ON THE PROTECTION OF CULTURAL HERITAGE IN THE EARLY TWENTIETH CENTURY ACCORDING TO THE DOCUMENTS OF THE SCIENTIFIC ARCHIVES OF THE INSTITUTE OF ARCHAEOLOGY NAS OF UKRAINE

Abstract

The archival documents that highlight the efforts of scientists and state institutions of Ukraine in the first third of the twentieth century to preserve cultural heritage in the context of revolutionary upheavals, wars and social changes are researched in the paper. Based on the materials of the Scientific Archive of the Institute of Archaeology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, the key events and initiatives aimed at protecting historical, archaeological, and artistic monuments are discussed. Among them are the activities of the Archaeological Committee and attempts to return cultural property taken from Ukraine.

Being worried about events in the country, scholars of the early twentieth century made efforts to save Ukrainian cultural values. The old libraries, art galleries, antiquities, folk art and architectural monuments turned up to danger. The Archaeological Commission, later the Archaeological Committee at the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, did a great job saving the cultural values which was a difficult task considering the situation in the country. Documents concerning the fight against illegal excavations and looting of the sites are also analyzed.

The paper is also focused on the documents received from Ukrainian museums with information on the fate of cultural heritage from the areas of museums’ activity. The author examines the reports of Ukrainian museums on the cultural property lost during the revolutionary events. For example, the Taras Shevchenko Museum in Zvenyhorod reported the destruction of paintings and other valuables during the Civil War, the Shepetivka District Museum of Local Lore mentioned the export of unique documents and artefacts abroad, and the Sumy Museum reported the loss of letters and two portraits of Taras Shevchenko. This information emphasises the scale of the losses and the difficulty of finding the lost values.

Particular attention is paid to the excavations of Hnat Stellecki, especially his activities in Subotiv, where, according to archival documents, in 1921 the grave of Bohdan Khmelnytskyi was excavated. These excavations, which remained a little-known, may shed new light on the current search for the location of the hetman’s remains. Documents indicate that Stellecki, who was a well-known archaeologist and founder of the Lubny Museum, conducted the excavations in Subotiv but the details of these studies remain unknown due to the lack of information in the archive. This emphasises the importance of further study of the materials in other archives.

The paper focuses on the role of archival sources in the restoration of historical memory and emphasises the importance of preserving cultural heritage as the basis of national identity. The documents, which are being introduced to scientific circulation for the first time, demonstrate how scholars and public figures tried to save those that formed the cultural heritage of the Ukrainian people. This paper is an important contribution to the study of the history of the preservation of Ukraine’s cultural heritage and highlights the need for further research in this area. It also reminds us that the preservation of cultural heritage is not only a task of the past, but also an urgent challenge for modern society.