Valeriy_Smoliy
Valeriy Smoliy (Ukrainian: Валерій Андрійович Смолій) is a Ukrainian academician, historian, director of the NASU Institute of History of Ukraine.
Smoliy was born on 1 January 1950 in a village Avratyn, Volochysk Raion, Kamianets-Podilskyi Oblast.
In 1970 he graduated from the historical faculty of the Kamianets-Podilskyi State Pedagogic Institute. After that Smoliy worked as a rural teacher in schools of Ternopil Oblast and a teacher assistant in the Nizhyn Pedagogic Institute.
Since 1972 Smoliy works at the NASU Institute of History of Ukraine. In 1975 he defended his candidate thesis "Union of the right-bank Ukraine with Ukrainian lands within the Russian state" (Ukrainian: Возз'єднання Правобережної України з українськими землями у складі Російської держави) and in 1985 his doctorate thesis "Social consciousness of Ukrainian national movements participants (second half of the 17th-18th centuries)" (Ukrainian: Суспільна свідомість учасників народних рухів України (друга половина XVII–XVIII ст.)). Since 1986 Smoliy was heading one of departments of the institute. In 1991 he was elected a deputy director of the institute. In 1992 he was admitted to the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine as a corresponding member.
Since 1993 Smoliy is a director of the NASU Institute of History of Ukraine. In 1995 he became a full member, academician, of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine.
In 1997–1999 Smoliy served as a vice-Prime Minister on humanitarian issues in the government of Valeriy Pustovoitenko.