Presentation of the monograph «Mykola Govorov: The Secret History of an Adventurer Associate Professor»
On October 21, to mark the 10th anniversary of the founding of the Museum of the History of Technical Progress, a presentation of the monograph by Volodymyr Chop, Iryna Spudka, and Tetyana Vasylchuk «Mykola Govorov: The Secret History of an Associate Professor-Adventurer», published by the Zaporizhzhia publishing house «AA Tandem», took place.
The monograph by leading Zaporizhzhia historians is dedicated to the study of the life and activities of Mykola Oleksandrovych Govorov (1899–1949), the first dean of the Faculty of Mechanics and Technology of the Zaporizhzhia Institute of Agricultural Machine Building (1938), the first head of the Department of «Machine Parts», as well as the brother of Marshal of the USSR Leonid Govorov.
The anabasis of an associate professor-adventurer who managed to survive the fire of revolutions and the bloodiest military operations, and later became a famous engineer-teacher, is amazing. Before taking up the position of a mechanical engineering teacher at the Zaporizhzhia Industrial Technical School, Mykola Govorov was an officer in various anti-Soviet armies (1918–1920), and then an anti-Kolchak rebel and a Soviet «military expert». Based on materials from the State Archives of Zaporizhzhia Oblast, the Russian State Military Archives, the State Archives of Altai Krai, archival materials from the Yelabuga Museum-Reserve and the Museum of the History of Scientific Progress of the Zaporizhzhia Polytechnic National University, and the memoirs of former students and teachers, the authors attempted to study the course of the dizzying turns of Govorov’s military and teaching career and his life strategy for survival in the conditions of revolution and the communist totalitarian system. Through the prism of the extraordinary personality of Mykola Govorov, the authors were able to tell the general public about many little-known pages of the history of our university in 1920–1940.
This publication has become an important addition to the history of the revolutionary events of 1918–1921 in the region, the history of Ukrainian science and technology, the history of higher education in Ukraine, in particular the history of the oldest educational institution in the region — Zaporizhzhia Polytechnic National University.
The following spoke at the presentation with words of support: Vice-Rector Andriy Ivanchenko, Dean of the Faculty of Humanities Tetyana Khitrova, Head of the Department of Ukrainian Studies and Historical and Philosophical Studies Heorhiy Shapovalov, Director of the Museum of the History of Technical Progress of the Zaporizhzhia Polytechnic National University Nataliya Derkach, Head of the Zaporizhzhia Scientific Society named after Ya. Novytskyi Serhiy Bilivnenko, Head of the Museum of History of the ZNU Volodymyr Linnikov, Director of the AA Tandem Publishing House Viktor Tekuch.
The presented publication is dedicated to the 10th anniversary of the Foundation Day of the Museum of the History of Technical Progress of the Zaporizhzhia Polytechnic National University and is largely based on the materials of its funds. This book is the first monograph dedicated to the life and activities of one of the figures of our university in its entire history. Anyone interested can read the text of the monograph, which is placed in the university repository along with the publication.
