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Vasyl' Stus Donetsk National University (Vasyl' Stus DonNU) ( uk, Донецький національний університет імені Василя Стуса, ''Donets’kyi Natsional’nyi Universytet''; russian: Донецкий национальный университет имени Василия Стуса) one of the leading higher educational institutions of
Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
. The university's history starts in 1937 from the moment of creation of a pedagogical institute in
Donetsk Donetsk ( , ; uk, Донецьк, translit=Donets'k ; russian: Донецк ), formerly known as Aleksandrovka, Yuzivka (or Hughesovka), Stalin and Stalino (see also: Names of European cities in different languages (C–D), cities' alternat ...
(then ''Stalino''). In 1965, the institute was transformed into ''Donetsk State University''. It was accorded the ''National'' status in 2000. In 2014, due to the
War in Donbas War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...
, a number of teachers and students left Donetsk and subsequently reestablished the university as Vasyl' Stus Donetsk National University in
Vinnytsia Vinnytsia ( ; uk, Вінниця, ; yi, װיניצע) is a city in west-central Ukraine, located on the banks of the Southern Bug. It is the administrative center of Vinnytsia Oblast and the largest city in the historic region of Podillia. A ...
. At the same time, the majority of teachers and students remained in Donetsk, therefore splitting the university in two.


History


1937 to 1945

On July 15, 1937, a decree from the
Ukrainian SSR The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic ( uk, Украї́нська Радя́нська Соціалісти́чна Респу́бліка, ; russian: Украи́нская Сове́тская Социалисти́ческая Респ ...
established the Stalin State Pedagogical Institute in the city of Stalino (Donetsk). Its first director was Oleksandr Yevdokymenko, who was arrested in 1938 and sentenced to ten years imprisonment during
Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secreta ...
's
Great Purge The Great Purge or the Great Terror (russian: Большой террор), also known as the Year of '37 (russian: 37-й год, translit=Tridtsat sedmoi god, label=none) and the Yezhovshchina ('period of Nikolay Yezhov, Yezhov'), was General ...
. Originally the institute consisted of two departments, History and Philology, and had five chairs. Serhiy Ksenofontov became its head in 1940 and added the Physics-Mathematical Faculty in 1941. Due to
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
's invasion of the
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
in
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, in 1941 the institute was evacuated first to
Kungur Kungur (russian: Кунгу́р) is a town in the southeast of Perm Krai, Russia, located in the Ural Mountains at the confluence of the rivers Iren and Shakva with the Sylva ( Kama's basin). Population: 64,800 (1959); 36,000 (1939). His ...
and soon thereafter to Molotov, where it was liquidated. It was reestablished in 1943, following the liberation of Donetsk, by a decision of the Council of People's Commissars of the
Ukrainian SSR The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic ( uk, Украї́нська Радя́нська Соціалісти́чна Респу́бліка, ; russian: Украи́нская Сове́тская Социалисти́ческая Респ ...
.


After World War II

The school's Student Scientific Association, composed of two divisions – historical-philological and physical-mathematical – was established in 1951. In 1961, Mykola Khoroshailov took over from Ksenofontov as the head of the institute and its name was changed to Donetsk State Pedagogical Institute. In 1964, the institute was subordinated to
Kharkiv State University The Kharkiv University or Karazin University ( uk, Каразінський університет), or officially V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University ( uk, Харківський національний університет імені ...
and became a ''Donetsk branch of Kharkiv State University named after
Maksim Gorky Alexei Maximovich Peshkov (russian: link=no, Алексе́й Макси́мович Пешко́в;  – 18 June 1936), popularly known as Maxim Gorky (russian: Макси́м Го́рький, link=no), was a Russian writer and sociali ...
''. On May 28, 1965, the Soviet of Ministers of the USSR enacted a decree on organising the Donetsk State University (DonSU) based at the Donetsk branch of Kharkiv State University. Professor Leonid Lytvynenko became the first
rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...
of the university (1965–1968). 1965 saw the launch of post-graduate studies (with an initial enrollment of 16 students), the addition of the faculties of biology and physics, and the construction of the students' campus. Appointed the second rector of the university, Professor Yuriy Shevlyakov managed the institution from 1968 to 1970, during which the main 12-storey building was constructed. Professor Hryhoriy Tymoshenko was the third University rector (1970–1975). In 1972, the university's history museum was opened in the main building. Professor Hryhoriy Ponomarenko became the rector in 1975, followed by Professor Volodymyr Shevchenko in 1986. On September 11, 2000, the university was accorded national status by a decree of the
President of Ukraine The president of Ukraine ( uk, Президент України, Prezydent Ukrainy) is the head of state of Ukraine. The president represents the nation in international relations, administers the foreign political activity of the state, condu ...
,
Leonid Kuchma Leonid Danylovych Kuchma ( uk, Леоні́д Дани́лович Ку́чма; born 9 August 1938) is a Ukrainian politician who was the second president of Ukraine from 19 July 1994 to 23 January 2005. Kuchma's presidency saw numerous corrup ...
.


