March 19 marks the 100th anniversary of I.A. Jukho (1921–2004), a famous Belarusian legal scholar, founder of the scientific school of the history of state and law of Belarus.
Iosif Jukho was born on March 19, 1921 in Minsk in the family of a city horse tram worker. After graduating from school in 1938, he entered the Belarusian Polytechnic Institute. Soon he was drafted into the army and enrolled as a cadet of the Gorky School of Anti-Aircraft Artillery. During the Great Patriotic War he took part in battles of Moscow, Stalingrad, on the South-Western and Western fronts, was twice seriously wounded. As part of the troops of the Third Belorussian Front, he liberated Vitsiebsk and Polack, fought in East Prussia. He ended the war with the rank of major. He was awarded the Orders of the Red Star, of the Patriotic War, first class and medals. He left military service in 1946.
In 1949, Iosif Jukho graduated from the Minsk Law Institute. In 1949–1951, he was a judge in the People's Court of Voroshilov (now Soviet) district of Minsk. In 1954, after completing his postgraduate studies at the Institute of Philosophy and Law of the Academy of Sciences of the BSSR, he defended his Ph.D. thesis on the topic "The Establishment of Soviet power in Western Belarus in 1939". Since 1956, he worked at the Faculty of Law of the Belarusian State University as an associate professor, Head of the Department of Civil Law and Procedure, Deputy Dean of the faculty, professor of the Department of Theory and History of State and Law. In 1961–1964, he held the position of Deputy Chairperson of the Legal Commission under the Council of Ministers of the BSSR.
In 1963, the scientist developed a program and began teaching at the university a new course "History of State and Law of the BSSR", which contributed to the intensification of scientific research and led to the emergence of a scientific school. In 1980, he defended his doctoral dissertation "Social and Political System and Law of Belarus in the 16th Century."
The range of scientific interests of I. Jukho was wide. He researched the origin of the names "Belarus", "Belaya Rus", "Lithuania". He proved that the Statutes of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania were the first sets of laws in Europe (not codes) containing the norms of constitutional, civil, criminal, procedural and other branches of law. He conducted research on the legal and political views of Francysk Skaryna and grounded the assumption of his participation in the development of the 1529 Statute. He also studied the biography of Tadevush Kastsiushka and his role in the uprising of 1794, grounded the assertion about the emergence of states on the territory of Eastern Europe in the period BC and proposed a new concept of the state.
Iosif Jukho was the author of over 200 scientific works (including 13 monographs and 16 textbooks) devoted to the issues of the history of state and law of Belarus. Among them were "The legal status of the population of Belarus in the 16th century." (1978), “For our and your freedom: Tadevush Kastsiushka "(1990), "Sources of Belarusian and Lithuanian Law" (1991), "History of the Constitutional Law of Belarus" (co-authored, 2001) and others. The textbooks, written by him – "Short Essay on the History of State and Law of Belarus" (1992), "History of State and Law of Belarus" (in 2 parts, 2000, 2003) –are still in demand by students of legal specialties.
The scientist took part in the preparation of a number of encyclopaedic publications, among which were "Legal Encyclopaedic Dictionary" (1992); "Thinkers and Educators of Belarus, 10 – 19th Centuries" (1995); "Enlighteners of the Belarusian land, 10 – the beginning of the 20th Centuries" (2001); "The Encyclopaedia of the History of Belarus" (in 6 volumes, 1993-2003) and others, for which he wrote more than 150 articles. He initiated the creation of the encyclopaedic reference book “Statute of the Grand Duchy if Lithuania 1588: Texts. Manual. Commentaries"(1989), became one of the editors, translators, authors of articles and comments to this publication. Iosif Jukho participated in the development of the draft Constitution of the Republic of Belarus of 1994 and other legislative acts. In 1996 he was awarded the Francysk Skaryna Medal. He was the prize winner of the scientific award named after V. Picheta.
The legacy of Iosif Jukho has had a significant impact on the development of the national historical and legal science. In his research, the scientist summarized and systematized practical and theoretical material, analysed historical events and facts, determined periodization, scientific terminology, the main trends and patterns in the development of national law and Belarusian statehood. The life of a scientist is a vivid example of serving his native country, law and science.
Information about Iosif Jukho and his works can be found in the electronic catalogue of the National Library of Belarus, the online encyclopaedia “Belarus in Persons and Events” (in Belarusian), the database of the National database of authoritative/normative records (in Russian).
Bibliology Research Department
