Історія та розвиток технологій ідентифікації за відбитками пальців в криміналістиці

The article analyzes the history of the emergence and development of fingerprint identification technologies, and the persons who invented this technology, and improved it over the centuries. The story of the first capital crime in criminal history, which was uncovered by a fingerprint at the crime scene, is described. The problems that befell the Argentine forensic scientist Juan (Ivan) Vuchetich, one of the founders of fingerprint registration, the author of the ten-finger system of classification of papillary patterns, when founding the world’s first fingerprint card index, are considered. It was found that for the first time papillary lines on the surfaces of the palms were described and studied by the Italian biologist Marcello Malpighi back in 1686, but unfortunately this discovery did not receive practical application. Attention is focused on the position of G. Folds, who assured that fingerprints should be used not only for registration and identification previously convicted criminals, but to prove the involvement of persons in the committed criminal offense. The factors that contributed to the development of fingerprinting in Europe are established, and it is also emphasized that in Germany it was Dr. Wilhelm Eber who pointed out the criminological possibilities of fingerprinting at the end of the XIX century. The year in which there was a breakthrough in the race for a functioning search engine is determined, namely in 1896 with the participation of Edward Richard Henry, Inspector General of Police of the British-Indian province of Bengal. He developed the main features for a comprehensive classification system, formulas were calculated from points, lines and patterns by which fingerprints could be stored. The countries in which persons who committed a criminal offense were convicted for the first time on the basis of fingerprints left at the crime scene are listed. The development of fingerprint identification technologies in the territory of Ukrainian lands and the contribution of Rudy Georgiy Mykhailovych are analyzed in the organization of the fingerprinting bureau at the anthropological office, which began to function on January 1, 1904, as well as the development of a project for the organizations of fingerprint bureaus. The current level of development of forensic methods aimed at detection, fixation, and removal of traces of a criminal offense, as well as the system of manifestation of fingerprints in Ukraine has been studied.