Stefanovych, Vasyl

Stefanovych, Vasyl [Стефанович, Василь; Stefanovyč, Vasyl'], b 1697, d ca 1773. Jurist and government official of the Cossack Hetman state. He studied at the Kyivan Mohyla Academy and in Germany, Prague, Vienna, Rome, Milan, and Venice. In 1722 he obtained a master’s degree in liberal arts and philosophy from Breslau University. In 1724 he became a translator in the chancellery of Peter I and a professor of rhetoric and philosophy at the theological seminary headed by Teofan Prokopovych in Saint Petersburg. In 1729 he was summoned to Hlukhiv by Hetman Danylo Apostol to head (until 1734) the commission that eventually produced the Code of Laws of 1743. He was made a fellow of the standard, and served as a captain of Lokhvytsia company (1729–51, with interruptions) and as regimental judge of Lubny regiment (1751–73).

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