Attribution of a Little-Known Photograph of Architect Oleksii Beketov

The article examines a little-known photograph of academician of architecture Oleksii Beketov in a folk-style embroidered shirt, an atypical outfit for him and his social status, and one of the few that does not have an attribution of the date of the photograph and the occasion. The study was conducted using the analytical method, as well as the methods of descriptive, comparative, and generalisational analysis. The author hypothesises that the photograph was taken specifically as a gift to her mother-in-law, the famous educator Khrystyna Alchevska. The novelty of the study lies in the attribution of the date and occasion of O. Beketov’s photograph, which explains his attitude to Ukrainianness as such and to enlightenment cause in Kharkiv province. Relevance of the topic. The approach to the cultural heritage of the Soviet and imperial periods in Ukraine remains unresolved. There are discussions about both the individual figures and their works. Academician of architecture in the Russian Empire, professor and PhD in Soviet Ukraine, Oleksii Beketov left dozens of buildings for various purposes, designed to a world-class standard, to the descendants of Kharkiv residents. By emphasising his status as the best architect in the South of Russian Empire before 1917, the aggressor’s propagandists are attempting to claim him as a politically and etchnically “russian” figure. Conclusions. Based on the study of the context of the life and work of the famous architect O. Beketov in the last decade of the nineteenth century, the author draws the following conclusions. As for the clothes in the photo, they are called folk shirts. The patriotic and political term ‘vyshyvanka’ entered the lexicon of Ukrainians much later. The date of the photograph can be reliably attributed to between 1891 and May 1893. The reason for the photo’s appearance can be considered the special relationship between the young family of O. Beketov and the Alchevsky family. Most likely, the photo was taken as a souvenir for his mother-in-law, H. Alchevska.