Volyn local historian – priest Mykhailo Strumensky

Abstract

Significant transformations in public consciousness as a result of the war necessitate a special emphasis on preserving the historical memory of the people. In this regard, the activities of priests and church hierarchs have always been of great importance, who, by researching the history of villages, cities and towns, made a significant contribution to the development of local history, collaborated with scientific institutions, preserved religious and historical artifacts, and founded church repositories of antiquities, which grew into museums. Their cohort certainly includes priest Mikhail Konstantinovich Strumensky, who was shot by the NKVD in 1937. The purpose of the article: based on the archival documents and published works of Strumensky that have survived to this day, to trace his life and creative path and determine his contribution to the development of local history and museum work.The study used methods of analysis and synthesis that allow us to present a holistic picture of the priest's life in the context of the historical situation in the country at the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th century and focus on particularly important facts, which are considered in chronological order. Results: a comprehensive study of M. Strumensky's scientific heritage was conducted, the catalogs of manuscript books of the 14th – 17th centuries compiled by him, his articles dedicated to the history of the Orthodox Church, biblical and historical characters and church hierarchs and local history essays dedicated to the architectural monuments of Ostroh were analysed. It has been established that the objectivity, impartiality, and value of M. Strumensky's research is due to the fact that they are based on the processing of dozens of scientific publications by domestic and foreign authors and archival documents that were kept at that time in churches, monasteries, and private individuals and which, unfortunately, are lost today. The novelty of the study lies in the fact that for the first time the main results of the theological, historical and local history works of M. Strumensky have been introduced into scientific circulation, as well as documentary sources regarding his biography and the activities of the Brotherhood named after the Princes of Ostroh and the Ostroh County Committee for the Protection of Monuments of Art and Antiquities, with which he collaborated. The significant contribution of M. Strumensky to the development of historical local history has been identified. The conclusions state that Mykhailo Strumensky is a vivid example of a personality in whom a priest and a scientist, historian, local historian, and archivist harmoniously combined. Science provided interesting material for his extraordinary intellect, faith in God - the meaning of life, which he saw in serving people. He fulfilled this mission to the end, sharing the tragic fate of thousands of repressed priests as a result of the “Great Terror” of 1937–1938, which destroyed the enormous spiritual potential of the people.