Ivan Fedorov (Fedorovych)

In Moscow the book copyists saw him as a rival, so he fled. In Lviv Ivan Fedorov printed the Apostol (1574), the oldest known book printed in Ukraine, and a primer; in Ostroh he printed the Ostroh Bible (1581).

Key accomplishments

With Petr Mstislavets, printed the first books in Moscow (1564–1565)

The Lviv Apostol (1574), the oldest known book printed in Ukraine

The Lviv primer (1574), the first printed textbook in Eastern Europe

Founded the press in Ostroh, which published the Azbuka (1578), the New Testament (1580) and the Ostroh Bible (1581)

His press passed to the Lviv Dormition Brotherhood and served it for a long time

Why did a printer flee Moscow?

Nobody knows for sure where or when Ivan Fedorov was born. From 1553 he was a deacon in Moscow and oversaw the building of a printing house ordered by Tsar Ivan IV. In 1564–1565 Fedorov and his assistant Petr Mstislavets printed the first books there, in Church Slavonic. But Moscow’s scribes saw the printing press as a rival and began to persecute them. The printers fled to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.

The book where printing in Ukraine begins

At first Fedorov worked on the estate of Hetman Hryhorii Khodkevych in Zabłudów (now in Poland). In 1572 he moved to Lviv and, with help from the city’s townspeople, set up his own press. From 25 February 1573 to 15 February 1574 he printed the Apostol, the oldest known book printed in Ukraine. The same year, 1574, he brought out a primer, the first printed textbook in Eastern Europe. In Lviv people simply called him “the Muscovite printer”.

The Ostroh Bible

Prince Kostiantyn Vasyl Ostrozkyi invited Fedorov into his service: in 1575 he ran the Derman Monastery, and then he set up a press in Ostroh. It published the Azbuka (1578), the New Testament (1580) and the Ostroh Bible (1581), the first full edition of the Bible in Church Slavonic and a masterpiece of printing.

Back to Lviv

After a quarrel with the prince Fedorov went back to Lviv, but he never managed to restart his press. He died in Lviv on 15 December 1583. His tombstone said that he “renewed neglected printing”.

Why it matters today

Fedorov brought a printing press to Lviv, and books no longer had to be copied out by hand. Printing in Ukraine begins with his Apostol, and the printed textbook with his primer. The Ostroh Bible showed that books made here could be called masterpieces of printing. His tombstone says what mattered: he “renewed neglected printing”. Every Ukrainian book we pick up today goes back to that beginning.