SEVENTY-FIVE YEARS OF THE “MINERALOGICAL COLLECTION”

Abstract

Information about the first periodical publication of the mineralogical direction in Ukraine – “Mineralogical Collection”, founded on the initiative of Ye. Lazarenko in 1947, – is highlighted. Yevhen Kostiantynovych was the responsible editor of the Collection until the end of his life. Since 1979, this function has been performed by his student – Professor of the Department of Mineralogy O. Matkovskyi. The first 17 numbers of the “Mineralogical Collection” were published annually under the auspices of the Lviv Geological Society in the Publishing House of Ivan Franko State University of Lviv. On the initiative of Ye. Lazarenko, the Society's library began exchanging geological literature with libraries not only of the country but also of foreign countries in 1949. Thanks to this, the “Mineralogical Collection” was read by the world geological community. In 1964, the Collection was transferred to the rank of a republican interdepartmental publication; until 1976, four issues of the same number were published annually, later – two, from 2021 – one. Before the collapse of the USSR, the Collection was published in russian with a summary in English, during 1991–2008 – in Ukrainian with a summary in English, in 2009–2015 – with a summary in English and russian, from 2015 – with an extended summary in English. Currently, the articles in the “Mineralogical Collection” are printed in Ukrainian or English; from 2021, the editorial board will not accept russian-language works and articles from russia. The significance of the Collection in the development of mineralogy not only in the country, but also in general is difficult to overestimate. A number of scientific directions of contemporary mineralogy were initiated on its pages: structural mineralogy and crystal chemistry, mineralogical crystallography, the study of fluid inclusions in minerals (thermobarogeochemistry), regional and cosmic mineralogy, etc. The Collection publishes original scientific articles containing the results of theoretical and experimental research, historical reviews, reviews of scientific works, chronicles of scientific events, etc. The topics of the “Mineralogical Collection” are as follows: mineralogy, geochemistry, petrology, ecology (mineralogical crystallography, structural mineralogy, crystallochemistry, regional and cosmic mineralogy, applied mineralogy, biomineralogy, nanomineralogy, technological mineralogy, physicochemical modelling of mineralization processes, mineralogical-petrological methods of prospecting for minerals, petrography, lithology, geochemistry of sedimentary strata, geochemistry of the environment etc.). The “Mineralogical Collection” was extremely important in the birth, formation and development of world-famous scientific schools, which were officially approved by the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine (1994) at the Ivan Franko National University of Lviv. These are the Mineralogical School of Academician Yevhen Lazarenko and the Thermobarogeochemical School of Professor Mykola Yermakov, which are successfully functioning and developing today.