Kyiv’s Intellectual Environment on the Eve of the Valuev Directive

Abstract

The article discusses the conditions which galvanized the intellectual community in Kyiv prior to the 1863 January Uprising (aka Polish Insurrection of 1863-64). It analyzes local press coverage of the language debate, and delves into the worldviews of its participants, including Mykhailo Maksymovych, Mykhailo Iuzefovych, Mykola Kostomarov, Ksenofont Hovors'kyi, and others. It identifies how and why the results of this debate influenced the issuance of the 1863 Valuev Directive, which banned the use of the Ukrainian language in print.