Mikhail Ptukha (also transliterated as Mykhailo Ptukha; Ukrainian: Миха́йло Васи́льович Пту́ха; Russian: Михаи́л Васи́льевич Пту́ха; 7 November 1884 – 3 October 1961) was a Ukrainian statistician and demographer. He most notably helped found the Demographic Institute of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, which he was the dean of from 1919 until 1938 following its liquidation. Born in Oster in the Russian Empire Ptukha first started working in statistics during his years at the local gymnasium, working in the statistics section of the Chernihiv zemstvo bureau. In 1906 he entered the Faculty of