Vasyl Bryantsev, the second director of the Institute of Botany in Kyiv: a historical portrait set against the tragedies of the 1930s

[Шевера, М., Чувікіна, Н. Василь Брянцев, другий директор Інституту ботаніки в Києві: історичний портрет крізь призму трагічних 1930-х років]

Myroslav Shevera¹,https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1178-0458

Natalia Chuvikina²,https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4069-2406

¹M. G. Kholodny Institute of Botany, NAS of Ukraine (Kyiv, Ukraine)

²M. M. Gryshko National Botanical Gardren, NAS of Ukraine (Kyiv, Ukraine)

Cite as

Shevera, M., & Chuvikina N. (2026). Vasyl Bryantsev, the second director of the Institute of Botany in Kyiv: a historical portrait set against the tragedies of the 1930s. GEO&BIO, 28, 127-142. [Ukrainian, with English summary]

doi: https://doi.org/10.53452/gb2811

pdf: G&B №28-2026_127-142_Shevera.pdf

Abstract

The article is devoted to Vasyl Bryantsev, the second director of the Institute of Botany of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR (now the M. G. Kholodny Institute of Botany, NAS of Ukraine) who held this position without being a biologist. Educated as a civil engineer, Bryantsev had previously served as a career military officer and later as administrator. His professional advancement was determined primarily by his membership in the Communist Party, which at the time played a decisive role in shaping institutional governance, controlling research agendas, and overseeing the political reliability of scientific personnel. Based on archival documents identified and examined in the Central State Archive of the Highest Authorities and Administration of Ukraine, the Scientific Archive of the Presidium of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, the State Archive of Odesa Oblast, and materials from the collections of the Vernadsky National Library of Ukraine, a biographical essay on Bryantsev has been prepared and his organizational activities analyzed. Bryantsev began working at the Institute in March 1935, initially as secretary of the party branch and as deputy director, and from October 1935 to March 1937 he served as director. He also headed the Laboratory of Technical Mycology, whose core activities consisted of assessing fungal damage to construction timber—work largely applied in nature and oriented toward practical, economically driven tasks. Only three short newspaper notes authored or co-authored by Bryantsev have been identified. No scientific publications or manuscripts have been found, and his scholarly contributions, if any existed, remain unknown. His organizational work, however, is well documented and focused primarily on overseeing the construction of a new building for the Institute and the development of the Botanical Garden (now the M.M. Gryshko National Botanical Garden, NAS of Ukraine). He also participated in various institute- and academy-level commissions. During 1941–1945, he was served in the Army as officer. After the war, he did not return to the Institute, and his subsequent fate remains unknown.

Key words

Vasyl Bryantsev, life path, organizational achievements, history of botany, Ukraine

Correspondence to: Myroslav Shevera; M. G. Kholodny Institute of Botany, NAS of Ukraine, 2 Tereshchenkivska Street, Kyiv 01004, Ukraine; e-mail: shevera.myroslav@ukr.net

Article info

Submitted: 21.11.2025. Revised: 10.12.2026. Accepted: 27.02.2026

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