A rather successful and productive conference took place on March 30-31 in New York – Mr. Zvarych's native city. And on the first of April Minister Zvarych was speaking at his alma mater Columbia University.

Take any reference book, open the internet page of the Verkhovna Rada or the Cabinet of Ministers and you will read that Roman Mykhailovych Zvarych was born on November 20, 1953 in the city of New York, USA. Higher education, in 1981 he graduated from Columbia University (New York), faculty of philosophy.

Candidate's dissertation "Ontological Foundations of Plato's Ethics" (1981). In 1981-1983 – Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Columbia University. In 1983-1991 – professor at New York University.

The essence of the anonymous letter boiled down to the fact that its authors, taking advantage of the minister's presence at Columbia University, decided to arrange for him an interview with the university's alumni magazine.

However, they were informed that the editorial office had no information whatsoever that a person by the name of Roman Zvarych had ever received a diploma from Columbia University.

Well, well! Could there be yet another proFFessor?

The accusations put forward in the April Fool's letter were so unjokingly serious that "Ukrainska Pravda" decided to conduct its own journalistic investigation.

Lie number one. Master's or Doctor's?

The first thing that catches the eye is the significant difference in biographical data about Mr. Zvarych between Ukrainian-language and English-language sources.

On the Ukrainian-language internet page of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, Mr. Zvarych is called a master of philosophy, while the English-language version of the same page says that Mr. Zvarych has the American degree of Ph.D., that is, is a "doctor of philosophy."

The difference is significant: not that many people in America receive a master's degree; the doctoral degree is simply the highest level of skill – five to six years of painstaking labor in libraries.

The hope that the Minister of Justice, obviously due to his busy schedule, simply did not notice the discrepancies in his own biography faded after we opened an issue of the diaspora newspaper "Ukrainian Weekly." There, in an interview with Roman Voronovych, Mr. Zvarych was called a doctor of philosophy back in 1998.

So which degree does Mr. Zvarych actually have: doctor's or master's?

If one follows the English-language version of the Cabinet of Ministers' website, everything turns out logical. Roman Zvarych from 1978 to 1981 studied at Columbia University, received the degree of doctor of sciences (Ph.D.) and began working at the same university as an Assistant Professor, which in the American academic system is the first, lowest rank after defending one's doctorate.

With the Ukrainian-language variants of Mr. Zvarych's biography certain questions arise. First, master's programs in the USA are, as a rule, designed for two years. One can take an academic leave, one can skip a semester or two, there can be special combined master's programs designed for three years.

But, if one believes the Ukrainian-language biographies of the Minister of Justice, he was receiving his master's degree over the course of five years (1976-1981), which is highly unlikely.

That Mr. Zvarych began his studies at Columbia University precisely in 1978 was confirmed to us at Columbia University, but more on that in order.

If, for example, according to the Ukrainian-language version of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine's website, Roman Zvarych is after all a master and not a doctor of philosophy, then how could he then work at the university as an Assistant Professor without a Ph.D. degree?

According to the American professors we interviewed – this is absolutely impossible. To hold the rank of "Assistant Professor," "Associate Professor," or full "Professor" in the United States is possible only by having a doctor of sciences degree, that is, having defended a Ph.D.

So it turns out that the Ukrainian-language versions are mistaken and the Minister of Justice of Ukraine is not a master but a doctor of sciences, that is, has a Ph.D. degree from Columbia University in New York.

The problem lies in the fact that Mr. Zvarych, according to information we obtained and independently confirmed, is not a doctor of sciences and does not have a Ph.D. degree from this university.

Lie number two. Plato's ethics vs. Zvarych's ethics

If one believes the reference book "Who's Who in Ukraine," prepared by the "KIS" publishing house in 2004, Roman Zvarych is the author of about 30 scholarly works. We decided to read at least one of them – his doctoral or candidate's dissertation on "Ontological Foundations of Plato's Ethics" (1981).

The collection of all successfully defended dissertations in the USA can be found on a special server. Click on "dissertation express," then "connect to dissertation express as an individual," then successively click "continue" twice until a window opens where you can type in the author's surname and find his dissertation.

Please use the pre-Ukrainian spelling of the surname Zvarych – Zwarycz. But you can also try other variants: Zvarych, Zvarich, Zwarich, Zwaritch, or even Swaritch.

The result will be the same either way – there is neither a dissertation about Plato nor any other dissertation written by Mr. Minister. If you type in the surnames of Subtelny, Szporluk, Motyl, Himka (Subtelny, Szporluk, Motyl, Himka), other scholars of Ukrainian origin, you will find not only the title but also the number by which one can, upon payment, purchase a copy of the dissertation.

However, to finally make sure that Mr. Zvarych never wrote any dissertation, we turned to the libraries of Columbia and New York universities where Mr. Minister, according to his biography, studied, began his academic career and worked for almost eight years.

"1983-1991 – professor at New York University," we read on the official portal of the government of Ukraine.

Both university libraries have automated search systems. That is, by entering the author's surname, one can find any of his works. Which is what we did.

The result is as follows: in the libraries of the named universities there is not only no dissertation by Zvarych about Plato and his ethics, but not a single (!) scholarly work by the future Mr. Minister.

If articles written already during Zvarych's Ukrainian period of life for RUKH-era and other press are being passed off as scholarly works, then all Ukrainian journalists could be called doctors of sciences, because they too write articles.

Lie number three. About the faculty of philosophy and the Columbia University diploma

If one believes the information from the publication "Dzerkalo Tyzhnia," set out in the article "One of Their Own Among Strangers," as well as numerous articles in other Ukrainian and Russian publications, Roman Zvarych graduated from the faculty of philosophy of Columbia University.

