Укр Eng
+380 (44) 278-58-91
Pravova derzhava. <span>Scientific articles yearbook</span>
  1. Home
  2.  ⇒ 
  3. “Pravova derzhava”. Issue 36 (2025)
  4.  ⇒ 
  5. Stefan Borysenok: a bright representative of the kyiv academic school of legal historian

“Pravova derzhava”. Issue 36 (2025), pages 204–220.

DOI: 10.33663/0869-2491-2025-36-204-220

Usenko Igor
Stefan Borysenok: a bright representative of the kyiv academic school of legal historian

Introduction. Ukrainian legal historian Stefan Borysenok is a figure of growing interest in both academic and societal contexts. As a close collaborator and student of academicians M. Vasylenko and O. Malinovskyi, he played an active role in three legal commissions of the All-Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, which focused respectively on the history of Western Russian and Ukrainian law, customary (folk) law, and Soviet law.
His life was tragically cut short during the Stalinist purges. Today, his name and scholarly legacy are gradually being restored from forced oblivion. Nevertheless, a comprehensive academic biography that thoroughly analyzes his scientific contributions has yet to be produced.
Purpose of the Article. This publication aims to introduce new archival and other primary sources regarding Stefan Borysenok’s life and scholarly work. By doing so, it seeks to clarify his biography and evaluate his scientific contributions—an area still marked by significant gaps.
Results. The article continues a biographical research series on the history of legal scholarship within the All-Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, published over several decades in the journal Pravova Derzhava. Drawing on extensive archival research, special library collections, and the easing of ideological and self-imposed censorship barriers, the study reconstructs the main stages of Borysenok’s intellectual development.
It addresses several unresolved issues concerning his life and scholarly work and provides a consolidated list of key manuscripts and documents.
Conclusion. This study presents Borysenok as a leading figure of the Kyiv academic school of legal historians and commemorates his intellectual contributions, prematurely interrupted by Stalinist totalitarianism. However, the task of fully reconstructing his scholarly biography remains unfinished. The research process has revealed new avenues for further investigation, particularly concerning his family background, student years, and professional activity during the 1930s.

Key words: Ukraine, legal studies, history of legal science, Ukrainian legal history, All-Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, School of Historians of Law, Stefan Hnatovych Borysenok, scholarly biography, Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Ruska Pravda, legal historiography, political repression.

