Valiashko Mykola Ovsentiiovych: on the 155th Anniversary of His Birth

Valiashko Mykola Ovsentiiovych (20 March 1871 – 25 January 1955) was an outstanding organic chemist and pharmacist, a talented educator, Doctor of Chemical Sciences (1919) and Doctor of Pharmaceutical Sciences (1937), Professor (1909), Honoured Scientist of the Ukrainian SSR (1946), one of the founders of pharmaceutical education in Ukraine, the founder (1921) and the first rector of the Kharkiv Pharmaceutical Institute (now the National University of Pharmacy). He served as the Head of the Department of Organic Chemistry (1920–1955) at the Kharkiv Technological Institute (HTI) (now the National Technical University «Kharkiv Polytechnic Institute»). For 60 years he dedicated his life to training chemists, pharmacists, and engineers. Valiashko’s scientific research encompassed the physicochemical properties of medicinal substances and the synthesis of new pharmaceuticals. He is recognized as one of the pioneers in applying spectral analysis in organic chemistry to determine molecular structure.

Mykola Ovsentiiovych was born on 20 March 1871 in the city of Kupiansk, Kharkiv region. His first acquaintance with chemistry and pharmacy occurred in early childhood in the pharmacy that his father, Ovsentii Valiashko, had purchased in the center of Kupiansk. Mykola helped his father collect medicinal plants, prepare medicines, and run the pharmacy during his father’s absence.

From 1882 to 1886, Valiashko attended a gymnasium. In Kharkiv, he became an apprentice at Sartisson’s pharmacy (1887). After passing with distinction the examination at Kharkiv University for the title of pharmacist’s assistant (1889), he entered employment at I. Lapin’s pharmacy—at that time the largest in Kharkiv (1889–1893). In 1893 he enrolled in two-year pharmaceutical courses at the Medical Faculty of Kharkiv University and began working as a pharmacist at the University Clinical Pharmacy (1893–1895). After successfully passing the examination for the title of licensed pharmacist (1895), he obtained the position of laboratory assistant at the Pharmaceutical Laboratory of Kharkiv University under Professor A. Chichikov (1895–1903). In 1902 he became a non-degree student in the third year of the Natural Sciences Division of the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics at Kharkiv University, graduating with a First-Class Diploma (1904). In 1903 he defended his dissertation «Chemical Study of the Glycoside Rutin from Rue» and received the degree of Master of Pharmacy. At the same time his works “On the Structure of Flavones” and «On the Glycoside Robinine» were published. Beginning in 1905 he was a private associate professor at the Department of Pharmacy; in 1906 he received the degree of Master of Chemistry; in 1907 he was confirmed as private associate professor of the Department of Chemistry at Kharkiv University. He began his teaching career at the university, delivering lectures on stereochemistry (1906–1908) at the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics, and lectures on organic chemistry and on the study of medicinal substances at the Medical Faculty. In 1909 he was elected Professor of the Department of Pharmacy and Pharmacognosy at the Medical Faculty of Kharkiv University; in 1910 he became Professor of Analytical Chemistry at the Women’s Medical Institute.

Valiashko gained extensive experience during his scientific trips abroad (1900–1901, 1908–1910) to chemical–pharmaceutical institutes and chemical laboratories at universities in Germany, Switzerland, Austria-Hungary, and Great Britain. He participated in the Seventh International Congress of Applied Chemistry in London (1909) and visited the International Exhibition in Brussels (1910). These visits enabled him to study the organization of research laboratories and educational processes, and to master innovative research techniques. He became a member of the Chemical Societies of Berlin (1908), Leipzig (1908), and London (1909).   

Upon returning to Ukraine, he organized spectroscopic studies of organic compounds in the ultraviolet range in the pharmaceutical laboratory of Kharkiv University. In 1919 he defended his doctoral dissertation “Absorption Spectra and Constitution of Benzene Derivatives” and received the degree of Doctor of Chemistry. He continued studying absorption spectra of organic compounds until the end of his life and established a school of spectroscopists considered one of the best in the world.

