SERHII SVYRYDOVYCH HAMCHENKO (1860–1932) – military man, archaeologist, monument guardian, museologist. He devoted his life to a military career (general by order) and science, gaining recognition as an archaeologist, successfully combining service in the army (until 1918) with scientific and museum activities. For almost 50 years, he studied ancient history, researched archaeological sites and carried out activities to protect the archaeological heritage in Ukraine.

The human fate of Serhii Hamchenko and his family in Soviet times was quite tragic. On April 6, 1923, he was registered as a «former white officer» by the Vovchanskyi Main Political Department of Kharkiv Region. The autobiographies (two are known: 1927 and 1928), compiled by the scientist while working at the All-Ukrainian Archaeological Committee of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, contain hiden social status (nobility received for military service), family ties (brothers Ivan, Dmytro, Yevhen Hamchenko – generals of the Russian Empire), changed year of birth, patronymic, incorrectly indicated the names of military schools, participation in the scientific Imperial Societies of Ukraine, Russia and abroad until 1921. In 1930, Serhii Hamchenko retired and finally settled in Zhytomyr, the last two years of his life he applied for an academic pension and died on October 6, 1932 during the Holodomor.

S. M. Liashko