The University of Lviv, presently the Ivan Franko National University of Lviv is the oldest university foundation in Ukraine, dating from 1661 when the Polish King, John II Casimir granted its first royal charter. At its origin, it grew out of an earlier 1608 Jesuit academy in the Ruthenian part of the Commonwealth of Two Nations and became its second university. Over the centuries it underwent transformations, suspensions and name changes that reflected the geo-political complexities of this part of Europe. It flourished during two periods of stability under Polish academic influence either side of the First world war when...