National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy - History - Kiev Theological Academy

Kiev Theological Academy

Kyiv-Mohyla Academy was closed in 1817 by Tzar Alexander I of Russia. In response alumni of the Academy made a numerous unsuccessful petitions to the monarch regarding to turning Kyiv-Mohyla Academy (Kievo-Mohylyans'ka Academy) into a University. Instead, in 1819 Kyiv-Mohyla Academy (Kyivo-Mohylyans'ka Academy) was turned into Kiev Theological Academy- a purely clerical institution. On comparable terms to its predecessors admissions became open only to the children of the existing clergy. The key positions were held mostly by the alumni of the Saint Petersburg Seminary.

In years the need of a new type of the higher educational institution in the Capital of Ukraine Kiev has-been realized certainly. The psychological pressure of the mass upon the higher authorities for allowing an establishment of such a school was growing, but it took a long time before the actual event have happened. Thereby Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, as the first European type secular (modern) University of Kiev, was established in 1834 by the Tzar Nicholas I of Russia.

During the Soviet Union (USSR) era Kiev Theological Academy was closed, its library plundered and the main church of the school -Bogoyavlenskiy Cathedral- was destroyed. A military school have been developed instead . As of today the University building outside wall still bears mosaic portraying a military ship and the quotes by Vladimir Lenin as a remembrance of the school's totalitarian past.