He left business for science: what we know about Oksen Lisovyi, who will become the new Minister of Education

On Monday, 20 March, the Verkhovna Rada reportedly voted to dismiss Serhiy Shkarlet from the post of Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine. This post will be taken up by Oksen Lisovyi, Director of the Minor Academy of Sciences (MAS) and a serviceman of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Here are a few facts about Oksen Lisovyi that may help you better understand who will now be at the helm of the country's main educational agency.

Oksen Lisovyi was born in 1972 in a family of teachers. His father, Vasyl Lisovyi, a well-known dissident and organiser of Ukrainian samizdat (dissident activity in which individuals reproduced censored and underground makeshift publications – Mind transl.) in the 1960s and 1970s, was imprisoned two weeks before Oksen's birth for writing an open letter in defence of the arrested Sixtiers. His mother, Vira Lisova, was fired from her job at the Institute of Pedagogy due to this.

Vasyl Lisovyi, who was also arrested for protesting against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, spent 11 years in camps and exile and was released in July 1983.

Since higher education was not available to children of dissidents, Oksen Lisovyi first graduated from the Reshetylivka Art School of Folk Crafts with a degree in ceramics. He is a potter of the 3rd professional category. After his father's rehabilitation, Oksen studied at the Kyiv National University of Culture and Arts, specialising in library and information systems.

Since the age of 17, Mr. Lisovyi had been running art clubs at schools and teaching fencing as a coach at the Sich Scouting Organisation, the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv Historical Club and the Kyiv-Mohyla College.

The MAS's social media page says that at the age of 23, Oksen Lisovyi went into business. He opened a petrol station with $200 borrowed from his parents, and it became profitable soon.

In an interview, he explained why he had gone into science: "...I had kiosks, shops... Let's say, I will build a house, put a high fence around it, and everything will be great inside. However, I will still be travelling outside this house... It's not enough to clean up my yard, I need to clean up my street, my city. And to do so, I need to clean up the mess in the minds of the people who live in these cities. That's why the most interesting and promising thing is to clean up the mess in people's heads."

Since 2010, Oksen Lisovyi has been the Director of the National Centre of the Junior Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (JAS).

Later, in 2012, Oksen Lisovyi defended his PhD in philosophical anthropology and philosophy of culture, and in 2015 he was awarded the title of associate professor.

In 2012, he became a laureate of the State Prize of Ukraine in the field of education for his educational contribution. In 2021, he was awarded the honorary title of Honoured Worker of Education of Ukraine.

In September 2020, together with the President of the Minor Academy of Sciences Stanislav Dovhyi, he initiated the foundation of the first Museum of Science in Ukraine, which was opened at the Expocentre of Ukraine in Kyiv.

With the beginning of the full-scale russian invasion, he joined the army as a volunteer with the 95th Independent Air Assault Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. In particular, on his Facebook page, he talked about participating in battles in the east, in the Slovyansk-Kramatorsk-Druzhkivka agglomeration and near Kreminna town.

In an interview with Vikna, Mr. Lisovyi said that he performed combat missions as a unit commander, but did not receive a salary from the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and kept his main job, performing his duties remotely.

Sources: nv.ua, osvitoria.media