165 years since the birth of Dmytro Bagaliy: the university celebrates

Dmytro Ivanovich Bagaliy was one of the most prominent historians of the country, the rector of Kharkiv University, the founder of the Kharkiv Library School and Ukrainian library science, and the head of the Kharkiv Public Library.

Dmytro Ivanovych was born on November 7, 1857 in Kyiv in the family of a small craftsman. In 1876, he entered the historical and philological faculty of Kyiv University, but due to circumstances related to the democratic performances of students, the scientist transferred to Kharkiv University in the same year. The following year, he returned to study at the Kyiv University, where he conducted source studies on the history of Ukraine.

Since 1883, for many years, Dmytro Bagaliy's scientific and social activities have been connected with Kharkiv. He started working at Kharkiv University, in his own words, "as a budding young scientist" and "as a conscious Ukrainian activist" who was supposed to "develop the history of Sloboda Ukraine and thereby fulfill the duty of a Ukrainian citizen."

In 1883, Dmytro Ivanovych joined the Kharkiv Historical and Philological Society, took an active part in the creation of the society's ethnographic and art museums, the Kharkiv Historical Archive, and for about 30 years (since 1883) served as the head of the archive. The scientist became one of the founders of the national archival business.

In 1887, after defending his doctoral thesis, he was elected an extraordinary professor, in 1889 - an ordinary professor, and from October 1906 to November 1911 he served as the rector of Kharkiv University.

In 1893–1905, Dmytro Ivanovych chaired the board of the Kharkiv Public Library, was a member of the board of the Kharkiv Society for Spreading Literacy among the People, and was one of the organizers of the Higher Women's Medical Courses in Kharkiv.

The scientist's scientific legacy exceeds 400 publications. Dmytro Bagaliy is best known as a researcher of the history of Slobid Ukraine. It was he who initiated a systematic and comprehensive scientific study of the history of the region, particularly in the context of the development of spiritual culture. The results of his many years of research are collected in a scientific work, which is considered one of the best works of the scientist - "History of Slobid Ukraine" (1918).

Dmytro Ivanovych carried out a significant amount of interesting biographical research. 10 special studies, including archeographic ones, were dedicated to Grigoriy Skovoroda alone, and a monograph was created, which the scientist himself considered his best scientific work.

Dmytro Bagaliy is one of the founders of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences (UAN, 1918, Kyiv) and the first academicians of the UAN.

Dmytro Ivanovych passed away on February 9, 1932.

The Ukrainian Studies Center of the Karazin University, which was established in 2006, was named in honor of the outstanding historian, archivist and public figure.