National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy

Foundation of the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy

Today's National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy claims as its predecessor the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, one of the oldest academic and theological schools amongst the Orthodox Christian countries of Eastern Europe. That Academy was first opened in 1615 as the school of the Kyiv bratstvo ("brotherhood"). When, in 1632, the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra school and Kyiv Brotherhood School merged they formed Kyiv's, and by extension Ukraine's, first institution of higher education. The newly formed 'collegium', then located in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, was given the Polish name 'Mohylańska' (Latin: Collegium Kijovense Mohileanum), in honour of Petro Mohyla, a key figure in bringing about the institution's foundation and proponent of modern Western educational standards at the academy.

In 1635 the collegium was granted a royal privilege by king Władysław IV. Its structure was based on the model of Western collegiums, with Latin serving as the main language of education, but Greek and Church Slavonic also took an important place in the curriculum. Students of the collegium were divided into three groups specializing respectively in grammar, rhetorics and philosophy (including theological sciences). The collegium was headed by a rector, who also served as the hegumen of Brotherhood Monastery, and a prefect, who was subordinated to the Metropolitan of Kyiv. The collegium also had a branch in Vinnytsia, which was later moved to Hoshcha and functioned there until the late 17th century. Its first professors were transferred from the Lviv Brotherhood School. In 1658, under the terms of the Treaty of Hadiach, the collegium obtained the status of an 'academy', similar to the Kraków Academy – at that time the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth's premier university.

From 1686 Kyiv came under Russian rule as a result of the Polish-Russian war. Following a period of decline during the Ruin, the academy prospered under the protection of Ivan Mazepa. The hetman financed construction of the new academic building, and in 1689 a theology class was opened. In 1694 the collegium was also recognised as an academy by the Tsar Ivan V; this was later reaffirmed by his half-brother, co-ruler, and successor, Peter the Great. The same decree also established the rights of the academy as a legal subject. Subsequently, during the 17th and 18th centuries the academy was known for its education of the Russian and Ukrainian political and intellectual elites; it was highly acclaimed throughout Eastern Europe and accepted students of all classes and backgrounds from the territories of modern-day Ukraine, Russia, Poland, Belarus, Romania, Serbia, Bulgaria and Greece. In particular the hetmans – military leaders of the famed Zaporozhian Cossacks – were benefactors of and actively supported the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy. Alumni of the school supported the foundation of a number of other colleges built on its model, such as the Vasilian College in Moldavia and the Slavic Greek Latin Academy in Moscow.

Following a new period of decline after the Battle of Poltava, the academy experienced a resurgence during the tenure of metropolitan Raphael Zaborovsky. Due to the exceptional quality of the language program many of the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy's students continued their education abroad, which at the time meant many of them were required to convert from the Orthodox faith to Roman Catholicism. Despite this, many returning alumni readopted the Orthodox religion, as this was necessary in order to attain positions in the clergy or Academia. By sending so many of its graduates abroad the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy played a vital role in facilitating the transfer of knowledge eastwards across Europe and popularising the Renaissance in Russian Empire. In 1744, 722 of the academy's students represented secular classes, while 380 belonged to the clergy, but the number of the latter grew with time. The full course of education comprised 12 years and consisted of 8 classes, including subjects such as liberal arts, mathematics, as well as French, German, Russian, Polish, Hebrew languages and drawing. Many publications issued by the academy's staff also included elements of Ukrainian vernacular.

Closure and reopening as the Kyiv Theological Academy

During the 1760s, several proposals were issued to transform the academy into a full-fledged university by prominent officials, including hetman Kyrylo Rozumovskyi and Pyotr Rumyantsev. However, those projects were declined by the Russian government. In 1786 properties of the Brotherhood Monastery were secularized, and from that moment on the academy became dependent on government financing. With time, the educational process was increasingly Russified and lost its secular character.

In 1817 Tsar Alexander I of Russia made a decision to close the academy. In response to this move a large number of the academy's alumni petitioned the monarch, albeit unsuccessfully, to turn the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy into a formal university. Instead, in 1819, the academy was turned over to the church and transformed into the Kiev Theological Academy - a purely clerical institution. During this time, admission to the Academy was open only to children of the existing clergy and key positions were held mostly by alumni of the Saint Petersburg Seminary.

With the passing years the need for a new, modern, institution of the higher education in Kyiv became apparent and the Tsar's ministers began to consider the establishment of such a school. It would, however, take a long time before the actual opening of a university in the city and when it finally did occur it did not come in the form of a reopened Kyiv-Mohyla Academy but in the foundation of an entirely new secular university - the Saint Vladimir University, founded in 1834 on the orders of the Tsar Nicholas I.

During the Soviet era

With the success of the October Revolution of 1917 and subsequent establishment of the Soviet Union, atheism became the only state sanctioned belief system and the church (along with its associated organs) were repressed. Shortly thereafter the authorities of the newly proclaimed Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic ordered the closure of the Kyiv Theological Academy; its library was later plundered and the main church of the school, the Bogoyavlenskiy Cathedral, was demolished with explosives in 1935.

Science at NaUKMA is organized into six faculties, 29 departments and 24 research centers. An annual scientific conference Dni Nauky NaUKMA (The Days of Science at NaUKMA) takes place in the last week of January. The main focus of research at the NaUKMA is in the fields of economics, law and humanities. Many faculty members hold permanent positions at the research institutes of the National Academy of Science of Ukraine and NaUKMA students are allowed to use its facilities for scientific and educational purposes.