National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine
The National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine is a self-governing state-funded organization in Ukraine that is the main center of development of science and technology by coordinating a system of research institutes in the country. It is the main research oriented organization along with the five other academies in Ukraine specialized in various scientific disciplines. NAS Ukraine consists of numerous departments, sections, research institutes, scientific centers and various other supporting scientific organizations.
The Academy reports on the annual basis to the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. The presidium of the academy is located at Volodymyrska Street, 54, across the street from the Building of Pedagogical Museum, which was used to host the Central Council during the independence period of 1917-18.
In 1919-1991 it was a republican branch of the Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union.
Names
Over its history, the NAS Ukraine has had these 5 names.| Names for the Academy | Native language | dates |
| Ukrainian Academy of Sciences | Українська академія наук | 1918—1921 |
| All-Ukrainian Academy of Sciences | Всеукраїнська академія наук | 1921—1936 |
| Academy of Sciences of the UkrSSR | Академія наук Української РСР | 1936—1991 |
| Academy of Sciences of Ukraine | Академія наук України | 1991—1993 |
| National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine | Національна академія наук України | since 1994 |
History
Establishment of the Academy
The predecessors of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences were the Ukrainian Scientific Society in Kyiv, that due to various circumstances did not develop into a national academy, and the Shevchenko Scientific Society in Lemberg.The initiative to create the institution came from the Ukrainian Science Society in April 1917, eight months before the beginning of the Soviet-Ukrainian War. The institution materialized during the time of the first Ukrainian State, when Mykola Vasylenko, at that time the Minister of Education and Arts, proposed the formation of a special commission. Led by Volodymyr Vernadskyi, an academic of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the commission produced a bill for creation of a Ukrainian Academy of Science in Kyiv, a National Library, a National Museum, and other scientific institutions. At the end of June 1918 the creation of the Academy was raised at the Ukrainian Science Society Extraordinary General Assembly. By 17 September, a bill for the creation of the Academy had been written, and the statute drafted. On 14 November, 1918, the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences was established in law. and also approved the UAS statute, the UAS staff and its institutions and the order of Ministry of National Education about appointing the first 12 full members of the UAS.
According to its original statute, the Academy consisted of three research departments in history and philology, physics and mathematics, as well as social studies. Its structural units became permanent commissions and institutes. There were planned 15 institutes, 14 permanent commissions, 6 museums, 2 offices, 2 laboratories, botanical and acclimatization gardens, astronomical observatory, biology station, printing house and national library. All publishing of academy was to be printed in the Ukrainian language. Its statute emphasized the all-Ukrainian nature: the members could be not only citizens of the Ukrainian State, but also the Ukrainian scientists of the West Ukraine. Foreigners could become academicians as well, but on the resolution of the 2/3 of the active members' composition.
The presidium of newly created academy and its first academicians were appointed by the Ukrainian government, while the future members were expected to be elected by those academicians. Among the first academicians were historians Dmytro Bahaliy and Orest Levytsky, economists Mykhailo Tuhan-Baranovsky and Volodymyr Kosynsky, eastern studies Ahathanhel Krymsky and Nikolai Petrov, linguist Stepan Smal-Stotsky, geologists Volodymyr Vernadsky and Pavlo Tutkovsky, biologist Mykola Kashchenko, mechanic Stepan Tymoshenko, law studies Fedir Taranovsky. For the post of the President of the Academy, the Hetman of Ukraine Pavlo Skoropadsky invited Mykhailo Hrushevsky who at that time was the president of the Ukrainian Science Society and before the World War I served as the president of the Shevchenko Scientific Society in Lemberg, neighboring Austria-Hungary, but Hrushevsky declined the invitation yet later became a major figure in the Ukrainian Academy of Science in Kyiv.
Its official operations the academy started at the end of November 1918 with having several sessions of General Assembly and assemblies of its departments. The first General Assembly that took place on November 27, 1918 academician Volodymyr Vernadsky was elected the President of academy, while the permanent secretary became Ahathanhel Krymsky. The same day, at the sessions of the 2nd and the 3rd departments there were elected as chairmen respectively Mykola Kashchenko and Mykhailo Tuhan-Baranovsky, on 8 December 1918 the chairman of the 1st department was elected Dmytro Bahaliy. All appointments were approved by Hetman Skoropadskyi.
