On September 10, 2025 (September 29, old style), it was the 131st anniversary of the birth of the most famous graduate of our educational institution. Oleksandr Dovzhenko was a genius of world cinema and one of Ukraine’s greatest writers. He studied at the Hlukhiv Teacher’s Institute from 1911 to 1914.

Oleksandr Dovzhenko’s cinematographic legacy gained worldwide recognition during his lifetime. Dovzhenko’s films „Zvenyhora“,“ Arsenal“, and „Earth“ were already popular with European and American audiences in the early 1930s, practically immediately after their release. The film „Earth“ has been especially celebrated. In 1958, at the World Expo in Brussels, 117 of the most authoritative critics and film scholars from 26 countries named it among the 12 best feature films of all time and nations. Furthermore, in 2015, on the occasion of its 70th anniversary and the 120th anniversary of world cinema, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) included Dovzhenko’s „Earth“ in a list of five films that would make up the Festival of World Masterpieces.

Dovzhenko is also known as an author of literary works – film novellas, short stories, plays, and essays. Among his works are „Ukraine in Flames“, „The Story of Fiery Years“, „Enchanted Desna“, „Poem of the Sea, Mother“, „The Renegade“, and „Descendants of the Zaporozhians“. The artist even pioneered a new literary genre – the film novella.

A special place in Dovzhenko’s legacy is occupied by his „Diary Entries“, which, with documentary accuracy and unprecedented boldness, reflect not only a significant part of his own life but also, in many ways, the era in which he lived.

Dovzhenko is also remembered by his fellow countrymen. In 1960, in Sosnytsiia, Chernihiv region, where he was born and spent his childhood was established a literary and memorial museum on the grounds of his family home. Since 2008, our university has proudly borne his name.

Periodically, on the occasion of the master filmmaker’s and Ukrainian literary classic’s birthday, the Department of Ukrainian Language, Literature, and Teaching Methodology at our university hosts a scientific-practical conference titled “Oleksandr Dovzhenko and Ukrainian Culture: History, Traditions, Modernity”, more commonly known as the “Dovzhenko Readings.” The most recent conference took place last year, marking the 130th anniversary of the artist. Faculty members, postgraduate students, and master’s students actively study the life and works of their celebrated fellow countryman, publishing research dedicated to his legacy and defending PhD dissertations based on his literary heritage.