Danylo Scherbakivskyi

The future scientist received his education at the historical and philological faculty of St. Volodymyr Kyiv University. Even during his studies, the young man became interested in the search for Ukrainian antiquities.

From 1910, he headed the historical and domestic department and the folk art department of the Kyiv Art, Industrial, and Scientific Museum (now the National Museum of the History of Ukraine). Every year, Danylo Scherbakivskyi travelled with expeditions to various cities and villages of Ukraine, collecting items for the museum.

During the First World War, the researcher was an officer on the Galician front. Even there, he continued his museum activities, photographing and trying to preserve the ancient Galician churches, icons, handwritten Gospels, embroideries, etc. from destruction. Later, Danylo Scherbakivskyi handed over the salvaged items to the museum. In particular, in the village of Voskresyntsi, he purchased gerdans of the late 19th century.

During the second half of 1924, the scientist became one of the co-organizers of the Ethnographic Society in Kyiv. In addition to organizational work on the creation of this society, Danylo Scherbakivskyi was engaged in scientific and educational activities. 

Especially in his first book, "Notes of the Ethnographic Society," his expertise about the Department of Folk Art of the T. Shevchenko All-Ukrainian Historical Museum is apparent.

About three hundred items from the museum collection were exhibited there. The scientist played a direct part in filling and forming the museum collection of carpets.

On July 5, 1925, Danylo Scherbakivskyi became a co-author of the exhibition, "Ukrainian historical portrait of the 17th-20th centuries," which occupied 5 halls of the museum. In the first exhibition hall, paintings of the XVII–XVIII centuries were presented, in particular several portraits of the Vyshnevetski princes, which were among the first to be deposited in the Kyiv Museum of Antiquities and Arts (predecessor of VIM) in 1899.

On June 6, 1927, at the age of 49, Danylo Shcherbakivskyi committed suicide in Kyiv. During his short life, Danylo collected and attributed about 30,000 exhibits, which became the basis of the collections of the National Museum of the History of Ukraine, the National Art Museum, and the Museum of Ukrainian Folk Decorative Art. He visited almost all of Ukraine, collecting rarities, often buying them with his own money, denying himself the most necessary things.

He had no family and basically lived at the museum. It can be considered a real feat that the ascetic managed to save a significant number of unique monuments from inevitable death when he was on the fronts of the First World War, as well as during the years of the revolution, liberation struggles, and during anti-religious campaigns.