Uman Uman (, , ) is a city in Cherkasy Oblast, central Ukraine. It is located to the east of Vinnytsia. Located in the east of the historical region of Podolia, the city rests on the banks of the Umanka River. Uman serves as the administrative c ...

. The Barvinok family lived in the

Podil Podil ( ) or Podol ( ), also known in English as the Lower City,Ivankin, H., Vortman, D. Podil (ПОДІЛ)'. Encyclopedia of History of Ukraine. is a historic neighborhood in Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine. It is located on a floodplain terrace ...

district of Kyiv, at 31 Frunze street. From 1905 to 1917, Volodymyr Barvinok and his family lived in

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...

, where his son Boris was born. From 1905 to 1908, Barvinok studied in Saint Petersburg Archeological Institute. From 1908 to 1911, he majored in history and

philology Philology () is the study of language in Oral tradition, oral and writing, written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics with strong ties to etymology. Philology is also de ...

at the

St. Petersburg University Saint Petersburg State University (SPBGU; ) is a public research university in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and one of the oldest and most prestigious universities in Russia. Founded in 1724 by a decree of Peter the Great, the university from the be ...

, then called Petrograd University. Consequently, he earned a master's degree in theology.

Involvement in Ukrainian War of Independence

Until 1917, he worked in the central apparatus of the

Most Holy Synod The Most Holy Governing Synod (, pre-reform orthography: ) was the highest governing body of the Russian Orthodox Church between 1721 and 1917. It was abolished following the February Revolution of 1917 and replaced with a restored patriar ...

. At the same time, during 1912–1917, he lectured in history at the St. Petersburg's

Realschule Real school (, ) is a type of secondary school in Germany, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. It has also existed in Croatia (''realna gimnazija''), the Austrian Empire, the German Empire, Denmark and Norway (''realskole''), Sweden (''realskola''), F ...

of A.I. Gelda. Upon receiving the first news of the

revolution In political science, a revolution (, 'a turn around') is a rapid, fundamental transformation of a society's class, state, ethnic or religious structures. According to sociologist Jack Goldstone, all revolutions contain "a common set of elements ...

, Volodymyr Barvinok immediately returned to Kyiv, where he was deeply involved in the renewal of

Ukrainian independence Ukraine emerged as the concept of a nation, and Ukrainians as a nationality, with the Ukrainian National Revival which began in the late 18th and early 19th century. The first wave of national revival is traditionally connected with the publi ...

. By 1918, Volodymyr Barvinok, as a prominent

bibliographer Bibliography (from and ), as a discipline, is traditionally the academic study of books as physical, cultural objects; in this sense, it is also known as bibliology (from ). English author and bibliographer John Carter describes ''bibliograph ...

and a scholar of ancient manuscripts and books, assisted in the formation of the National Library of Ukrainian State. From 1918 to 1919, he worked for the

Ukrainian State The Ukrainian State (), sometimes also called the Second Cossack Hetmanate, Hetmanate (), was an Anti-communism, anti-Bolshevik government that existed on most of the modern territory of Ukraine (except for Western Ukraine) from 29 April to 14 ...

, later for the

at the department of confessions, then for the Ministry of Confessions. The department regulated and conducted the state policy towards the Church. The Ministry demanded from the Church an implementation of a

Ukrainization Ukrainization or Ukrainisation ( ) is a policy or practice of increasing the usage and facilitating the development of the Ukrainian language and promoting other elements of Ukrainian culture in various spheres of public life such as education, ...

policy of the official documents and pushed for the independence (

autocephaly Autocephaly (; ) is the status of a hierarchical Christian church whose head bishop does not report to any higher-ranking bishop. The term is primarily used in Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox churches. The status has been compared with t ...

