Petro Tolochko

In this name that follows Eastern Slavic naming customs, the patronymic is Petrovych and the family name is Tolochko.
Petro Tolochko
Tolochko in 2009
Born(1938-02-21)February 21, 1938
Prystromy, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union
DiedApril 28, 2024 (2024-04-29) (aged 86)
Kyiv, Ukraine
CitizenshipSoviet Union (1938–1991) → Ukraine (1991-2024)
Alma materKiev State University
Known for
  • Books about history
  • political activism
Awards
Scientific career
Fields
  • Archaeology
  • medieval history
  • studies of Old Rus'
Institutions
Doctoral advisorBoris Rybakov

Petro Petrovych Tolochko (Ukrainian: Петро́ Петро́вич Толо́чко; 21 February 1938 – 28 April 2024) was a Soviet and Ukrainian historian, archaeologist, and political activist.[1] He was one of the leading specialists in history of the Kievan Rus (Old Rus) and one of leading researchers of the NASU Institute of Archaeology of Ukraine.

Tolochko was a doctor of historical sciences (1981), professor (1982), full member of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (1990), foreign member of the Russian Academy of Sciences (2011, on 8 March 2022 he announced the withdrawal of his membership[2]) and member of the World Russian People's Council.[3]

In Ukraine, Tolochko was heavily criticized for his pro-Russian views and for his disapproval of the country's relations with the EU and NATO.[4][5][6] In 2016, he was forced to quit his position as the director of the Institute of Archaeology of the NASU.[7] According to the Russian historian Ruslan Gagkuyev, Petro Tolochko was placed under house arrest in April 2023.[8][9]

Tolochko died on 28 April 2024, at the age of 86.[10]

  1. ^ Ivakin 2013.
  2. ^ NASU 2022.
  3. ^ WRPC 2018.
  4. ^ Tolochko 2018, p. 187.
  5. ^ Kot 2020.
  6. ^ Komersant 2024.
  7. ^ Komersant 2024, section 3: "Under public pressure, he was dismissed in 2016 from the post of director of the Institute of Archeology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine"
  8. ^ RHS 2023, section 3: "Сам автор не смог принять участие в презентации - с апреля 2023 года академик Национальной академии наук Украины находится под домашним арестом. [The author himself could not take part in the presentation - from April 2023, the academician of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine is under house arrest.]"
  9. ^ AllMedia 2023, section 7: "Я думаю, что сейчас голос Петра Петровича, находящегося под домашним арестом, является голосом всего украинского исторического сообщества [I think that now the voice of Petro Petrovych, who is under house arrest, is the voice of the entire Ukrainian historical community]"
  10. ^ RIA 2024.