skip to page content - The Kyiv-Mohyla Academy traces its
origins to 1615, when the noblewoman Galshka Gulevicheva donated
land and money to build the Brotherhood Monastery School in
Kiev. When Metropolitan of Kyiv Petro Mohyla (circa 1597–1647)
arrived in Kiev and decided to open a school at Kiev-Pechersk
Lavra, the Brotherhood Monastery School appealed to Mohyla not
to open a new school but to use the existing institution as the
base for a new academy. Mohyla agreed, and in 1632 the
Brotherhood Monastery School became the foundation of the future
academy. Under Mohyla’s protection, the monastery and school
received additional land and financial support. The aim of the
Kyiv-Mohyla Academy was to master the intellectual skills and
learning of contemporary Europe and apply them to education in
Ukraine. The Orthodox Church at that time felt threatened by
incursions by the Jesuit order, and Mohyla chose to take his
most dangerous adversary as his model, adopting the
organizational structure, teaching methods, an