Monumental Protective Initiatives in Chernihiv in 1917
The purpose of the article is to detail V. Modzalevskyi's work concerning protection of Chernihiv museums during July-November 1917, based on his written requests addressed to the city administration. The research methods conform to the stated purpose. They are based on the principle of historicism and objectivity. There are general scientific (analysis, induction) and special-historical (historical-comparative, historical-systemic, historical-genetic) methods. The scientific novelty is that for the first time the interaction between the City Government and V. Modzalevskyi, the Provincial Commissar for the Protection of Art Monuments and Antiquities concerning the preservation of artifacts concentrated in museums and cathedrals of Chernihiv at the time was studied. Based on the processed materials, we can draw the following conclusions. The revolutionary events in 1917 allowed peoples of imperial Russia to hope for a quickly solution to a number of persistent problems in all life spheres of the state and society. Ukrainians set out to restore their statehood by creating a representative body, the Central Rada, which was transformed in April 1917 into a revolutionary parliament that led the national movement in the Dnieper region. Among its active participants were individuals who, despite the war and the deep socio-economic crisis, were aware of the importance of cultural and spiritual heritage for the process of restoring Ukrainian statehood, strengthening ethnic self-identification. One of them is Vadym Modzalevskyi, the Chernihiv Provincial Commissar for the Protection of Art Monuments and Antiquities, and the head of the Committee for the Protection of Art Monuments and Antiquities. Thanks to him, monument protection measures were initiated to preserve the antiquities of the Chernihiv United Historical Museum and the scientific archival commission, the Museum of Ukrainian Antiquities named after V.V. Tarnovskyi, the diocesan ancient repository located in the Trinity Cathedral, Orthodox shrines. The ...