The first institutions of the UAS established in December 1918 were such commissions:
- for compilation of historic and geographic dictionary of the Ukrainian land
- for compilation of historic dictionary of Ukrainian language
- for compilation of the Ukrainian living language dictionary
- for publishing landmarks of the modern Ukrainian script
- for publishing landmarks of language, script and history
- acclimatization garden
- institute of technical mechanics
- institute of geodesy, institute of economic conjuncture and national economy of Ukraine
- institute of demography
- in research of common law
- in research of social issues
- in research of national economy
First years
On 3 January 1919 the Direktoria of the Ukrainian People's Republic has adopted legislatively changes to the UAS statute, according to which there were made provisions concerning printing of works in Ukrainian and foreign languages, all the UAS officials had to freely possess the Ukrainian language, and full members upon their approval would swear in allegiance to the Ukrainian People's Republic. The Supreme power also has left after itself the right to approve the newly elected members at the UAS General Assembly.
Following occupation of Kyiv by Bolshevik forces, on 11 February 1919 the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences received as its own property the mansion and former boarding house of countess Levashova. This happened on the order of People's Commissar of Education of the Ukrainian Socialist Soviet Republic, Volodymyr Zatonskyi. The next day, on 12 February 1919, an extraordinary UAS General Assembly took place, during which Ahatanhel Krymsky passed on the order of Zatonskyi immediately to start the work. Since the late 1920s, in the Soviet historiography that day was considered as the day of establishing the Academy of Sciences, instead of 14 November 1918 when Hetman Skoropadskyi signed the law on creation of the academy.
All-Ukrainian Academy of Sciences
After several changes of power and withdrawal of the Denikin's forces in December 1919, the Bolsheviks permanently established themselves in Kyiv. With the second arrival of Bolsheviks Vernadsky resigned. Orest Levytsky was elected President of the Academy for the next couple of years. In 1921 Levytsky was replaced by newly elected Mykola Vasylenko, however he was not approved by the authorities and soon was replaced with Levytsky. Vasylenko himself was arrested in 1923 and convicted.On June 14, 1921, the Council of People's Commissars of Ukrainian SSR adopted a decree "Resolution on the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences", according to which the Academy was recognized as the highest scientific state institution and subordinated to the Narkom of Education. The Academy was renamed from UAS to VUAN - All-Ukrainian Academy of Sciences - underlining its importance for Ukrainian territories under Poland, Romania, Czechoslovakia and declaring its intentions to unite within one organization the scientific intelligentsia of all Ukrainian lands. The relationship between members of VUAN and the Soviet authorities soured, while the relationships with the Ukrainian scientists abroad had completely ceased. After historian Orest Levytsky, botanist Volodymyr Lypsky became president of the Academy. Between 1919-1930 103 academicians were elected to the Academy. In 1924-5, the Academy held its first election for foreign members. However, none of the candidates were approved by the Narkom of Education.
Between 1927 and 1930 the takeover of the Academy by the Soviet authorities was completed. Mykhailo Hrushevsky had been candidate for the presidency, but by the end of 1927 Hrushevsky's candidacy was no longer supported by the authorities. He had been considered a counterweight to the "constitutional-democratic" faction led by Serhiy Yefremov and Ahatanhel Krymsky, but the three of them had actually agreed on opposing state interference. The authorities removed Yefremov and his supporters and dropped all support for Hrushevsky, who was arrested in 1931, taken to Moscow, and never returned to Ukraine. Danylo Zabolotny, a microbiologist, was instead put up as president of the Academy, followed by Oleksandr Bohomolets in 1930.
Repressions against the Academy reached their peak in 1933-1934 and were conducted under the leadership of Pavel Postyshev. Numerous academicians were imprisoned, exiled and deprived of their titles. According to Natalia Polonska-Vasylenko, during the 1930s over 250 members of the Academy became victims of persecution. Humanitarian sciences were hit especially hard. From that time on, technical sciences became the Academy's main focus point. In 1934 it was directly subordinated to the Council of People's Commissars of Soviet Ukraine, and in 1936 was deprived of its national status and renamed into Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR.