Volodymyr Naumenko

Volodymyr Pavlovych Naumenko (; 19 July 1852 – 8 July 1919) was a Ukrainian pedagogue, public figure and publicist. From 1893 to 1906, he was the chief editor of the monthly historical magazine Kievskaia starina (Kyivan Past). Naumenko served as deputy head of the Central Council of Ukraine, acting as its chairman until Mykhailo Hrushevsky returned from his exile, and was later appointed minister of education. He was executed by the Cheka for "counter-revolutionary activity".

Early life and family Volodymyr Naumenko was born on 19 July 1852 in Novhorod-Siverskyi to a family of educators. His father Pavlo Osypovych Naumenko was the director of a gymnasium. About his family tree Naumenko wrote the following:

Naumenko spent his childhood in Novhorod-Siverskyi and Bila Tserkva. In 1861 he mved to Kyiv. In 1868 Naumenko graduated from the 2nd Kyiv Gymnasium where he studied with his good friend Oleksandr Rusov. Naumenko also met with his father's friend Mykhaylo Maksymovych. From 12 September 1869 to 31 May 1873 Naumenko studied at the Department of History and Philology of Kiev University. After that he worked as an intern at his native 2nd gymnasium. Naumenko later taught at several gymnasiums, Cadet Corps and Pavlo Galagan College in Kyiv. It was in result of the active efforts of Naumenko that the magazine in 1898 received a permission on publication of fiction in Ukrainian language and creation of Ukrainian printshop; two years later there was opened a bookstore of Kievskaia starina.

The journalistic activity of Naumenko was tied and with other periodicals: at the end of 1870 - start of 1880 he worked with the newspaper "Labor" , in 1898 took part in creation of newspaper "Kyiv responses" , in 1905-06 along with I.Luchytsky he established the newspaper "Liberty and right" , a publishing body of the Kyiv Committee of Constitutional Democratic Party. At the end of 1906 he attained a certificate on the right to publish in Kyiv the magazine Ukraine which had to become successor of Kievskaia starina, however the publication was terminated already at the end of 1907.

Pedagogical activity

For many years Volodymyr Naumenko was a teacher of gymnasium teaching literature in the 2nd Kyiv Gymnasium (1880), the State Female Gymnasium of St. Olga (1883), Collegiate of Pavel Galagan, Kyiv Funduklei Gymnasium (1889), Vladimir Cadet Corps (1893). For his work he received multiple awards such as the Order of St Anna (IV, 1883), Order of St Stanislaus (II, 1886), Order of St Ana (II, 1893), Order of St Vladimir (IV, 1897). On 28 February 1898 Naumenko was granted a title of Merited Teacher.

Volodymyr Naumenko contributed to Ukrainian Pedagogy as a teacher, a methodologist and a theoretician. He received and accepted invitations from various regional governments to head teacher summer courses almost annually. Naumenko systematically conducted methodic classes with pedagogues of the Sunday school of the Kyiv Grammar Society, serving as its chairman in 1897-1907. For many years, he was invited to check the knowledge of pupils at Kyiv orphanages. Through these kinds of examinations, Naumenko established classes for students, teachers and educators.

In the Vernadsky Institute of manuscripts are preserved the text of lectures from different years that Volodymyr Naumenko read to teachers of people's schools. He constantly was expressing his conviction that the most effective school education may exist only when it is conducted in the native language.

In 1905 Naumenko established his own private gymnasium in Kyiv. Among its alumni was the famous Ukrainian poet Maksym Rylsky.

Scientific works Naumenko was an author of several works on Ukrainian grammar. In addition, he engaged in ethnographic studies and published critical works dedicated to historical works of Ukrainian literature, including the Tale of Igor's Campaign, as well as writings by Ivan Kotliarevsky, Taras Shevchenko, Leonid Hlibov and other authors. In 1897 Naumenko co-authored a dictionary of Ukrainian language, which was later reworked by Borys Hrinchenko.

Naumenko served as the deputy of prominent historian Mykhailo Hrushevsky following his election as head of the Ukrainian Scientific Society. In 1913 Naumenko gifted his private library to the society. During his last years he was a member of the orthographic commission created by the government of the Ukrainian People's Republic, which was tasked with developing basic rules of Ukrainian orthography.

Participation in government

After the creation of Central Rada, Naumenko served as the deputy of its head Mykhailo Hrushevsky, and led the organization during the latter's absence. On that post Naumenko realized the program of Ukrainization in education, and served as the curator of Kyiv educational district. He opposed the removal of Russian scientists and intelligentsia from that process, and promoted federalist views, criticizing pro-independence activists such as Ivan Ohienko. In late 1918 Naumenko was appointed minister of education in the government of Pavlo Skoropadsky. On that position he actively participated in the establishment of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences and appointed Volodymyr Vernadsky as its head.

As minister, Naumenko opposed the mobilization of high school pupils and boy scouts into the army. Following the establishment of the Directorate and following occupation by the Bolsheviks, he continued to work in the structure of the Academy of Sciences.

Death On 7 July 1919 Naumenko was arrested by a Bolshevik patrol. On the next day he was executed by firing squad on accusation of "counterrevolutionary activities". A letter in Naumenko's defence was sent to the Bolshevik-controlled education ministry by Vernadsky and Ahatanhel Krymsky, but it arrived to the recipient on the next day after the scientist's execution.