Molchanivsky, Teodosii

Molchanivsky, Teodosii or Movchanivsky[Молчанівський, Теодосій; Molčanivs'kyj, Teodosij], b 9 May 1899 in Berestivtsi, Uman county, Kyiv gubernia, d 10 May 1938 in Kyiv. Archeologist. Educated at the Kyiv and Odesa theological seminaries, in 1925–32 he was the director of the regional studies museum in Berdychiv. He then worked from 1932 to 1937 for the All-Ukrainian Archeological Committee and its successor, the Institute of the History of Material Culture. He developed a solid reputation for his excavation of the Raiky fortified settlement as well as his study of archeological sites in and around Kyiv; however, his later study stating that the Saint Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery had no historical value was used to justify the monastery’s destruction. In 1937 Molchanivsky was arrested during the Stalinist terror and subsequently executed.

[This article originally appeared in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine, vol. 3 (1993).]