Pages of the history of the intellectual Ukraine: Nobel movement

Abstract

The paper provides new data about involvement of domestic scientists in the Nobel movement from its foundation date. It offers the periodization of the development of the Ukrainian Nobel movement. The first period has a chronological frame from 1900 to 1917 and features the activity of Ukrainian scientists in support of and putting forward their colleagues for blue ribbon as well as a tangible influence on decisions of the Nobel committees and juries. The second period which lasted from 1917 to 1939, the beginning of World War ІІ (no Nobel prizes awarded between 1939 and 1943), demonstrated the decline in the international activity of Ukrainian scientists, including that in the Nobel movement. The third period from 1943 to 1991 was characterized by episodic participation of Ukrainian representatives in the Nobel movement as A. Nobel's initiative was ignored in the USSR (as to the Ukrainian diaspora, discussions and struggle for political leadership etc. in its quarters went on and as a result there was much talking about involvement in the Nobel movement but few actions). It is shown that today Ukraine has a sufficient intellectual potential to be a part of the group of leaders of the international Nobel movement. To boost the situation, the author suggests setting up a unified Nobel Prize Center at the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine and founding some periodicals covering the Nobel Prize awarding issues. To that end, it is primarily necessary to unite the available self-support organizations in Kyiv and Ukraine, which deal with the Nobel movement, improve their cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine and other entities engaged in the humanitarian field of the state.