The Central State Historical Archive of Ukraine in Kyiv (CSHAU) held an extended meeting of its board, during which it summarized the institution’s activities for 2025 and identified key priorities for 2026, according to the archive’s Facebook page.
“An extended meeting of the board of the Central State Historical Archive of Ukraine in Kyiv was held, during which the results of the archive’s work in 2025 were summarized and priorities for 2026 were determined. The main results of the archive’s work are reflected in the presentation,” said the head of the Central State Historical Archive of Ukraine, Yaroslav Fayzulin.
The meeting was attended by the director and deputy directors of the archive, heads of structural units, as well as invited members of the board, in particular, Iryna Dubok, head of the archival department of the State Archival Service of Ukraine, Viktor Brekhunenko, head of the department of archival archaeography at the M.S. Hrushevsky Institute of Ukrainian Archaeography and Source Studies of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Iryna Matyash, leading researcher at the Institute of History of Ukraine of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, and the head of the department of archival science and source studies at the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. M.S. Hrushevsky Institute of Ukrainian Archeography and Source Studies of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Iryna Matyash, leading researcher at the Institute of History of Ukraine of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, and Marina Palienko, head of the Department of Archival Studies and Special Fields of Historical Science at the Faculty of History of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv.
As noted, the results of the work of the Central State Archives of Ukraine in 2025 and the main priority tasks for 2026 were announced in a report by the director of the archives, Yaroslav Fayzulin.
After hearing and discussing the report, the board recognized the work of the archive over the past year as satisfactory and determined the main areas of activity for 2026, taking into account the Strategy for the Protection of Documentary Heritage as a guarantee of the preservation of national identity and statehood for the period until 2027, as well as the priorities of the State Archival Service of Ukraine.
The results of the activities of the Central State Historical Archive of Ukraine are also reflected in a presentation prepared by the archive.
As previously reported, documents on the birth of Taras Shevchenko were displayed at the Central State Historical Archive of Ukraine in Kyiv. In addition, the head of the archive, Yaroslav Fayzulin, in a comment for the “Culture” section of the Interfax-Ukraine agency, spoke about the institution’s most valuable collections and demonstrated a selection of unique documents, old prints, maps, and manuscripts that form the “treasure trove of Ukraine’s archival heritage” and present it to the world.
The Central State Historical Archive of Ukraine in Kyiv holds one of the key documents related to the life of Taras Shevchenko—his birth certificate. This document was shown by the director of the Central State Historical Archive of Ukraine in Kyiv, Yaroslav Fayzulin, to the head of the Culture department of the Interfax-Ukraine agency, Olga Levkun.
The record was made in the metric book of the Church of St. John the Theologian in the village of Morintsy, Zvenigorodsky District, Kyiv Province. It records the birth of the future poet on February 25, 1814 (March 9 according to the new style).
Archivists note that metric books are important primary sources for historians and researchers, as they contain official records of births, baptisms, marriages, and deaths. Such documents make it possible to reconstruct the biographies of historical figures and family histories.
In addition to Shevchenko’s birth record, the archive also contains other documents relating to his family. In particular, there are confessional records — church books recording parishioners.
Among these records is a mention of the family of Hryhorii Shevchenko, the father of the future poet. The document mentions his wife Kateryna and their children—Mykita, Taras, and Yosyp.
Historians explain that confession records were kept not only for church records. They were also used by the Russian Empire authorities to register the population and collect taxes, which is why they are of significant historical value today.
Taras Shevchenko was born into a peasant family in Morintsy, Cherkasy region. Despite a difficult childhood and early orphanhood, he became one of the key figures of Ukrainian culture — a poet, artist, and thinker whose work shaped new Ukrainian literature and became a symbol of national identity.
The archival document with the poet’s birth record is kept in the Central State Historical Archive of Ukraine: f. 127, op. 1012, spr. 1378, ark. 695 zv.
https://interfax.com.ua/news/culture/1150203.html