References

  1. Borysenok Stepan. Entsyklopediia ukrainoznavstva. Entsyklopediia ukrainoznavstva. Slovnykova chastyna. T. 1. Paryzh — Niu-York, 1955. S. 159.
  2. Polonska-Vasylenko N. D. Ukrainska Akademiia nauk: narys istorii. Chastyna 2 (1931–1941). Miunkhen : Instytut dlia vyvchennia SSSR, 1958. S. 69, 192.
  3. Polonska-Vasylenko N. D. Istorychna nauka v Ukraini za sovietskoi doby ta dolia istorykiv Zapysky Naukovoho Tovarystva im. T. Shevchenka. 1962. T. 173. S. 7–62.
  4. Mykola Prokopovych Vasylenko / Voronenko V. V., Kisterska L. D., Matveieva L. V., Usenko I. B. Kyiv : Nauk. dumka, 1991. S. 202, 204, 226, 228, 229, 231, 232, 234, 236 ta in.
  5. Usenko I. B. Rozvytok pravovykh doslidzhen v ustanovakh Vseukrainskoi Akademii nauk (1918–1941) Yurydychna nauka i osvita na Ukraini. Kyiv : Nauk. dumka, 1992. S. 37–76.
  6. Akademichna yurydychna dumka / Ukladachi: I. B. Usenko, T. I. Bondaruk; Za zah. red. Yu. S. Shemshuchenka. Kyiv .: In Yure, 1998. 503 s.
  7. Usenko I. B. Borysenok Stepan Hnatovych Yurydychna entsyklopediia. V 6 t. / Redkol.: Yu. S. Shemshuchenko (holova) ta in. T. 1 : A–H. К. : Ukrainska entsyklopediia, 1998. S. 262.
  8. Usenko I. B. Borysenok Stepan Hnatovych Antolohiia ukrainskoi yurydychnoi dumky: V 10 t. T. 2. Istoriia derzhavy i prava Ukrainy: Ruska Pravda / Uporiadnyky: I. B. Usenko, T. I. Bondaruk, I. V. Muzyka, I. K. Omelchenko; vidp. red. I. B. Usenko. Kyiv : VD «Yurydychna knyha», 2002. S. 388–389.
  9. Usenko I. B. Borysenok Stepan Hnatovych. Entsyklopediia suchasnoi Ukrainy. T. 3 : Bio–Bia. Kyiv : Polihrafknyha, 2004. S. 303.
  10. Usenko I. B. Borysenok, Stepan Hnatovych. Velyka ukrainska entsyklopediia. URL: https://vue.gov.ua/Борисенок, Stepan Hnatovych (data zvernennia: 21.04.2025).
  11. Mikhnevych L. V. Rozvytok yurydychnoi nauky i osvity v Kyivskomu komertsiinomu instytuti — Kyivskomu instytuti narodnoho hospodarstva, 1906–1930 rr. / Za zah. red. I. B. Usenka. Kyiv : KNEU, 2011. 286 s.
  12. Mikhnevych L. V. Kryminalno-pravovi problemy u naukovo-pedahohichnii diialnosti pravoznavtsiv Kyivskoho komertsiinoho instytutu/Kyivskoho instytutu narodnoho hospodarstva. Problemy protydii zlochynnosti: istoryko-pravovyi aspekt. Materialy KhVIII mizhnarodnoi istoryko-pravovoi konferentsii, 13–17 veresnia 2007 r., s. Sterehushche / Redkol.: O. V. Tymoshchuk (holova), D. V. Velihodskyi (vidpov. sekretar), O. N. Yarmysh ta in. Simferopol: DOLIa, 2008. S. 13-17.
  13. Usenko I. B. Derzhava i pravo Velykoho kniazivstva Lytovskoho u doslidzhenniakh vchenykh Vseukrainskoi Akademii nauk. Aktualni problemy derzhavy i prava : Zb. nauk. prats. Vyp. 49. Odesa, 2009. S. 25–32.
  14. Pravovyi zvychai yak dzherelo ukrainskoho prava IX–XIX st. / Vidp. red. I. B. Usenko. Kyiv : Nauk. dumka, 2006. 280 s.
  15. Usenko I. B. Kryminalistychni problemy u doslidzhenniakh uchenykh Vseukrainskoi Akademii nauk Problemy protydii zlochynnosti: istoryko-pravovyi aspekt. Materialy KhVIII mizhnarodnoi istoryko-pravovoi konferentsii, 13–17 veresnia 2007 r., s. Sterehushche / Redkol.: O. V. Tymoshchuk (holova), D. V. Velihodskyi (vidpov. sekretar), O. N. Yarmysh ta in. Simferopol: DOLIa, 2008. S. 3–15.
  16. Kudyn, Serhei. Sravnytelno-ystorycheskye yssledovanyia v trudakh S. H. Borysenka. Legea şi Viaţa. 2014, nr. 2/3(266), pp. 50-53.
  17. Svitlana Blashchuk. Stepan Borysenok: to the portrait of the scientist Ukraina Lithuanica : studii z istorii Velykoho kniazivstva Lytovskoho. 2021. T. 6. P. 199-218.
  18. Vashchuk D. P. Doslidzhennia ukrainskoho prava lytovskoi doby u «Pratsiakh Komisii dlia vyuchuvannia istorii zakhidno-ruskoho ta vkrainskoho prava». Istoriohrafichni doslidzhennia v Ukraini. Vyp. 27. Kyiv: Instytut istorii Ukrainy NAN Ukrainy, 2017, S. 306–333.
  19. Usenko I. B. Represovane pravoznavstvo: trahichni storinky istorii VUAN. Pravova derzhava. Shchorichnyk naukovykh prats In–tu derzhavy i prava NAN Ukrainy. Vyp. 9. Kyiv, 1998. S. 290–317.
  20. Filimonikhin Valerii. Borysenok Stefan. URL: https://bykivnia.org.ua/storinkamy-bykivnianskoho-martyroloha-stefan-borysenok/.
  21. Pervыi lytovskyi statut (1529 h.) = Pirmasis Lietuvos statutas (1529 m.) / S. Lazutka, Y. Valykonyte, Э. Hudavychius. Vylnius : Margi raštai, 2004, 521, [1].
  22. Vikikrыnitsы. Katэhorыia: Stsiapan Barыsenak. URL: https://be.wikisource.org/wiki/%D0%9A%D0%B0%D1%82%D1%8D%D0%B3%D0%BE%D1%80%D1%8B%D1%8F:%D0%A1%D1%86%D1%8F%D0%BF%D0%B0%D0%BD_%D0%91%D0%B0%D1%80%D1%8B%D1%81%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%B0%D0%BA
  23. Mikhnevych L. V. Mykola Vasylenko i Kyivskyi instytut narodnoho hospodarstva Pravova derzhava. Shchorichnyk naukovykh prats. Vyp. 27. Kyiv : VD «Yurydychna knyha», 2016. S. 23–30
Back to contents