In 1919, the Council of the Kharkiv Technological Institute elected him Professor of the Department of Organic Chemistry (1919–1929). During the reorganization of the Technological Institute in 1930, he became Professor of Organic Chemistry at the Kharkiv Chemical Technology Institute (KhKhTI). From 1925 onward, in the Institute’s Organic Chemistry Laboratory, Valiashko conducted spectrographic research that significantly expanded previous knowledge of conjugation and of the division of molecules into conjugated systems capable of mutual transformation. He also taught chemistry students and engineering technologists. From 1927 he lectured on dye technology. He was a member of the Faculty Commission of HTI (from 1921).

Until 1920 he continued to serve as Head of the Department of Pharmacy and Pharmacognosy at the Medical Faculty of Kharkiv University. In early 1920 the Medical Faculty was merged with the Women’s Medical Institute and transformed into the Medical Academy and, from 1921, into the Medical Institute, where he taught analytical chemistry, pharmacy, and pharmacognosy.

Valiashko was one of the initiators of pharmaceutical education in Ukraine. As early as 1915 he wrote about the need to establish a pharmaceutical institute: “To properly prepare chemist-pharmacists for scientific and practical work, it is necessary to create a separate Pharmaceutical Institute where all specialized subjects would be taught according to proper curricula and programs. Without this, and with students scattered among different laboratories, it is difficult to establish coherent specialized training, as their inclination toward pharmaceutical studies will always remain secondary.”

Thanks to the initiative of prominent Kharkiv pharmacists—Professors M. O. Valiashko, M. P. Krasovskyi, O. D. Rosenfeld, Master of Pharmacy L. Ye. Rosenfeld—and the pharmaceutical community, the foundation of a pharmaceutical institute was begun. In 1921, by decree of the People’s Commissariat of Health of Ukraine and the Main Education Directorate, the first Chemical-Pharmaceutical Institute in Ukraine was opened in Kharkiv. Mykola Ovsentiiovych Valiashko became its first rector (1921–1922) and Professor of Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Pharmacognosy.

Professor Valiashko, a widely recognized scientist in phytochemistry, forensic chemistry, and spectrography, made a tremendous contribution to the development of pharmacy.

Professional and public activities:

During World War II, Valiashko was evacuated with the Chemical Technology Institute to the city of Chirchik, Tashkent region (Uzbekistan). There he restored the work of the Institute and of the local branch of the Mendeleev Chemical Society; many of their developments were applied in the defense industry. After returning to Kharkiv in 1944, he resumed scientific, educational, and organizational activities in KhKhTI and the Pharmaceutical Institute, contributing to their restoration.

Valiashko authored more than 90 scientific works, defended two dissertations (Master of Pharmacy and Doctor of Chemistry), and trained 3 Doctors and 93 Candidates of Sciences. Until his final days he continued educating pharmacists, chemists, engineers, and researchers, combining teaching, research, and public work.

Mykola Ovsentiiovych Valiashko passed away on 25 January 1955.

His name is commemorated in his hometown: Pharmacy No. 63 in Kupiansk, where he once worked, is named after him. In 1971, under the auspices of UNESCO, the 100th anniversary of his birth was celebrated worldwide. In Kharkiv, on 15 September 2010, a sculptural composition “Notable Figures of Pharmacy” (sculptor S. A. Gurbanov, People’s Artist of Ukraine) was unveiled on the grounds of the National University of Pharmacy. The composition depicts Valiashko, the founder and first rector of the Kharkiv Pharmaceutical Institute, and D. P. Salo, a prominent scholar and rector (1971–1979).

A memorial plaque honoring Valiashko is installed on the building of the Chemical Corps of the National Technical University «Kharkiv Polytechnic Institute» Another plaque is mounted on the building of the National University of Pharmacy on Hryhorii Skovoroda Street, 53.

We invite lecturers, students, and all interested visitors to acquaint themselves with the works of Mykola Ovsentiiovych Valiashko (Scientific and Technical Library of NTU «KhPI», room 45).