Ukrainian Gymnasium in Chernivtsi

Ukrainian Gymnasium in Chernivtsi (Ukrainska himnaziia v Chernivtsiakh; Українська гімназія в Чернівцях). Founded in Chernivtsi in 1896 as the Ukrainian counterpart of the German-language gymnasium in the city, the institution provided Ukrainian-language instruction in all areas of study and had a predominantly Ukrainian staff. By 1913 it had 560 students and 34 teachers. After the Romanian occupation of Bukovyna the gymnasium was Romanianized, beginning in 1920. The name was changed in 1922 from the Ukrainian State Gymnasium to the Fourth Gymnasium, and in 1930 it became the Liceul Marele Voievod Mihai. In 1925–7 Romanian became the language of instruction, and after 1927 even Ukrainian language courses were cancelled. After the Soviet occupation of Bukovyna in 1940 the gymnasium was turned into a ten-year school. Some of the notable figures who taught at the gymnasium were A. Artymovych, A. Klym, Myron Korduba, Volodymyr Kmitsykevych, Yuliian Kobyliansky, and Mykola Ravliuk. Under the Soviet rule after 1940 the gymnasium was transformed into a ten-year school.

[This article originally appeared in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine, vol. 5 (1993).]