TheKiev Theological Academy (1819—1919) was one of the oldest higher educational institution of theRussian Orthodox Church, situated inKiev, then in theRussian Empire (nowKyiv,Ukraine). It was considered to be the most senior one among similar academies inMoscow,Saint Petersburg, andKazan. It was located at the KievPodol within the KievEpiphany Monastery. The Academy′s predecessor was theAcademia Mohileana, founded in the 17th century.
The Kiev Theological Academy traces its history back to 1615, whenYelisey Pletenetsky founded a school at theBrotherhood Monastery in Kiev.[1] Several decades later,Peter Mohyla, from 1632 an OrthodoxMetropolitan of Kiev under thePatriarchate of Constantinople, merged it with a newly establishedLavra school into the Mohyla Collegium (Latin: Collegium Kijovense Mohileanum). The Collegium alumni includeInnokentiy Gizel,Lazar Baranovych,Dmitry Tuptalo,Stephen Yavorsky,Feofan Prokopovich and many other state activists and Orthodox clerics who helped reform theRussian Orthodox Church under the auspices ofPatriarch Nikon andPeter the Great. In 1658 under the terms of theTreaty of Hadiach the Collegium obtained the status of an Academy, similar toKraków Academy. This was recognized in 1694 by the RussiantsarIvan V, then reaffirmed byPeter I in 1701, when it became the Mohyla Academy.
The Mohyla Academy was closed in 1817 by the decree ofAlexander I of Russia. In 1819, the Kiev Theological Academy, an ecclesiastical educational institution, was opened in the Brotherhood Monastery. In contrast to its predecessor, the Mohyla Academy, like all similar establishments inRussia at the time the Kiev Theological Academy admitted sons of clergy only. The Kiev Theological Academy continued under this name until its closure by the Soviets in 1919. Some unofficial courses were held even at a later period. An attempt to open the Kiev Orthodox Theological Academy within the walls of the Kiev Pechersk Lavra was made after theSecond World War in 1947. The academy was revived in 1992 and is based on the grounds of theKiev Pechersk Lavra. (The main cathedral of theBrotherhood Monastery was destroyed in 1935 by the Soviet authorities).
Upon the closure of the Kiev Theological Academy, its quarters were passed to the Soviet'sRed Army Dnieper Flotilla staff headquarters.
After the Second World War the Kiev Theological Seminary was opened in 1947. It situated in the KievGolden-Domed Monastery (1947 - 1949) and in the stylobate ofSt Andrew's Church in Kiev (1949 - 1960).
Since the 1990s, there are three educational establishments inUkraine that claim to be successors to the Kiev Mohyla Academy. TheUkrainian branch of theRussian Orthodox Church operates the Kiev Theological Academy in theKiev Pechersk Lavra; theUkrainian Orthodox Church – Kyiv Patriarchate has theKyiv Orthodox Theological Academy [uk] in theGolden-Domed Monastery in Kyiv; theNational University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy is a secular educational institution.