Petro Tymofiiovych Tronko (; 12 July 1915 – 12 September 2011) was a Ukrainian academician of the

National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine The National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (NASU; , ; ''NAN Ukrainy'') is a self-governing state-funded organization in Ukraine that is the main center of development of Science and technology in Ukraine, science and technology by coordinatin ...

and veteran of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He was the head of the editorial collegium for the 26-volume encyclopedia on ''

The History of Cities and Villages of the Ukrainian SSR ''The History of Cities and Villages of the Ukrainian SSR'' () is a Ukrainian encyclopedia, published in 26 volumes. It provides knowledge about the history of all populated places in Ukraine. It was approved by the Communist Party of Ukraine in 1 ...

''.

Early life and career

Born during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

in 1915 to a peasant family in

Sloboda Ukraine Sloboda Ukraine, also known locally as ''Slobozhanshchyna'' or ''Slobozhanshchina'', is a historical region in northeastern Ukraine and southwestern Russia. It developed from Belgorod Razriad and flourished in the 17th and 18th centuries on the ...

, Tronko started to work in 1932 in mines of Dzerzhynsk. Eventually, after finishing some teaching classes, he worked as a teacher of social sciences and the Ukrainian language in the village school of

Bohodukhiv Raion Bohodukhiv Raion () is a raion (district) in Kharkiv Oblast of Ukraine. Its administrative center is the town of Bohodukhiv. Population: On 18 July 2020, as part of the administrative reform of Ukraine, the number of raions of Kharkiv Oblast was ...

and as director of Lebedyn children's home. Since 1937 he worked in

Komsomol The All-Union Leninist Young Communist League, usually known as Komsomol, was a political youth organization in the Soviet Union. It is sometimes described as the youth division of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU), although it w ...

and in 1939 joined the Communist Party of Soviet Union. In 1939 Tronko was a member of the Western Ukrainian People's Assembly that voted in for the

Western Ukraine Western Ukraine or West Ukraine (, ) refers to the western territories of Ukraine. There is no universally accepted definition of the territory's boundaries, but the contemporary Ukrainian administrative regions ( oblasts) of Chernivtsi, I ...

to join the

Ukrainian SSR The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, abbreviated as the Ukrainian SSR, UkrSSR, and also known as Soviet Ukraine or just Ukraine, was one of the Republics of the Soviet Union, constituent republics of the Soviet Union from 1922 until 1991. ...

. During

he was a member of the South-western, Stalingrad, Southern, 4th Ukrainian fronts, participated in the defense of Kyiv and Stalingrad and later in the liberation of Rostov, Donbas, Left-bank Ukraine, and Kyiv. One of the first, Tronko entered the liberated Kyiv on 6 November 1943 as a major and was appointed the first secretary of the city and regional

organization. In 1947 he was dismissed from the position due to accusations of

Lazar Kaganovich Lazar Moiseyevich Kaganovich (; – 25 July 1991) was a Soviet politician and one of Joseph Stalin's closest associates. Born to a Jewish family in Ukraine, Kaganovich worked as a shoemaker and joined the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party ...

in "nationalistic perversions".

Post-war

His dismissal from Komsomol work, Tronko used for education and in 1948 he graduated from the Historical faculty of Kyiv University. The same year Tronko enrolled into aspirantura of the Academy of Social Sciences (today – Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration) of the

Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union The Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union was the Central committee, highest organ of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) between Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Congresses. Elected by the ...

defending his dissertation in three years. In 1951-60 Tronko worked for the Kyiv regional committee of the

Communist Party of Ukraine The Communist Party of Ukraine (CPU or KPU) is a banned political party in Ukraine. It was founded in 1993 and claimed to be the successor to the Soviet-era Communist Party of Ukraine, which had been banned in 1991. In 2002 it held a "unifi ...

and in 1960-61 he headed the department of propaganda and ideological agitation for the party. During the next 17 years (1961–78) Tronko worked as a Deputy Chairman of the

Council of Ministers of the Ukrainian SSR Council of Ministers of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic () was the highest executive and administrative body of state power of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, government (1946–1991). The council replaced the Council of People's C ...

taking care of matters on culture, education, healthcare, press, book publishing, cinema, radio and television broadcasting, social sciences and archives. He was a member of

Verkhovna Rada The Verkhovna Rada ( ; VR), officially the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, is the unicameralism, unicameral parliament of Ukraine. It consists of 450 Deputy (legislator), deputies presided over by a speaker. The Verkhovna Rada meets in the Verkhovn ...

for nine convocations. In 1968 Tronko defended his doctorate dissertation "Ukrainian people in the fight against Hitlerites occupiers during the Great Patriotic War (1941-45)". In 1969 Tronko initiated the creation of Pyrohiv scansen that was opened in 1976.

In independent Ukraine

He was a deputy of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. He was an advisor to the President

Leonid Kuchma Leonid Danylovych Kuchma (, ; born 9 August 1938) is a Ukrainian politician who was the second president of Ukraine, serving from 19 July 1994 to 23 January 2005. The only president of Ukraine to serve two terms, his presidency was marked by demo ...

on the preservation of historical heritage. Shortly before his death, he suffered a stroke. He was buried in Kyiv on the central alley of Baikove Cemetery. A memorial plaque was installed in his honor, in his native village. In 2015, in Kyiv, the nameless passage between Zabolotny Street and the Pyrohiv Museum was named after academician Tronko.

References

External links