To confirm or refute this information, we wrote a letter and called this educational institution (Department of Student Services).

Mr. Bill Santin – Student Services Senior Representative – informed us by telephone that a person by the name of Roman Michael Zwarycz did indeed study at Columbia University.

But! Not at the faculty of philosophy, as stated in all of Mr. Zvarych's biographies, but at the international one (at that time the School of International Studies).

This person, who, as we are convinced, is now the Ukrainian Minister of Justice, could not possibly have received a diploma in 1981, because after studying at the international faculty from 1976 to May 1978, he quit the university for reasons unknown to Mr. Santin.

Roman Zvarych was studying in a master's program, not a doctoral one, and if he had finished the university, he would have received the degree of MIA, that is, Master of International Affairs – a master's in international relations. But certainly not in philosophy, and even more so not a Ph.D!

Still not understanding where this whole story about the faculty of philosophy came from, and wishing to have written confirmation of the oral information received from Bill Santin, we sent a written inquiry to Columbia University.

One can obtain confirmation of a Columbia University diploma, like any other diploma issued on the territory of the USA, through the National Student Clearinghouse.

After fulfilling many formalities and paying for this service, we received the answer that we had already heard orally from the university's representative: Roman Mykhailovych Zvarych, born in 1953, never received any diploma from Columbia University.

Neither a master's level one, nor a doctoral one. He, accordingly, could not have worked as a professor either at Columbia, or at New York, or at any other American university.

Lie number four. About legal education

Mr. Zvarych likes to give interviews. Here is what he said in an interview with the newspaper "Fakty" (we quote in the original language):

What specialty did you study in?

- Philosophy, law and international politics. I received a master's diploma in philosophy. But in the USA I was not a practicing attorney, only in Ukraine.

By the way, I did not finish the university because I went into a doctoral program. I did not finish that either – I began teaching at Columbia University as a teaching assistant.

I had my own courses, conducted seminars and the like. Then at New York University I was offered a position of professor. That is, I did not have the title of "professor," but only the rank. These are different things. At New York University I taught for seven years. Various subjects: philosophy of law, jurisprudence, ethics, intellectual history.

Mr. Minister told the truth about himself, but not the whole truth. So he did not finish Columbia University after all. But a master's diploma in philosophy, according to his words, he received.

That is, he did not receive it, BECAUSE he transferred to a doctoral program. But he did not finish that either, BECAUSE he began teaching at the university... without any academic degree. Simply fantastic!

We were unable to establish what Mr. Zvarych worked as at New York University, because answers to inquiries about confirmation of position are provided by an automated system where one must indicate Mr. Zvarych's individual social security number, which we, of course, do not have. Moreover, the system provides information only about the last three years. And Mr. Zvarych has been in Ukraine since the early 90s.

We can only guess that without a master's degree Mr. Roman could have worked at New York University as a researcher in the library, a laboratory assistant at a department, and so on, but obviously not as a professor, even if it is not a title but a position.

"...in the USA I was not a practicing attorney, only in Ukraine," the Minister of Justice tells "Fakty." Which is not surprising.

In America Mr. Zvarych had no grounds whatsoever to be either a practicing attorney or a theorist for the simple reason that he did not have the appropriate professional education for it.

Perhaps he received a legal education in Ukraine, or somewhere else? But this is not stated in any of his biographies. And it is not logical either. Why would one go on to study at some "backwater" Ukrainian university if one has a diploma from Columbia?

But Mr. Zvarych, as was said above, does not have any diploma from Columbia University: neither in philosophy, nor in international relations, nor in law, none at all! So what does this mean: can a person with an incomplete higher education become the Minister of Justice of Ukraine?

From the primary source: the minister's forgetfulness

On April 12 we had the opportunity to clarify this tangled situation and question Roman Zvarych directly. At a press conference in Kyiv "UP" addressed the Minister of Justice with a question regarding his education.

UP: Mr. Roman, we would like to receive confirmation from you that you studied at Columbia University. Zvarych: Yes. UP: And in 1981 you graduated from it... Zvarych: I don't remember exactly when I graduated from it, but I definitely studied there... UP: At the faculty of philosophy? Zvarych: Both at the faculty of philosophy and at the school of international relations... and I was there quite a long time. UP: Did you write your dissertation there? Zvarych: No, I did not write a dissertation, I did not reach that level, I completed a master's, a master's in philosophy. UP: That is, the work about Plato – was that a master's thesis? Zvarych: About Plato? It was a work in the context of a so-called colloquium. Well! I have to go, excuse me...

Conclusion: and the king is naked!

Minister Zvarych speaks out against lustration, promises to "harshly punish" corruption, launches the "clean hands" campaign, actively fights against the dishonesty of the yellow "Pora," against illegitimate decisions of the Cabinet of Ministers, decides whether or not former oligarchs like Berezovsky should be allowed to come to Ukraine.

In short, Minister Roman Zvarych is a highly moral, decent and conscientious, crystal-clear state person – ethical, almost like Plato. And behind the scenes hides a little lie that all the state bodies taken together, the independent press and the non-existent opposition swallowed.

The journalistic investigation of Roman Zvarych's biography lasted two weeks. If the personnel department of the Cabinet of Ministers (if such still exists) had spent at least half of this time checking the biographical data of its ministers, perhaps there would be fewer "proFFessors" in the corridors of Ukrainian power.

It is especially painful to see such naked kings now, in the new government.

Liuba Shara, Washington, UP, 14.04.2005, 15:03