Today, September 24, 2025, the Academician Yurii Bohutskyi, the founder of the Institute for Cultural Research of the National Academy of Arts of Ukraine and its first director, who headed the Institute from 2008 to 2019, would have turned 74.

Yurii Bohutskyi was an outstanding statesman and public figure, philosopher, cultural studies scholar, educator, Academician of the National Academy of Arts of Ukraine, and Honored Artist of Ukraine. His professional career was closely connected with the development of Ukrainian culture, the arts, and cultural studies. Over the years, he held a number of senior government positions, including serving as Minister of Culture and Arts of Ukraine and Minister of Culture and Tourism of Ukraine.

Yurii Bohutskyi devoted a significant part of his professional life to shaping and developing Ukrainian cultural policy. Over the years, he held a number of senior government positions, including heading the Ministry of Culture and Arts of Ukraine and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Ukraine. His work focused on preserving and developing the national cultural heritage, supporting the artistic community, developing cultural institutions, and establishing culture as an important component of social and state development.

A special place in his scholarly and organizational work belongs to the establishment and development of the Institute for Cultural Research of the National Academy of Arts of Ukraine. Under his leadership, the Institute’s main areas of fundamental research in cultural studies were established, its scholarly community developed, and new research projects and publishing initiatives were launched. From 2008 to 2019, Yurii Bohutskyi also served as Chair of the Editorial Board and Editor-in-Chief of The Culturology Ideas, a scientific works’ collection.

His scholarly legacy encompasses research into cultural genesis, the self-organization of culture, cultural policy, the development of Ukrainian culture, and the interpretation of the new cultural reality. His works include the monograph “Self-organization of culture: ontology, dynamics, prospects”, as well as the studies “The culture of independent Ukraine, state policy in the context of the new cultural reality”, and other works that have become part of the Ukrainian cultural studies discourse.

We remember Yurii Bohutskyi. We honor his contribution to the development of Ukrainian culture. We continue the work he began.

Yurii Bohutskyi’s works and information about him are available on the website of the Institute for Cultural Research in the “Publications” section.