) of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church from the Moscow Patriarchate. Simultaneously to his work at the Ukrainian National Republic's government institutions, Barvinok worked as a professor of literature and Ukrainian culture at a technical school in Kyiv. . As the

Ukrainian People's Army The Ukrainian People's Army (), also known as the Ukrainian National Army (UNA) or by the derogatory term Petliurivtsi (, ), was the army of the Ukrainian People's Republic (1917–1921). They were often quickly reorganized units of the former I ...

retreated from Kyiv and independent Ukraine fell, Barvinok remained in occupied Kyiv and focused on scientific work .

Archeological work during Soviet occupation

During the period of 1918–1928, Barvinok worked at the historical-philological branch of the Ukrainian Academy of Science. Despite political repression and a difficult financial situation, the historical-philological department worked persistently to expand the use of the Ukrainian language in all branches of science. On September 30, 1924, Barvinok became the secretary of a commission created on the 350th anniversary of the printing traditions in Ukraine, under the larger Archaeological Committee of the Ukrainian Academy of Science headed by the first president of Ukraine and renowned historian

Mykhailo Hrushevskyi Mykhailo Serhiiovych Hrushevsky (; – 24 November 1934) was a Ukrainian academician, politician, historian and statesman who was one of the most important figures of the Ukrainian national revival of the early 20th century. Hrushevsky is ...

. The aim of Barvinok's commission was to write a scientific description of the publications on the territory of ethnographic Ukraine in 16th–18th centuries. From 1924 until 1933, Barvinok worked on the archaeological committee at the Ukrainian Academy of Science. At the same time, he worked for the Ukrainian Scientific Institute of Printing, where he published the prominent and comprehensive work "General survey of old prints in libraries of Kiev". In the introduction, he criticizes the lack of financing for the Ukrainian Academy of Science and underlines principal differences between old prints of

and Moscow, both dangerous acts at the time. From 1928 to 1930, he worked as a secretary of the Sophia commission of the Academy of Science and its art branch. The Sophia commission aimed at preserving

Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv The Saint Sophia Cathedral (, або Софія Київська) in Kyiv, Ukraine, is an architectural monument of Kievan Rus'. The former cathedral is one of the city's best known landmarks and the first heritage site in Ukraine to be inscribe ...

, which Soviet authorities planned to demolish as they had destroyed

St. Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery The St. Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery is a monastery in Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, dedicated to Saint Michael the Archangel. It is located on the edge of the bank of the Dnipro river, to the northeast of the St Sophia Cathedral. The s ...

. Soviet authorities aimed at eradicating any signs of authentic Ukrainian cultural heritage. Due to the tedious work of the commission, Saint Sophia cathedral, arguably the most historically important Ukrainian structure, was not destroyed.

Later life and death

In the mid-1930s, Barvinok donated his vast library to the

Kyiv University The Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv (; also known as Kyiv University, Shevchenko University, or KNU) is a public university in Kyiv, Ukraine. The university is the third-oldest university in Ukraine after the University of Lviv and ...

, where it formed the basis of several scientific branches. In the period from 1930 to 1933, Barvinok worked as the secretary of the All Ukrainian Archaeological Committee, which co-ordinated all archaeological work in Ukraine.

Personal life

In 1930, his grandson Yury was born. In 1937, his son Boris, a bridge engineer, was arrested by the Soviet secret police (the

NKVD The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (, ), abbreviated as NKVD (; ), was the interior ministry and secret police of the Soviet Union from 1934 to 1946. The agency was formed to succeed the Joint State Political Directorate (OGPU) se ...

) and Barvinok never saw him again. This was not the first instance of repression against Volodymyr Barvinok's family.

Notes

External links

Chernihiv Regional Information Portal: Sivershchyna

Electronic library of journalism institute

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barvinok, Volodymir Ivanovich 1879 births 1943 deaths 20th-century Ukrainian historians Kyiv-Mohyla Academy alumni Ukrainian archaeologists 20th-century Ukrainian educators 20th-century Ukrainian writers 20th-century Ukrainian politicians