Vikentiy Viacheslavovych Khvoyka | |
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Born |
Semín, Kingdom of Bohemia, Austrian Empire |
February 21, 1850
Died | August 20, 1914 Kyiv, Russian Empire |
(aged 64)
Fields | Archaeology |
Known for | Discovery of the Trypillian culture |
Vikentiy Viacheslavovych Khvoyka (Ukrainian: Вікентій В'ячеславович Хвойка; Russian: Викентий Вячеславович Хвойка; Czech: Vincenc Častoslav Chvojka; born Čeněk Chvojka; 1850–1914) was a Czech-born Ukrainian archaeologist, who discovered the Neolithic Trypillia culture in Ukraine. He also researched the Scythian, Zarubintsy, Chernyakhov and early Slavic archaeological cultures.
Khvoyka was born in the village of Semín, Kingdom of Bohemia – then part of the Austrian Empire – on 21 February 1850. After graduating from the Academy of Commerce in Chrudim he lived in Prague for a time, before emigrating to the Russian Empire. From 1876 he lived in Kyiv and worked as a teacher. He turned his attention to archaeology in the 1890s and excavated around Kyiv and the Dnieper region. He was one of the founders of Kyiv's Museum of Antiquities and Art, now the National Historical Museum, and the first curator of its archaeological collection.
Khvoyka discovered the Trypillia culture in Ukraine. The exact year of his discovery is uncertain: 1893, 1896 and 1887 have been reported. He presented his findings at the 11th Congress of Archaeologists in 1897. The same culture was discovered in Romania around the same time, where it was called the Cucuteni culture.