Abstract
Duty is the result of a high awareness of purpose for the activity of the community and of one’s own role in achieving it (Oleh Kupchynskyi)
Extraordinary diligence, inexhaustible creative energy, and a substantial scientific legacy define the present-day life of Zynoviia Oleksandrivna Sluzhynska, Candidate of Biological Sciences (PhD), Associate Professor at the Department of Medical Biology, Parasitology, and Genetics at Danylo Halytsky Lviv National Medical University; Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Dentistry for Research; full member of the Shevchenko Scientific Society; Head of its Medical Commission; member of the Main Board of the Ukrainian Medical Association; member of the Ukrainian Society of Medical Geneticists, the All-Ukrainian Genealogical Society, and the Ukrainian Heraldry Society; member of the Ukrainian Society of Geneticists and Breeders named after M. Vavilov; member of the All-Ukrainian Association “Writers of Boikivshchyna”; Head of the Commission for Coordination of Scientific Research and Publications of the Ukrainian Medical Association in Lviv; Executive Editor of the Medical Collection and the quarterly Ukrainian Health Information Bulletin; and Head of the Publishing Commission for the 100th Anniversary of the Ukrainian Medical Association. We celebrate the remarkable 90th anniversary of an outstanding Personality, Scientist, Educator, a wonderful Human Being, and a great Ukrainian on February 19, 2026.
Zynoviia Sluzhynska was born in the town of Khodoriv into the family of physician and public figure Oleksandr Bilynskyi. Both her father and her mother (Melaniia Bilynska-Volynets) were actively involved in the organizations “Prosvita,” “Ridna Shkola,” and the “Union of Ukrainian Women.” The family fostered an atmosphere of respect for science, culture, and Ukrainian traditions. In 1953, Z. Sluzhynska graduated from Lviv Secondary School No. 5 (today the Ivanna and Illia Kokorudz School). From 1953 to 1958, she studied at the Faculty of Biology at Ivan Franko Lviv State University (now Ivan Franko National University of Lviv). After earning a degree in Medical and Population Genetics, she worked in the genetics laboratory established by Professor Andrii Lazarenko. However, in the Soviet reality of that time, genetics was among the most ideologically persecuted scientific disciplines. Both the field and its practitioners suffered repression.
Genetics was removed from academic and research programs, and geneticists were dismissed as “politically unreliable,” branded as Weismannists-Morganists-Mendelists. The wave of accusations, condemnation, and purges did not spare Professor A. Lazarenko either. The laboratory was closed. Zynoviia Sluzhynska spoke out in defense of her Teacher. This noble act by a young scholar was immediately deemed subversive and recorded in her personal file, which followed her to all subsequent places of employment. From 1960 onward, Zynoviia Sluzhynska worked at the Lviv State Medical Institute (now Danylo Halytsky Lviv National Medical University) as a senior laboratory assistant at the Department of Internal Medicine. From 1965 onward, the “anathema” imposed on genetics was lifted. Zynoviia Sluzhynska entered postgraduate studies at the Department of Biology of the Lviv Medical Institute. Finally, she was able, at least in part, to realize her scientific aspirations. The result of her demanding yet inspiring work was her Candidate’s (PhD) dissertation.
In 1968, Z. Sluzhynska defended her first dissertation in genetics. Zynoviia Sluzhynska supervised the Candidate’s dissertation of Iryna Semkiv (which, notably, was successfully defended), as well as 42 student research projects that repeatedly received academic awards. She published 108 articles, abstracts, and reports in the field of oncogenetics (the subject of her doctoral research). As a member of the Ukrainian Society of Geneticists and Breeders named after M. Vavilov since 1967, she served as Academic Secretary of its Lviv branch. In 1972, the internal pre-defense review of Zynoviia Sluzhynska’s doctoral dissertation was successfully completed. Her doctoral thesis, devoted to the genetic parameters of tumors, was highly relevant and forward-looking, as it opened possibilities for the effective use of hormonal therapy in patients with breast cancer. However, under the conditions of the totalitarian system, she was not permitted to proceed to the official defense. The Party Committee of the Institute reviewed her professional record three times and identified eleven “shortcomings,” the first of which was the accusation that she had “concealed certain facts of her biography.” In 1976, Z. Sluzhynska became an Associate Professor at the Department of Medical Biology of the Lviv Medical Institute. Her research interests included parasitology, medical genetics, populations, demography, dermatoglyphics, and genealogy. Zynoviia Sluzhynska’s scholarly output comprises more than 380 scientific works, 26 methodological manuals, 8 rationalization proposals, 8 monographs, and 5 textbooks. In 1984, for a series of methodological works in medical genetics and for her contributions to the textbook Biology (Lviv: Vyshcha Shkola, 1983), she was awarded a diploma from the Board of the Ukrainian Society of Geneticists and Breeders named after M. Vavilov. In addition, she was actively involved in the Ukrainian Society of Medical Geneticists, established in 1984.
