Outstanding legal historian Lev Okinshevych: sources for scientific biography

Abstract

Introduction. 2023 marks the 125th anniversary of the birth of the famous Ukrainian legal historian L. O. Okinshevich (Okynshevich). Dozens of biographical publications are devoted to the scientist, which are mainly based on his memoirs. Due to the lack of objective primary sources, there are quite a lot of substantive gaps and factual in accuracies in these publications. The aim of the article. Introduction into scientific circulation of archival and other primary sources about the life and work of L. O. Okinshevych and on this basis some clarification of the Ukrainian period of the biography of the scientist, in which until now there were still a lot of lacunae, Results. In the context of the modern anthropological approach, new facts and assessments are offered regarding the life path of the secretary of the Commission for Studying the History of Western Ruthenian and Ukrainian Law of the All-Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, and later one of the most prominent representatives of the science of the Ukrainian diaspora L. O. Okinshevych. Newly discovered or little-known archival and other historical sources are analyzed that will help clarify the biography of the scientist. Conclusion. With the help of newly discovered primary sources, it was possible to clarify a number of facts аbout the scientist’s biography and information about his family environment. The directions of further archival searches are determined; versions of possible persons of the scientist’s grandfather and some other relatives are formulated. Key words: Ukraine, jurisprudence, history of legal science, history of Ukrainianlaw, All-Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, Okinshevych (Okynshevych) L. O., scientifi cbiography, legal biography, historical sources.