Volodymyr Boshko: an attempt to make a scientific biography of a scholar

Abstract

On the basis of the sources published and new archival materials, more accurate information on well-known jurist Volodymyr Boshko’s life and his scientific, teaching and public activities is provided. For the first time, information on the unlawful repression of the scientist’s daughter and older brother is given. The main stages of his life, career, and scientific heritage are described. The little known scientific works of the jurist have been returned to scientific circulation. Particular attention is paid to Boshko’s early social and political essays. His achievements in the spheres of history of law and family law have been identified. It is emphasized that professor Boshko was the author of the first Soviet textbook on history of political and legal studies, which had been the only one for 30 years. It also has been found out that his scientific works concerning problems of the legal status of spouses and illegitimate children, alimony law and factual marriage are still relevant. The legal positions of the scholar on issues of state law, in particular the notions of sovereignty, equality of states, sovereignty of federations, content and legal nature of some human rights, are also covered. The works of the professor in the fields of civil and agrarian law are also mentioned.
 His talent as a teacher and the head of a number of academic institutions is indicated, in particular the attention is paid to his educational activity in various academic institutions of railway transport. The information on Boshko’s initiative on the state program “Big Dnieper” is given. The jurist’s affiliation to the activities of Kyiv Branch of the All-Ukrainian Scientific Association of Oriental Studies and of the All-Ukrainian Academy of Sciences has been revealed. For the first time, the scholar’s initiative to establish the Institute of Law and the Department of Philosophy of Law in the system of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR is covered in detail.
 The milestones of the scientist’s life in the evacuation and post-war years of his activity at the Law Faculty of Kyiv University are reproduced in general terms. It is found that in recent years, the scholar had been actively working on his doctoral thesis on Soviet family law and had been preparing a three-volume work in history of political and legal studies, but these works were not completed.