Mykola Kovalsky Street in Ostroh, the Chair of History named after him a Ostroh Academy National University, and a scholarship that will be awarded to the best history students on this great scholar’s birthday are all signs of gratitude to the professor for his scholarly publications (more than 500 published papers), work aimed at launching and developing the Dnipropetrovsk school of Ukrainian source studies, and his scholarly activities, which were legendary even before his death.
Today, a year after Professor Kovalsky’s death, scholarly sessions dedicated to his works are being organized. The late scholar’s former students and disciples, his daughter, and co-workers from the Dnipropetrovsk region recently gathered to pay tribute to his life and achievements. A bust of the professor, which was presented to the university as a gift by the sculptor Serhii Chumakov, was solemnly unveiled. Afterwards, a commemorative prayer service was held in the Student-Lecturers’ Chapel of the Academy.
Professor Petro Kraliuk, the deputy rector of Ostroh Academy National University deputy rector in charge of education and research, said that Mykola Kovalsky would always be respected at the university because “Ostroh Academy came into existence through his efforts.” Dr. Kraliuk emphasized that it was “no accident” that Mykola Pavlovych was born not far from Derman (the native village of both Borys Ten and Ulas Samchuk), and that ‘his early years were spent in Ostroh, where the local atmosphere helped form his personality. In the Dnipropetrovsk region the professor sought to maintain Volyn’s cultural tradition.” Professor Iryna Kovaliova, Dr. Kovalsky’s colleague from the Dnipropetrovsk region, also praised his activities, declaring that the most outstanding aspect of his life was the fact that “he never pursued narrow topics. Although he was quite naive in everyday matters, he was steadfast in scholarship.”
Daria Shvaia is a fourth-year student at Ostroh Academy National University, majoring in Culturology.
The Day’s FACT FILE
Mykola Pavlovych Kovalsky (b. March 19,1929; d. Oct. 5, 2006): Member of the International Slavic Academy of Sciences, head of the Ostroh branch of the Ukrainian Historical Society, and director of the Ostroh branch of the Hrushevsky Institute of Ukrainian Archeography and Source Studies at the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine.
He worked at Dnipropetrovsk University for 25 years. In 1985 he became a Doctor of Historical Sciences and a professor of the Faculty of Historiography and Source Studies.
At Ostroh Academy he was the editor in chief of the encyclopedic publication Ostrozka akademiia, Sketches from the History of Ostroh, and the Ostroh Enlighteners. He was also the author of fundamental works on the history of the city of Ostroh and the Ostroh Slavonic-Greek-Latin Academy.
