Mykhaylo Maksymovych

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Mykhaylo Maksymovych(1804-1873) was a famous Ukrainian naturalist, historian, and writer. He contributed to the areas of natural history, botany, chemistry, zoology, physics, linguistics, folklore, ethnography, history, literary studies, and archaeology.

1 Life
2 Major Works
3 Legacy
4 External links

[edit] Life

Maksymovych was born into an old Ukrainian Cossack family which owned an estate in Poltava Province in Left-bank Ukraine. He studied botany at Moscow University, graduating in 1832, and remained at the university there for further academic work. During this period he published extensively on botany and also on folklore and literature. In 1834, he was appointed professor of Russian literature at the newly created Kiev University and also became the university's first rector. (This university had first been established by the Russian government to reduce Polish influence in Ukraine and Maksymovych was, in part, an instrument of this policy.) After a short time, however, ill health forced him to retire both from his rectorship and also his professorship and he lived quietly at his estate at Mykhailova Hora in central Ukraine. Thereafter, he published extensively on Ukrainian folklore, literature, and history, and shortly before his death was elected a corresponding member of the Imperial Academy of Sciences.

[edit] Major Works

In the 1820s and 1830s, Myksymovych published several textbooks on biology and botany. He also published popular works on botany for the layman. This "populist" approach to science, he carried over into his writings on folklore, literature, and history.

In 1827, he published Little Russian Folksongs which was one of the first collections of folksongs published in eastern Europe. The collection marked a new turning to the common people, the folk, which was the hallmark of the new romantic era which was then beginning. This work had an enormous influence upon Maksymovych's contemporaries, both in eastern Ukraine, and also in Austrian Galicia where many Ukrainians lived. Thereafter, others too, both in Russia proper and also in Ukraine, began the collection and publication of folksongs. In 1834 and in 1849, Maksymovych published two further collections.

In 1839, Maksymovych published his History of Old Russian Literature which dealt with the so-called Kievan period of Russian literature, considered by Ukrainians to be the initial stage of Ukrainian literature as well. At this time, he also translated the epic Tale of Igor's Campaign into both modern Russian and modern Ukrainian.

Maksymovych's literary works included poetry and almanacs with much material devoted to Ukraine. One of his poems was dedicated to his fellow "Ukrainian national awakener," the poet and painter, Taras Shevchenko, who was his personal acquaintance and sketched his portrait.

From the 1850s to the 1870s, Maksymovych worked extensively in history, especially Ukrainian history. He opposed the Russian historian, Mikhail Pogodin, who believed that Kievan Rus originally had been populated by Great Russians from the north. Maksymovych argued that the Kievan lands were never completely de-populated, even after the Mongol invasions, and that they had always been inhabited by Ukrainians and their direct ancestors. He also worked on the history of the city of Kiev, of Cossack Ukraine, of the uprising of Bohdan Khmelnytsky, and other subjects. Many of his most important works were critical studies and corrections of the publications of other historians, like the Russian, Mikhail Pogodin, and the Ukrainian Mykola Kostomarov.

Maksymovych also wrote an autobiobraphy which was first published in 1904. His correspondence was large and significant.

[edit] Legacy

Maksymovych was a pioneer of his time and, in many ways, one of the last of the "universal men" who were able to contribute original works to both the sciences and the humanities. His works in biology anticipated those of Darwin and his works in literature, folklore, and history pointed to new directions in telling the story of the common people. In doing this, Maksymovych "awakened" new national sentiments among his fellow Ukrainians. His life was that of a true gatherer of a national heritage, heritage gathering typically being the first stage of the Ukrainian national movement which steadily gathered strength after his time. He greatly influenced many of his younger contemporaries including the poet Taras Shevchenko, the historian Mykola Kostomarov, the writer Panteleimon Kulish, and many others.

The library of Kiev University is named in his honour.