The creative activity of Zynoviia Sluzhynska reached a new peak in the conditions of independent Ukraine. Several significant works were published in succession, including the monographs: The Human Lineage in Ukraine (1995), The Kalyniuk Family (1998), The Bilynskyi Family (1998), Genealogy (in 2 volumes, 2000–2003), Populations (2005), and Chronicle of the Volynets Family (2009); as well as textbooks: Human Heredity: Gene and Chromosomal Diseases (1997), Medical Parasitology (1999), and Medical Arachnoentomology (2000). Of great significance is Z. Sluzhynska’s translation into Ukrainian of the first and second editions of Dorland’s Illustrated Medical Dictionary (2002 and 2007).
In collaboration with Professor Hryhorii Skochii, Head of the Department of Neurology, she developed the first integrated (cross-disciplinary) genetics curriculum for instructors of theoretical departments at the medical institute. She also organized lecture courses in genetics for clinical residents and postgraduate students (by then, genetics had already been introduced into the academic curriculum). To deliver these lectures, she invited clinicians with a solid grounding in genetics—Candidates of Medical Sciences Vsevolod Chuma and Romana Polishchuk, Associate Professor Petro Kalyniuk, as well as Leonid Kuzmenko and Marta Sandurska. She presented at conferences on oncogenetics and medical genetics, organized expeditions to mountainous regions to collect dermatoglyphic data, and gathered materials documenting the destruction of Ukrainian populations. In 1995, her book, The Human Lineage in Ukraine, was published, containing at that time unique data on repression, deportations, killings, and famines. In his review of this monograph, Academician of the Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine and Corresponding Member of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Liubomyr Pyrih, noted: “The combination of genetic-biological, socio-psychological, and demographic aspects in characterizing Ukrainian society, the richness of extensive statistical data and original research, and the distinctive presentation of the material—including the skillful selection of epigraphs—all together justify expectations of significant interest in this monograph.” (Liubomyr Pyrih. Medical Collection. New Series. 2000. Vol. 8. pp. 197–198.).
In 2005, Zynoviia Sluzhynska published the monograph Populations (Lviv: Halytska Publishing Union, 112 pages), in which she was among the first to address the long-standing taboo on the impact of the Communist Party’s criminal activities and the Bolshevik occupation on the quantitative and qualitative state of Ukraine’s populations.
One of her most notable achievements is the book From Family to Population (2008), which she dedicated to the millions who died because of Nazi and communist repression, famines, and deportations. This work constitutes a fundamental scientific study of the genesis of populations, whose foundation lies in families and lineages. The author convincingly argues that their development cannot be studied without reference to millennia of history, as well as genetic and psycho-ethnic characteristics. The genealogical method is applied with notable success. The book examines the political and social causes underlying changes in the size, quality, composition, and movement of Ukraine’s population. It is of exceptional value for biologists, physicians, historians, educators, and policymakers, and, ultimately, for every conscious Ukrainian interested in understanding where, when, and why the loss of the gene pool occurred; what factors hindered the growth of genetically fertile populations in Ukraine; and at what stage of history the demographic decline began, leading to negative population growth indicators. Professor Oleksandr Kitsera proposed that this book be distributed to every member of the Verkhovna Rada so that they might become aware of the scale of the human losses caused by the Nazi and communist-Bolshevik occupation. The book is rich in statistical data, factual evidence, and documentary materials.
