A new source resource from the history of Ukrainian science: the personal archival fund of the academician of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine A. V. Chekunov

The types of documents of the personal archival fund of the academician of the NAS of Ukraine A. V. Chekunov, which is deposited in the Institute of Archival Studies of VNLU, are examined and analyzed. In particular, these are scientific works of the scholar, biographical documents, photo documents, documents concerning scientific and organizational and public activities, the publishing activity of the fund-maker, his epistolary heritage, and documents collected by the scientist. Brief biographical information about the fund-maker as a geophysical scientist, widely known in the field of complex studies of the deep structure of the lithosphere, is presented. An attempt is made to determine A. V. Chekunov’s contribution to the development of geophysical and seismic-prognostic studies both in Ukraine and in other countries. A number of documents have been defi ned that enable researchers to comprehensively study the biography of the scientist and the results of his activities in the field of geophysical and geological sciences. It is established that the documents of the archival fund contain a variety of information on geophysical research in the Central and Eastern Europe conducted under the leadership of A. V. Chekunov, on his participation in the composition of maps and schemes of deep tectonic zoning, regarding his participation in international scientific programs, commissions, symposiums. It is proved that the scientist left a noticeable mark in the history of world science, introduced new methods in geophysical science, for example, the deep seismic sounding method (DSS), founded his scientifi c school of geological interpretation of deep geophysics data, conducted active scientific and publishing activities. It is concluded that the documents of A. V. Chekunov’s personal archival fund are an important and reliable source for the reconstruction of little-known pages of the scientist’s life and also of illustrating individual periods of development of both domestic and world science.