Fedir Shvets ( ua, Фе́дір Петро́вич Швець ''Fedir Petrovych Shvets''; November 11, 1882 – June 20, 1940) was a

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid, liquid, and gaseous matter that constitutes Earth and other terrestrial planets, as well as the processes that shape them. Geologists usually study geology, earth science, or geophysics, althoug ...

, public activist, and statesman.

Biography

Shvets was born in Zhabotyn,

Cherkassky Uyezd Cherkassky Uyezd (''Черкасский уезд'') was one of the subdivisions of the Kiev Governorate of the Russian Empire. It was situated in the southeastern part of the governorate. Its administrative centre was Cherkassy (Cherkasy). Dem ...

, in the

Kiev Governorate Kiev Governorate, r=Kievskaya guberniya; uk, Київська губернія, Kyivska huberniia (, ) was an administrative division of the Russian Empire from 1796 to 1919 and the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic from 1919 to 1925. It wa ...

of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

. From 1909 after finishing the Natural Studies College of the

University of Tartu The University of Tartu (UT; et, Tartu Ülikool; la, Universitas Tartuensis) is a university in the city of Tartu in Estonia. It is the national university of Estonia. It is the only classical university in the country, and also its biggest ...

continued to work as an assistant at the Department of Geology. He actively participated in all the activities that took place in the university. Until 1916 simultaneously was teaching at the local gymnasium. In 1915 he was appointed as a

docent The title of docent is conferred by some European universities to denote a specific academic appointment within a set structure of academic ranks at or below the full professor rank, similar to a British readership, a French " ''maître de con ...

of the academic department of

paleontology Paleontology (), also spelled palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of life that existed prior to, and sometimes including, the start of the Holocene epoch (roughly 11,700 years before present). It includes the study of fossi ...

and while conducting research in the

Crimean peninsula Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a pop ...

and the

Caucasus mountains The Caucasus Mountains, : pronounced * hy, Կովկասյան լեռներ, : pronounced * az, Qafqaz dağları, pronounced * rus, Кавка́зские го́ры, Kavkázskiye góry, kɐfˈkasːkʲɪje ˈɡorɨ * tr, Kafkas Dağla ...

. In March 1917 Shvets returned to Ukraine. At the Congress of a Ukrainian village representatives (April 6–7, 1917) he was elected to the Central Committee (CC) of the Peasant Association from the Cherkassky Uyezd and also to the CC of the

Ukrainian Socialist-Revolutionary Party Ukrainian Socialist-Revolutionary Party (russian: Украинская партия социалистов-революционеров uk, Українська Партія Соціалістів-Революціонерів) was a political ...

(UPSR). In June 1917 at the 1st All-Ukrainian Peasant Congress Shvets was elected to the All-Ukrainian Council of Peasant's Deputies which later joined the

Central Rada The Central Council of Ukraine ( uk, Українська Центральна Рада, ) (also called the Tsentralna Rada or the Central Rada) was the All-Ukrainian council ( soviet) that united deputies of soldiers, workers, and peasants deputi ...

. During the same time he was working in the 2nd Kiev gymnasium and in the organizational committee for the creation of the Ukrainian People's University. In September 1918 he was appointed as a professor of geology in the Ukrainian State University in Kiev where he became its first pro-rector. At times of the

Ukrainian State The Ukrainian State ( uk, Українська Держава, translit=Ukrainska Derzhava), sometimes also called the Second Hetmanate ( uk, Другий Гетьманат, translit=Druhyi Hetmanat, link=no), was an anti-Bolshevik government ...

Shvets joined the Ukrainian National Union and on November 13, 1918 together with

Volodymyr Vynnychenko Volodymyr Kyrylovych Vynnychenko ( ua, Володимир Кирилович Винниченко, – March 6, 1951) was a Ukrainian statesman, political activist, writer, playwright, artist, who served as the first Prime Minister of Ukraine. ...

Symon Petliura Symon Vasylyovych Petliura ( uk, Си́мон Васи́льович Петлю́ра; – May 25, 1926) was a Ukrainian politician and journalist. He became the Supreme Commander of the Ukrainian Army and the President of the Ukrainian Peop ...

, Opanas Andrievsky, and Andriy Makarenko was elected to the Directorate. On November 15, 1919 with the agreement of both the Directorate and the government of the

Ukrainian People's Republic The Ukrainian People's Republic (UPR), or Ukrainian National Republic (UNR), was a country in Eastern Europe that existed between 1917 and 1920. It was declared following the February Revolution in Russia by the First Universal. In March 1 ...

(UNR) together with Makarenko departed abroad with a diplomatic assignment transferring all the power to Petliura. On May 25, 1920 the government of UNR dismissed him from the Directorate. While in emigration he was teaching in the Ukrainian high-schools in

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

where he lived in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...

. From 1923 Shvets was the professor of geology at the Ukrainian Liberal University and in 1924-1929 at the Ukrainian Higher Pedagogical Institute of Drahomanov. He was an author of numerous scientific works in

geology Geology () is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other astronomical objects, the features or rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Ea ...

. In 1928-1929 together with Andriy Makarenko and Opanas Andrievsky they created the Ukrainian National Rada. Shvets died in Prague.

Sources

* ''Малий словник історії України'' (Small dictionary of history of Ukraine), editor

Valeriy Smoliy Valeriy Smoliy ( uk, Валерій Андрійович Смолій) is a Ukrainian academician, historian, director of the NASU Institute of History of Ukraine. Smoliy was born on 1 January 1950 in a village Avratyn, Volochysk Raion, Kamianet ...

. "Lybid", Kyiv; 1997. {{DEFAULTSORT:Shvets, Fedir 1882 births 1940 deaths People from Cherkassky Uyezd University of Tartu alumni Ukrainian geologists Ukrainian democracy activists Ukrainian Socialist-Revolutionary Party politicians Russian Constituent Assembly members Soviet emigrants to Czechoslovakia Educators from the Russian Empire