Born in , a village in central Ukraine, Yakovenko graduated with a degree in
classics from the
University of Lviv in 1967. Following her graduation, she joined the
Central State Historical Archive of Ukraine as a researcher. Her academic career progressed when she became a lecturer at the
Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv in 1981. In 1987, Yakovenko took a senior research position at the
Institute of History of Ukraine under the
National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (NASU). Four years later, in 1991, she was appointed chair of the NASU Institute of Ukrainian Archaeography and Source Studies. She earned her doctorate in historical sciences in 1994 and became chair of the NASU Department of History in 1995. Since 1992, Yakovenko has served as a professor at the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy. Her research focuses on the
paleography of Latin-language documents in Ukraine and the history of the Ukrainian
gentry. Yakovenko was a member of the first senate of the
Ukrainian Catholic University (UCU) from 2002 to 2005. In 2020, the UCU awarded her the title of
Doctor honoris causa, the highest honor the university confers, in recognition of her contributions to education, culture, art, and
ministry. ==Bibliography==