Fal'kovsky Iriney (Ivan) Jakimovich General data:
11.06.1762 - 12.05.1823
Place of birth: Belotserkivtsi village, Lubny regiment, Zaporizhia Army (now Pyryatyn district, Poltava region, Ukraine
Studied in: Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, Kyiv Province, Russian Empire (since 1992, National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy) (1772-1773, 1783); Pest Royal Gymnasium (since 1950 Lorand Etves University of Budapest) (1777-1778); Ofen University (Ofen (German) or Buda), Kingdom of Hungary (since 1950 Lorand Etves University of Budapest) (1780-1783);
Key interests: celestial mechanics, theoretical astronomy, mathematisc, astronomy, theology, philosophy
Biography:
He was born on June 11, 1762 in the Bilotserkivtsi village of the Lubensky regiment of the Zaporizhzhya army (now Pyryatinsky district of the Poltava region of Ukraine) (according to other data, in the Bilotserkivtsi village near Kyiv City).
In 1774, his father became the abbot of the Orthodox Church in the city of Tokai in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, where young Ivan began his studies at a local school, from where he transferred to the Pressburg Gymnasium (the city of Pressburg - now the Bratislava city of the capital of the Slovak Republic) for according to some data, in 1777 and in the same year 1777 or in 1778, he took the exams at the Pest Royal Gymnasium, where he studied for about a year. At the university, he took courses in philosophical and mathematical sciences, as well as experimental physics, and on this basis he wrote the book "Rules of Civil Architecture", which, however, remained in manuscript. Other sources testify that after arriving in Pest, Ivan entered the poetry class, but then immediately transferred to the rhetoric class.
In 1772-1773 he studied at the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, and in 1783 he graduated from the Ofen University in Hungary, where he studied since 1780 and returned to Kyiv and entered the theological class of the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, which, according to some according to the data, he graduated in the same year.
In 1784, by order of Samuel Myslavskyi, as a brilliant mathematician, he was appointed a teacher of arithmetic classes (he taught astronomy and mathematics) of the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, but in 1785, on his recommendation, K. Lagoda became the teacher of those classes.
In 1787 (according to other sources, in 1786) he took monastic vows under the name Irinei.
In the same year, he was appointed a teacher of geometry, algebra, architecture and poetry and some other disciplines. In 1788, a course in higher mathematics was introduced, and it was assigned to the Frenchman Bruillon, who soon abandoned it, and Falkovskyi took his place. In 1793, he became the rector of the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, according to other sources, he was the rector of the Academy during 1803-1804.
In his courses "Spherical Astronomy" and "Theoretical Astronomy" Kepler's theory of planetary motion is explained in detail, the movement of the Sun and phenomena dependent on it, as well as the movement of the Moon and related eclipses are described, the time of solar eclipses is predicted for 1795-1800. , provides information about comets and variable stars. In "Geometry" he considered the shape and size of the Earth.
In 1792, he founded the student Free Piitical Society at the Academy.
Scientist, writer, historian, mathematician, geographer, astronomer, bishop of Chigyrinsky, Smolensky and Dorohobuzhsky, for 21 years he taught algebra, geometry, astronomy, architecture and mixed mathematics - hydraulics, optics, as well as history, geography, poetry, German language, philosophy , theology. It was he who opened the first physics-mathematics office in the Academy at the library, in which terrestrial and celestial globes, Copernican spheres, a telescope, an astrolabe and much more were presented. There they began to get acquainted with the ideas of Isaac Newton.
He prepared a manual on astronomy. Among the other questions discussed here is Kepler's theory of the movement of planets, "first-class" as he said, which revolve around the Sun, and "second-class", i.e. satellites of the planets. For the second-class planet the Moon and associated eclipses, these phenomena are considered for the period since 1795 to 1900. The question of the proforma and dimensions of the Earth, as well as the longitudes and latitudes of various places, is considered by him in "Geography".
He started publishing Kyiv calendars (monthly words) since 1797, which contained information about the positions of the Moon and the Sun, about eclipses, and also published articles on historical topics. The 92-volume handwritten scientific and literary heritage of the encyclopedist is scattered in various repositories. He is the author of more than 1300 works.
He died on May 12, 1823. He was buried in Kyiv's St. Michael's Cathedral, which was destroyed in 1935 by the Bolsheviks.
Main publications:
1. Фальковський Іріней “Нове коротке керівництво з арифметики, поєднане з початковою алгеброю”
2. Фальковський Іріней Правила громадянської архітектури
3. Фальковський Іріней Географія
4. Фальковський Іріней Астрономія
Sources:
1 Колчинский И. Г., Корсунь А. А., Родригес М. Г. Астрономы: Биографический справочник. — Киев: Наук. думка, 1986.—510 с.-С. 322-323
2 Казанцева Л. В., Кислюк В. С. Київське вікно у Всесвіт: Історія Київської астрономічної обсерваторії в контексті історії розвитку національної та світової науки. — Київ: Наш час, 2006.—С.34.
3 www.astronet.ru
4 Большая биографическая энциклопедия. Фальковский, Иван Акимович