In 2015, Z. Sluzhynska, in collaboration with L. Borovets, published the book Memoirs and Narratives about Secondary School No. 5 Named after Illia and Ivanna Kokorudz (Lviv: Halytska Publishing Union, 2015, 256 pp.), followed in 2017 by Illia and Ivanna Kokorudz: Founders and Benefactors of the Private Girls’ Gymnasium (Lviv: Halytska Publishing Union, 2017, 694 pp.), co-authored with R. Polishchuk and I.-O. Mateshuk-Hrytsyna. Both works are unique publications on the history of schooling in Galicia, focusing on the private girls’ gymnasium of the Ukrainian Pedagogical Society “Ridna Shkola” named after Illia and Ivanna Kokorudz, as well as its principals, teachers, the repression they endured, and the resistance of the students of Secondary School No. 5. The dedication, professionalism, and mastery of the teachers, along with their commitment to nurturing morally upright, educated, nationally conscious, and humane individuals, form the foundation for the future development of society. These books include memoirs and reflections of former students of the private girls’ gymnasium about its founders and educators. The significance of these unique publications for education and national upbringing can hardly be overestimated. They are valuable for a wide audience of teachers, lecturers, scholars, and all those concerned with the future of society.
In 2020, a landmark event for scholars of academic institutions, educators, students, and a broad readership in Ukraine and abroad was the publication of Zynoviia Sluzhynska’s book, The World of Our Ancestors (Lviv: Shevchenko Scientific Society; Halytska Publishing Union, 2020, 204 pp.). This work contains unique information about distinguished Ukrainian families who struggled for self-determination and national identity. The results of Zynoviia Sluzhynska’s profound scholarly research enabled the restoration of lost pages of the chronicle of Ukrainian intellectual life in the 19th and 20th centuries—a life that remains an enduring example of dedication to education and public service, national dignity, and the resilience of the Ukrainian spirit. The demographic losses, the physical destruction of family members under successive occupying regimes, and the outflow of Ukraine’s gene pool beyond its borders are particularly striking. The book is both timely and immensely valuable for the Ukrainian public.
Particular attention should be given to the following books by Zynoviia Sluzhynska: A Biobibliographic Index and Dermatoglyphic Parameters of Ukrainians. The latter, co-authored by Mariia Telishevska, Oleksandra Sluzhynska, Marta Yasmonytska-Borovets, Roman Turchak, and Zynoviia Sluzhynska (Dermatoglyphic Parameters of Ukrainians. Lviv: Shevchenko Scientific Society; Halytska Publishing Union, 2021, 230 pp.), is based on Zynoviia Sluzhynska’s own long-term research. Dermatoglyphic Parameters of Ukrainians is a unique, highly relevant, and valuable scientific work containing encyclopedic information on dermatoglyphics in general; dermatoglyphic features as markers characterizing different populations; differences in dermatoglyphic indicators among peoples of various nationalities; and, in particular, the dermatoglyphic parameters of Ukrainians. The authors have successfully defined the research problem and provided the most objective and comprehensive analysis of an exceptionally rich body of material accumulated over many years of meticulous work. The study presents detailed data on dermatoglyphic investigations of finger phalanges, palmar lines, ridge patterns on digital pads (D10), fingerprint patterns, and palmar radiants. It includes the results of the delta index calculation and graphical representations of the distribution of dermatoglyphic patterns on the nail phalanges. The section “Results of Original Research” contains important findings on the study of finger phalanges in men and women from the southern, central Ukrainian, and northern dermatoglyphic zones, as well as dermatoglyphic analyses of the palms of Ukrainians from different regions. This section also examines primary measurements of palmar ridge patterns. When studying the palms of men and women from the southern, central, and northern dermatoglyphic zones, researchers determined the Cummins index, total ridge count, the atd angle, the U-shar index, and patterns on the thenar and hypothenar eminences. The work analyzes variations in the U-shar index across the three dermatoglyphic zones of Ukraine—northern, central, and southern—as well as the distribution of hypothenar patterns in men and women from different regions, and the frequency distribution of mean delta index values in the northern and central Ukrainian dermatoglyphic zones. The book Dermatoglyphic Parameters of Ukrainians represents an invaluable contribution to national science and opens new prospects for this important and promising field of research. Through its publication, significant scientific achievements have been made accessible to the global scholarly community.
