page_title: National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine
section_title: Establishment of the Academy
hierarchical_section_title: National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine / History / Establishment of the Academy
caption_attribution_description: English: Stephen Timoshenko
context_page_description: 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 the following address vulytsia Volodymyrska, 57, across the street from the Building of Pedagogical Museum where used to preside 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.
context_section_description: The direct institutional predecessors of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences were the Shevchenko Scientific Society in Lemberg (Lviv) and the Ukrainian Scientific Society in Kiev that due to various circumstances did not developed into national academy.
  The initiative to create such an institution came from the Ukrainian Science Society in April 1917, eight months before the beginning of the Soviet-Ukrainian War. However it was finally materialized during the time of the Ukrainian State, when on the proposal of the Minister of Education and Arts Mykola Vasylenko a special commission was formed. Headed by academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences Volodymyr Vernadskyi, the commission has drafted a bill about creation of the Ukrainian Academy of Science in Kiev with its National Library, National Museum, and other scientific institutions. At the end of June of 1918 the issue on creation of the Academy was raised at the Ukrainian Science Society Extraordinary General Assembly (June 23 and 28). During July 9 - September 17, 1918 the commission based on the proposed by Vernadskyi a model of Ukrainian Academy of Sciences (UAS) as an academy with universal characteristics has developed a bill for the creation of the Academy, a draft of its statute and staff, estimate. Based on them on November 14, 1918 Hetman of Ukraine Pavlo Skoropadsky signed the Law of Ukrainian State about establishing of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences in Kiev, 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 (academicians) of the UAS.
  According to its original statute, the Academy consisted of three research departments in history and philology (1st department), physics and mathematics (2nd department), as well as social studies (3rd department). 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 (at that time citizens of Austria-Hungary). 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 (three to each department) were appointed by the Ukrainian government, while the future members were expected to be elected by those academicians (as an active members). 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 (head of state) 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 (sometime after 1923) became a major figure in the Ukrainian Academy of Science (UAS) 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 (Constituent) 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
caption: Stepan Tymoshenko
exif: {"Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "ArcSoft PhotoStudio 6.0", "Image DateTime": "2017:06:15 12:45:33", "Image ExifOffset": "158", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "312", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "3931", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100"}