An era of Ukrainian education and nation-building has come to an end: Vyacheslav Bryukhovetskyi has died

On 12 November, at the age of 80, the heart of the Hero of Ukraine, an outstanding literary scholar, educator, journalist, public figure, one of the founders of the People’s Movement of Ukraine, the driving force behind the revival of the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy (NaUKMA) and its honorary president, Vyacheslav Stepanovich Bryukhovetskyi (1947–2026).

Vyacheslav Bryukhovetskyi belonged to a group of nation-builders who, at the turn of the era, not only fought for Ukraine’s independence but also laid its institutional and ideological foundations. In 1991, he set about realising a vision that seemed impossible to many of his contemporaries — to revive the legendary Kyiv-Mohyla Academy as a modern European centre of education and science.

The educational revolution and the creation of a new kind of university

Thanks to Vyacheslav Bryukhovetskyi’s strategic vision and perseverance, the revived Mohyla Academy became Ukraine’s first innovative institution of higher education, entirely Ukrainian-speaking and free from post-Soviet vestiges and corruption. The university has seamlessly combined centuries-old academic traditions with the best practices of Western education.

Under the leadership of Vyacheslav Stepanovich, the academy introduced a series of systemic innovations which subsequently transformed the country’s entire education sector:

Western educational standards

In 1996, NaUKMA launched Ukraine’s first Master’s programmes, and in 2008, it established a Doctoral School offering the country’s first structured programmes for the award of a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD).

University autonomy and self-governance

A culture of mutual trust, genuine student self-governance and critical thinking took root at the university, whilst Vyacheslav Bryukhovetskyi himself consistently championed the rights of higher education institutions within the Consortium for University Autonomy (2005–2010).

Civic stance

The Kyiv-Mohyla Academy community has become a driving force behind democratic reforms in Ukraine, playing a key role during the Orange Revolution (2004–2005) and the Revolution of Dignity (2013–2014).

The greatest achievement — a generation of free Ukrainians

The main outcome of Vyacheslav Bryukhovetskyi’s many years of work has been thousands of graduates — a generation of Mohyla Academy alumni, brought up on the principles of responsibility, dignity and service to the state. Today, the graduates of the academy he revived form the country’s intellectual and administrative elite: they work in the public sector, academia, diplomacy, culture, the media and business, whilst hundreds of them are taking up arms to defend Ukraine’s independence on the front line.

The fond memory of Vyacheslav Stepanovich Bryukhovetsky will forever remain in the history of Ukrainian state-building, national science and education. His life’s work will continue to live on in the values of freedom, within the walls of the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, which he revived, and in the hearts of his grateful students and colleagues.

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