All of Zynoviia Sluzhynska’s works are substantial scholarly studies. A significant place in her body of work is occupied by the following research: Marian Panchyshyn—A Knight of Mercy and Science (1993), Genealogy of Ukrainian Families (1996), A Generation That Was Not Destined to Become Parents (1998), From the History of Cytogenetic Research in Lviv (2000), From the History of the Emergence of Medical-Genetic Knowledge and the First Counseling Center in Galicia and the Gene Pool of Ukrainian Populations (2000), Publishing Activity of the Ukrainian Medical Association in Lviv in 1999–2000 (2001), We Sing a Song to the Madness of the Brave (2001), The Impact of Environmental and Socio-Political Factors on the Gene Pool of Populations (2001), Echoes of the 1933 Holodomor (2003), The Printed Word of Physicians (2003), The 15th International Conference on AIDS (2004), The Famine of 1933—A Genocide of the Twentieth Century (2004), The Influence of Socio-Political Environmental Factors on the Gene Pool of Populations (2005), The Demographic Revolution (2006), Gene Pool and Denationalization (2006), The Emergence of Medical Genetics in Ukraine (2007), The Revival of Genetics after the Lysenko Period (2008), The “Narodna Lichnytsia” Society and the Ukrainian Hospital Named after Metropolitan Sheptytsky (2010), The Diversity of Forms of Cognition (2010), Preventive and Educational Activities of the Ukrainian Hygienic Society (2010), The Organization and Activities of the Underground Ukrainian Red Cross (1943–1950) (2010), Camps for Soldiers of the Ukrainian Galician Army (2010), Losses of the Ukrainian People: Cultural, Artistic, and Demographic (2015), On the Renowned Physician-Phytotherapist and the Unknown Writer Vasyl Karkhut (2015), A Review Letter on the Gift Book “Know Your Own” (2015), Liubomyr Pyrih (2016), O Verkhovyno, You Are My World… (2016), The Contribution of Fedir Vovk to Ukrainian Anthropology (on the 170th Anniversary of His Birth) (2017), 80 Years Since the Establishment of the Medical-Genetic Counseling Center (2017), A Forgotten Geneticist, Full Member of the Shevchenko Scientific Society Mykhailo Vetukhiv (115th Anniversary of His Birth) (2017), The Life Path of Oleh Mykhailovych Tsiborovskyi. On the 85th Anniversary of His Birth (2017), Mykhailo Oleksiiovych Vetukhiv. On the 115th Anniversary of His Birth (2017), Myroslav Mykolaiovych Simenovych—a Ukrainian Socio-Political Figure in the USA (2017), Serhii Arkadiiovych Tomilin—Founder of Social Medicine (2018), The Role of Certain Ukrainian Physicians in the Organization of Medical and Sanitary Services of the Ukrainian State (1917–1921) and After Its Collapse (2018), The Majestic Figure of Professor Andrii Sozontovych Lazarenko (2018), Mother’s Recollection. The Idyllic Childhood. Student Assistance on the Collective Farm. In the Senior Classes… (2018), Review of Volodymyr Yefimov’s Book “Pure Springs” (2018), On the 85th Anniversary of Iryna Romaniv-Dumynets (2018), Forgotten Crimes in Vinnytsia (2018), 120 Years of the Medical Collection of the Shevchenko Scientific Society (2018), Thanks to Her, the Blind Still See (the Activities of Oksana Potymko) (2018), Recollection of the Famine of 1946–1947 (2018), Bibliographic Index of Yaroslav Hanitkevych (2018), Stefaniia Bilynska of the Korduba Family (2018), Osyp Dumin in the History of the Ukrainian Sich Riflemen (on the 125th Anniversary of His Birth) (2019), The Lost Poem of Roman Kupchynskyi (2019), Congratulations! On the 75th Anniversary of the Birth of Vasyl Pyshnyi (2019).
In addition, Zynoviia Sluzhynska served as editor of the genealogy books From Oblivion and Forgotten and Contemporary by Volodymyr Holiak. These volumes contain articles about the undeservedly forgotten family of pomologists and great patrons Platon, Vasyl, Levko, and Volodymyr Symerenky, as well as the tragic fate of the Starytsky-Cherniakhivsky family.
