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Valentin IakovenkoWriter and zemstvo statistician
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Biography of Valentin Yakovenko
Valentin Ivanovich Yakovenko was a writer and provincial statistician. He was born in 1859 in the Poltava Governorate.
Early Career
Yakovenko began his career in statistics in 1880 at the Moscow zemstvo under the guidance of Professor F.F. Erisman. He conducted research on factories and plants. He later worked in Tver, where he compiled the fourth volume of "Collection of Materials for the History of the Tver Zemstvo" (Tver, 1884). Yakovenko collaborated with "Russkiye Vedomosti" and "Otechestvennye Zapiski," and after the dissolution of the latter, with "Severny Vestnik."
Life in St. Petersburg
In 1888, Yakovenko moved to St. Petersburg and became more actively involved in the journal "Severny Vestnik." For a year and a half, he contributed to the provincial life chronicle. In 1893, he was invited to oversee statistical work for the Smolensk Governorate zemstvo, but his research program was not approved by the central statistical committee. From 1894 to 1901, Yakovenko supervised statistical work for the St. Petersburg Governorate zemstvo. Under his guidance, the "Collection of Materials on Primary Popular Education" was published, laying the foundations for universal education in the province. He also authored works such as "The Poor of St. Petersburg Governorate" and others.
Later Years
Currently, Yakovenko is one of the trustees of F.F. Pavlenkov, continuing his publishing activities and establishing free public libraries according to Pavlenkov's will. He has written several biographies in Pavlenkov's publishing house "Life of Remarkable People," including Shevchenko, B. Khmelnitsky, Thomas More, Carlyle, Auguste Comte, Adam Smith, and others. He has also written a biography of Gogol in the edition of Pavlenkov's works by this writer. In the present Dictionary, Yakovenko contributed to the section on Russian geography (St. Petersburg Governorate, etc.).
