CONTRIBUTION OF O. V. BOLDYREV (1963–2001) IN THE REVIVAL OF THE TRADITIONS OF UKRAINIAN NATIONAL UKRAINISTS IN THE ODESA I. I. MECHNIKOV STATE UNIVERSITY IN THE1990S

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to study the scientific and public work of the famous Odesa historian O. V. Boldyrev in the 1990s. His activity was studied, which was aimed at the formation of the Ukrainian model of historical memory in Odesa, the study of the history of the Ukrainian national movement. The close connection of the historian with the Оdesa I. I. Mechnikov State University. He was a graduate of the Faculty of History and a graduate student of the Department of Political Science. Historian’s high-profile works, which he published while he was a graduate student at the university, made the university known to as many people as possible as a center of free, innovative thought. The thesis of a scientist for the degree of candidate of political sciences was one of the most successful postgraduate projects of that time from the university. The scientist thought in broad international categories, sought to include domestic historical and political science in international achievements, which is certainly a task for the development of the university now. Scientific activity of O. V. Boldyrev vividly reflected the dynamism of Ukrainian history in the 1990s, the romantic and idealistic desire of the Ukrainian intelligentsia to return Ukraine to the free world after years of totalitarian «non-existence», to revive and enlighten its people and transform them into a nation. Some of the young historians no longer accepted the established conjuncture and rules and tried to reassess them, in particular, regarding established historical myths. The specificity of Odesa was not so much a sharp confrontation between the epigones of communism and nationalism, as between supporters of the «new Russian myth» and supporters of independent Ukraine (however, this did not always mean and still means their affiliation to one of the currents of Ukrainian nationalism as an ideological doctrine). One of the main tools in this process was to become historical education and science. The name O. V. Boldyrev should be included in a kind of canon of outstanding graduates of Odesa I. I. Mechnikov State University among the persons who achieved regional recognition, scientists, enthusiasts who paved new ways of knowledge. It should inspire new generations even now.