In the genealogy section of the Ukrainian Heraldic Society (chaired by Professor Andrii Hrechylo), Zynoviia Sluzhynska gave presentations aimed at restoring the memory of prominent families and individuals whose names were suppressed during the Soviet period.
Zynoviia Sluzhynska did not shy away from public service. Since 2000, she has chaired the Commission for Coordination of Scientific Research and Publications at the Ukrainian Medical Association in Lviv. She served as editor-in-chief of the quarterly Ukrainian Health Information Bulletin, founded by Professor Yurii Havryliuk and Candidate of Medical Sciences Oleksandra Sluzhynska, and as co-editor of the Medical Collection. New Series of the Shevchenko Scientific Society, also editing conference materials of the Ukrainian Heraldic Society.
From 2008 to 2012, Zynoviia Sluzhynska chaired the Medical Commission of the Shevchenko Scientific Society. In 2009, together with Andrii Grechylo, she designed the Medical Commission’s emblem (logo). In collaboration with Professor Yaroslav Hanitkevych and physician Aretii Kravets, on December 4, 2010, they published a collection of photographs, UPA Physicians—Warriors Without a Sword, issued with the support of the political organization “Svoboda.” Together with Professor Lesia Mateshuk-Vatseba, she organized the installation of a memorial plaque commemorating medical students executed by the communist regime in 1941. The work was created by the artist Yulian Kvasnytsia. With the rector of Danylo Halytsky Lviv National Medical University, Professor Borys Zimenkovskyi’s permission, the plaque was unveiled on June 22, 2012, in the university’s main building. The plaque was funded and installed by donations from students and members of the Medical Commission of the Shevchenko Scientific Society, reviving the memory of those who gave their lives for an independent Ukraine. Under Zynoviia Sluzhynska’s editorial guidance, volumes XVII–XXI of the Medical Collection (2009–2012) were published, with volume XXI dedicated to the 140th anniversary of the Shevchenko Scientific Society. A separate publication was released in honor of this anniversary (Z. Sluzhynska, L. Mateshuk-Vatseba. Dedicated to the 140th Anniversary of the Shevchenko Scientific Society. Lviv: Medical Commission, 2013. 56 pages). After 2012, she continued working on the editorial board of the Medical Collection and personally initiated and published volume XXIII, dedicated to the victims of the 1932-1933 Holodomor.
Doctor Zynoviia Sluzhynska is an active participant in all congresses of the All-Ukrainian Medical Association and the World Federation of Ukrainian Medical Societies (WFUMS).
As a member of the All-Ukrainian Association “Writers of Boikivshchyna” (headed by Liubov Rudavska-Vovk), she, alongside the poet Zenovii Masnyi, was inducted into the “Golden Fund” of the All-Ukrainian Society “Boikivshchyna of the 21st Century” (headed by Petro Kosachevych).
No charitable initiative is complete without Zynoviia Sluzhynska. She organized assistance for the Kirovohrad Regional Medical Library, including books, journals, and newspapers. In collaboration with her daughters—Candidate of Medical Sciences Oleksandra Sluzhynska and Chief Physician of the Center for Prevention and Control of AIDS Maryana Sluzhynska—she published more than 10 brochures and booklets titled Know to Protect Yourself, dedicated to HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted disease prevention. Together with the head of the “Ukrainian Genealogy” section of the regional Prosvita Society, Adriana Ohorchak, she made significant efforts to engage both professional and amateur researchers in genealogical studies across Kyiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, Donetsk, Zakarpattia, Poltava, and other regions.
Zynoviia Sluzhynska is a unique figure in scientific and social life, a striking example of a gifted Ukrainian scholar, recognized in Ukraine and internationally. She is distinguished by phenomenal erudition, multifaceted talent, modern scientific thinking, and tireless work for the benefit of humanity and the nation. Zynoviia Sluzhynska continues to actively contribute to strengthening the authority of Ukrainian medical science and the future of Ukraine.
On the occasion of her 90th birthday, we wish the esteemed Zynoviia Sluzhynska health, creative inspiration, and many more years of fruitful work for the benefit of Ukrainian science.