War in Donbas and move to Vinnytsia

During the
War in Donbas War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...
, part of the university relocated to
Vinnytsia Vinnytsia ( ; uk, Вінниця, ; yi, װיניצע) is a city in west-central Ukraine, located on the banks of the Southern Bug. It is the administrative center of Vinnytsia Oblast and the largest city in the historic region of Podillia. A ...
. In June 2016, 75 out of 105 staff members voted in favour of naming the university after one of its alumni, the poet
Vasyl Stus Vasyl Semenovych Stus ( uk, Васи́ль Семе́нович Стус; 6 January 1938, Rakhnivka, Ukrainian SSR – 4 September 1985, Perm-36, Kuchino, Russian SFSR) was a Ukrainian poet, translator, literary critic, journalist, and an active ...
.


Infrastructure

Vasyl' Stus Donetsk National University unites educational and research centers forming a complex that includes: 9 Faculties; 2 regional Training and Retraining Centers; Department of International Education, the UNESCO Department for Ecology in the Technogenous Region; Business Centre; Youth Centre for Legal Studies; the Laboratory for International Scientific and Technical Cooperation; Consulting Centres of the British, German and French Councils; Postgraduate Courses and Doctoral Studies etc.


Notable alumni

*
Ivan Dziuba Ivan Mykhailovych Dziuba ( uk, Іва́н Миха́йлович Дзю́ба; 26 July 1931 – 22 February 2022) was a Ukrainian literary critic, social activist, dissident, Hero of Ukraine, academic of National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, t ...
, Ukrainian academician, minister of culture, literary critic, author of "
Internationalism or Russification? ''Internationalism or Russification?'' ( uk, Інтернаціоналізм чи русифікація?) is a book by Ukrainian writer and social activist Ivan Dziuba, written in September–December 1965. Background The immediate impetus f ...
",
Holodomor The Holodomor ( uk, Голодомо́р, Holodomor, ; derived from uk, морити голодом, lit=to kill by starvation, translit=moryty holodom, label=none), also known as the Terror-Famine or the Great Famine, was a man-made famin ...
survivor, co-founder of the
People's Movement of Ukraine The People's Movement of Ukraine ( uk, Народний Рух України, Narodnyi Rukh Ukrayiny) is a Ukrainian political party and first opposition party in Soviet Ukraine. Often it is simply referred to as the Movement ( uk, Рух, R ...
*
Iya Kiva Iya Yanivna Kiva (another spelling - Ija Kiva) (; born May 4, 1984) is a Ukrainian poet, translator, journalist, and critic. She is the author of the books, ''Подальше от рая'' (Further from Heaven), ''Перша сторінка з ...
(born 1984), Ukrainian poet, translator, journalist, critic *
Hryhoriy Nemyria Hryhoriy Nemyria ( uk, Григорій Немиря) is the First Deputy Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Parliament of Ukraine and Deputy Chairman of the All-Ukrainian Union "Fatherland", Batkivshchyna. Family Nemyria is marrie ...
, Ukrainian politician, vice prime minister in the Second Tymoshenko Government *
Volodymyr Rafeienko Volodymyr Volodymyrovych Rafeienko (born November 25, 1969, in Donetsk) is a Ukrainian writer, novelist, and poet. From 1992 to 2018, he wrote his works in Russian, was mainly published in Russia and was considered a representative of Russian liter ...
, Russian and Ukrainian writer *
Vasyl Stus Vasyl Semenovych Stus ( uk, Васи́ль Семе́нович Стус; 6 January 1938, Rakhnivka, Ukrainian SSR – 4 September 1985, Perm-36, Kuchino, Russian SFSR) was a Ukrainian poet, translator, literary critic, journalist, and an active ...
, Ukrainian poet, Soviet dissident


Notes and references

''This article incorporates text from "History of the University" at th
Official Web Site of the University
whose republication is expressly allowed if referenced to www.donnu.edu.ua.'' {{authority control Universities and institutes established in the Soviet Union Universities in Ukraine Universities and colleges in Donetsk Buildings and structures in Vinnytsia Education in Vinnytsia 1937 establishments in Ukraine Educational institutions established in 1937 Institutions with the title of National in Ukraine National universities in Ukraine