Mykhailo Minakov

Mykhailo Minakov is a Ukrainian and Italian philosopher, political scholar, and historian, known for his interdisciplinary research on political modernization, ideologies, and the history of revolutions in Eastern Europe. He holds a Doctor of Philosophy degree and has over two decades of academic and policy experience.

Minakov studied philosophy, political science, sociology, and comparative literature at the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, earning his BA in 1996 and MA in 1998. He completed his doctoral dissertation at the Institute of Philosophy in Kyiv in 2007, focusing on the evolution of the concept of experience in Western philosophy. He has held faculty positions at the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, rising from Assistant Professor to full Professor, and has been a visiting scholar at institutions including Harvard University, Pavia University, and European University Viadrina.

He is the founding Editor-in-Chief of Ideology and Politics and the Koine Almanac of Philosophical Essays. For over eight years, he served as a Senior Advisor at the Kennan Institute, Wilson Center, where he also led the Focus Ukraine blog. Currently, Mykhailo Minakov is a DAAD Gastprofessor at the European University Viadrina.

Minakov’s research examines contemporary modernization processes, revolutionary praxis, political imagination, and ideologies, producing numerous books and scholarly articles. He has also served in leadership roles, such as Chairman of the Kant Society in Ukraine (2013-2018), and participates actively in international academic discourse, influencing debates on post-Soviet transformations and the ideological forces shaping Eastern Europe.