Chernovtsy, University of

a university in the city of Chernovtsy, Ukrainian SSR. Founded in 1875 on the basis of a seminary, it initially comprised the faculties of theology, law, and philosophy. During the years of Austrian rule in Bucovina (until 1918), German was the language of instruction. After the capture of Bucovina by boyar Rumania in 1918, the University of Chernovtsy was transformed into a Rumanian university (in 1920). During the 1938–39 academic year, 3.7 percent of the students were Ukrainians (in 1939–40 only four Ukrainians, that is, 0.8 percent, graduated). During the 1930’s, a Marxist club and an underground Communist organization were active at the university.

In 1940, after Northern Bucovina once again became part of the Ukraine, the University of Chernovtsy was made a Soviet state university, with seven departments, and Ukrainian became the language of instruction. During the years of Soviet power, the university has become a major scientific and cultural center. It has (1977) departments of history, philology, foreign languages, mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, geography, and general technology. It has a general correspondence school, a correspondence school in economics, an evening division, a division for preparing students for enrollment in the university, a department for improving professional qualifications, and a graduate school. It also has 51 subdepartments, a botanical garden (founded 1877), a biological station, an experimental fish plant, seismic and meteorological stations, and two special problem laboratories, one in the physics of semiconductors and one in the thermodynamics of nonreversible processes in chemistry. In addition, it has museums of zoology, botany, geology, and the history of the university. Its research library has more than 1.7 million books.

During the 1976–77 academic year, the University of Chernovtsy had an enrollment of about 10,000 students and a teaching staff of more than 500, including 26 professors and doctors of sciences and more than 290 docents and candidates of sciences. During the period of Soviet power, the university has trained more than 22,000 specialists. It has been awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor (1975).