Astronomy in Odesa under totalitarianism (1933–1944)

Abstract

The socio-political conditions of the development of astronomy in Odesa in 1933–1944 of the 20th century are studied. The degree of politicization and ideologization of the system of higher education and science in the 1930s of the 20th century was traced using the example of the Astronomical Observatory of Odesa University. The formation of relations between the state and science is shown in the conditions of the formation of a command-administrative system of management and the strengthening of the totalitarian regime, which determined the development of science throughout Soviet history. The special role of astronomy in the development of the materialistic worldview is noted. This branch of scientific knowledge was considered as a powerful means of anti-religious propaganda. In the 1930s, the astronomical observatory of Odesa University became a subject of new collective relations in the field of Soviet astronomy, which were characterized by processes of unified planning, centralization, concentration of forces, and the transition to solving large-scale tasks through collective efforts. Odesa astronomers are involved in compilation of the Catalog of Faint Stars, participate in the work of the Time Service, the Sun Service, the Latitude Service, observations of the Solar Eclipse, etc. Scientists actively carry out cultural and educational work, master new forms of socialist competition, which have encouraged students, graduate students, and research staff to show creative initiative, mobilize their experience, use it to fulfill and exceed plans, and have also become a means of involving the scientific community in the process of ideologizing the educational and scientific spheres. The forms and methods of ideologizing at Odesa University in the Transnistrian governorate during the temporary German-Romanian occupation during World War II are investigated. It has been established that the employees of the Odesa Astronomical Observatory had to work in conditions of collision and confrontation between two opposing totalitarian ideologies – communist and national socialist. The scientific biographies of Odesa astronomers K. D. Pokrovsky, V. B. Balasoglo, A. S. Tsesulevych, K. Ya. Horiaistov, M. M. Mikhalsky, B. V. Novopashenny have been supplemented with new facts. The materials presented in the article, using the example of the Astronomical Observatory of Odesa University, prove the prospects of further research into the influence of socio-political conditions on the development of astronomy as a science in Ukraine using the example of other astronomical institutions and in other chronological periods.