Vladyslav Yurgevych

This famous historian, archeologist, philologist and archaeographer was born on the 26th of November, 1818 in the city of Vilno (now Vilnius, Lithuania). Vladyslav’s father, Norbert Yurgevych, was a master of law and a secretary of Vilnius University. The path of the future historian to knowledge was tortuous and long. He got his secondary education first at Vilnius and then at the Kowno College (now – Kaunas, Lithuania). After that, in 1837, Vladyslav Yurgevych left for the capital of the Russian Empire, where he got his higher education at the History and Philology Department of the Main Pedagogical Institute (St. Petersburg). According to contemporaries, the hero of our essay studied very diligently, and therefore after graduating from the Institute was awarded gold medal (1842). This was important for the later life of Vladyslav Yurgevych as it allowed him to go later on to an internship at the University of Leipzig (Germany), where he deepened his knowledge under the guidance of Professor G. Hermann. In 1843, Vladyslav Norbertovych moved to Kharkiv.

An important role in the academic career of a young scientist was also played by the Kharkiv period of his life. In June 1844, Vladyslav Yurgevych was appointed to the position of acting adjunct simultaneously in two departments: of Greek and Roman Literature at Kharkiv University. This is an evidence of the high level of his education. In 1847 he defended his master’s dissertation on “De mundiciis veterum Graecorum et Romanorum”, after which Vladyslav got the title of associate professor of Greek and Roman literature.

Imperial Univercity in Kharkiv

In 1845-1852, Vladyslav Yurgevych also served as a secretary of the Faculty of History and Philology at Kharkiv University. The educational and scientific life of the young scientist was extremely rich. In 1852-1857, together with students of the first year of study, he translated works of Horace and Cicero, and taught students of the senior courses Greek antiquities, being actively engaged in this scientific activity.

The Kharkiv period of Vladyslav Yurgevych’s life, which lasted 14 years, became for him not only a time of a professional growth, but also a time of arranging of his private life.

On the 15th of November, 1857, Mykola Pyrogov, curator of the Odessa Educational District, addressed his Kharkov colleague, Pavlo Zinoviev, with a request to invite Vladyslav Yurgevych to occupy the position of a professor at the Richelieu Lyceum (Odessa). The hero of our essay, of course, agreed to this, because he perfectly well realized that such propositions have a great value.

Richelieu Lyceum in Odessa

 As a result, in 1858, Vladyslav Yurgevych moved to Odessa, where he was appointed as a professor of Roman literature at the Richelieu Lyceum. In 1865, the scientist moved to the Novorossiysk University (Odessa), where a year later he presented a thesis for the degree of a Doctor of Roman Literature (“De Jovis Lycaei natura cognominisque huius ratione”). Here, Vladyslav Yurgevych lectured on ancient Roman literature, the history of state and religious institutions of ancient Rome, and was also the Dean of the Faculty of History and Philology (1868-1871). An important milestone in the scientific career of the scientist was the acquisition of the title of a professor (in 1877).

The building of the Richelieu Lyceum in Odessa, nowadays

Vladyslav Yurgevych devoted many years of his life to the activity of the Imperial Odessa Society of History and Antiquities (IOSHA), which functioned in 1839-1919. Vladyslav Yurgevych joined the organization immediately after moving to Odessa and took an active part in its work.

In 1858, the hero of our essay became a full member of the Imperial Odessa Society of History and Antiquities, and later – its secretary (1875) and vice-president (since 1883).

In his research, Vladyslav Yurgevych focused on the history of the Genoese colonies, Greek epigraphy and ethnological issues. In this connection, he repeatedly made trips to Crimea, where he studied the remains of the Genoese structures in Sudak, Feodosia and Balaklava (in 1861 and 1873). Collecting epigraphic material, Vladyslav Yurgevych visited Olbia (1865). He regularly published the results of his research on the pages of “Notes” of the Imperial Odessa Society of History and Antiquities.

In 1863, before the Italians and for the first time in Europe, he published new and old inscriptions that he managed to copy during journeys to Crimea. It is appropriate to mention that each such inscription was provided with detailed historical commentary by this well-known historian. The undisputed scientific achievement of Vladyslav Yurgevych was the publication of the Charter for the Genoese Colonies in the Black Sea in 1449. At the same time, the hero of our essay prepared a study of Genoese coins (1869), which actually reflected the history of the Genoese colonization (and, in particular, the Caffa mint). Vladyslav Yurgevych also took an active part in the preparation and holding of the VI Archaeological Congress, which took place in Odessa (1884). Among other things, he made a presentation on “Notes on some localities of the Novorossiysk region that deserve archaeological research.”

In 1887, this eminent historian, however, entirely stopped teaching, having chosen to focus on the study of epigraphic monuments of Crimea. The scientist’s interest in this sphere was probably formed under the influence of Mykola Murzakevych (one of the founders of IOSHA, who in 1839-1875 was the secretary of the society). It is worth noting that this choice was extremely difficult, as Vladyslav Yurgevych devoted a considerable part of his life to teaching.

In general, during the Odessa period, this Polish scholar published more than 50 articles and researches in which he tried to cover the entire history of the Imperial Odessa Society of History and Antiquities (IOSHA). Vladyslav Yurgevych conducted his research based upon museum collections. This was undoubtedly facilitated by his tenure as a head of the IOSHA Museum (1883-1893). The result of this titanic work was the preparation of three editions of the museum guide (1886-1892).

Having dedicated all his life to science and research, Vladyslav Yurgevych died on the 23rd of November, 1898. Less than a month after his death, namely on the 18th of December, a meeting dedicated to the memory of the prominent scientist was held at the IOSHA Museum, at which numerous condolences were delivered to the Society.

Analyzing Vladyslav Yurgevych’s professional achievements, his activities in preserving and promoting the monuments of the Crimean history and archeology, we must admit that he was not a “first-magnitude figure” in the scientific world. However, he managed to make a significant contribution to the development of a number of important areas for exploring the history of the Northern Black Sea. His scientific work is characterized by a combination of careful analysis of sources with the use of new methods, the embodiment of advanced ideas that were spread in the historiography of that time. Many of his elaborations became the basis for the development of epigraphic, numismatic, sphragistic studies of ancient and medieval monuments of Crimea. In addition, Vladyslav Yurgevych managed to make a significant contribution to the preservation of the historical and cultural heritage of Crimea.

Sources of information:

  1. Жванко Л. Видатні поляки і Харків: біографічний словник (1805-1918). – Харків, 2018.
  2. Коваль І.М. Одеський національний університет імені І.І. Мечникова. Історія та сучасність (1865–2015). – Одеса, 2015.
  3. Мурзакевич Н. История генуэзских поселений в Крыму. – Одесса, 1837.
  4.  Шаманаев А.В. Письма вице-президента Одесского общества истории и древностей В.Н. Юргевича об организации археологических исследований Херсонесского городища в 1884 г. // Документ. Архив. История. Современность. – Вып. 7. – Екатеринбург, 2007. – С. 392-417.
  5. Ясь О.В. «Записки Одесского общества истории и древностей» // Енциклопедія історії України. – Т. 3: Е-Й / під ред. В. А. Смолія. НАН України. Інститут історії України. – Київ, 2005. [Електронний ресурс] – Режим доступу: http://www.history.org.ua/?termin=Zapiski_odesskogo_obshchestva_ist_i_drevnostey (дата звернення: 15.11.2019)

Prepared by Vsevolod Serhiienko