1993: THE YEAR IN REVIEW: In memoriam (12/26/93)

1993: THE YEAR IN REVIEW

In memoriam

During 1993, the Ukrainian community mourned the passing of notable leaders and activists, artists, scholars, editors and athletes, both in the diaspora and in Ukraine. Among them were the following:

Liudmyla Kovalenko Maniak, 57, a radio-journalist, magazine editor and president of the All-Ukrainian Association of Researchers of the Genocidal Famine of 1932-1933 (AUARGF). During the perestroika period, Ms. Kovalenko Maniak joined her husband, Volodymyr, in interviewing survivors of Nazi depredations and the Stalinist terror in Ukraine. The gathered testimonies and documentary material about the famine of 1932-1933 and other atrocities perpetrated by the Soviet regime were compiled and co-edited to form the first volume of the commemorative monograph, "Famine 33," published in 1990. Ms. Kovalenko Maniak was elected to replace her husband, following his death in a bus accident on June 23, 1992, as head of AUARGF. - Kyyiv, January 23.
Ivanna Vynnykiv-Nyzhnyk, 81, artist. A student of the noted Oleksa Novakivsky in Lviv in the 1930s, upon emigrating at the end of the second world war, Ms. Vynnykiv-Nyzhnyk gained wide acclaim in the French artistic community for her work in painting, ceramics and weaving. In the 1960s, she was taken on at Pablo Picasso's ceramics workshop. Settling in Paris in 1948, she met Volodymyr Vynnychenko and his wife and was invited to live with them on their estate in Mougins in southern France. Ms. Vynnykiv-Nyzhnyk bequeathed her assets, including the Vynnychenko estate in Mougins, which she inherited upon Mrs. Vynnychenko's passing, and her artwork to the Novakivsky Museum in Lviv. - Mougins, France, January 10.
Alex Holub, 44, cabaret singer, known professionally as Alex. During his brief but illustrious career since his coming to this country in 1981, he performed at numerous Ukrainian community events and venues, as well as in well-known New York City night clubs. His repertoire included Ukrainian songs, especially songs by the late Volodymyr Ivasiuk. A native of Rivne, Ukraine, he was a singer with the Ternopil Philharmonic. - New York, March 9.
Joseph Smindak, 77, past president of the Ukrainian Youth League of North America. Mr. Smindak headed UYLNA, the foremost youth organization of its day that focused its activity on cultural, education and sports activity, in 1953-1954. - Manhasset, N.Y., March 29.
Michael William Chepesiuk, 85, athlete. A native of Fort William, Ontario, Mr. Chepesiuk was winner of a gold medal in wrestling competition (174-lb. division) at the 1930 British Empire Games (forerunner of the Commonwealth Games). In 1930-1934, he played football at the guard position with the Toronto Argonauts. A member of the 1933 Grey Cup championship team, he was named to the league's all-star team in 1934. - Kelowna, British Columbia, March 20.
Pierre Beregovoy, former prime minister of France. A native of Normandy, the son of a Ukrainian immigrant, Mr. Beregovoy rose from humble working class origins to serve as France's minister of finance in 1984-1986 and again in 1988-1992, and as prime minister from April 1992 until his resignation in March 1993, following the defeat of his Socialist Party in parliamentary elections. Burdened with the defeat of the Socialist party and with allegations about an interest-free loan to buy a modest Paris apartment, Mr. Beregovoy was led to commit suicide. - Nevers, France, May 1.
Dr. Stephen Mamchur, 84, sociologist. A second-generation Ukrainian, Dr. Mamchur received a doctorate from Yale in 1942 and was professor of sociology at Wayne State University for many years. He was one of the founders of the Detroit Graduates Club, the oldest Ukrainian professional and business society in the United States. A contributor to the Ukrainian Weekly, under the nom de plume Burma Capelin, he penned "Potpourri," an insightful column on acculturation, assimilation, group behavior and organizational development. - Detroit, February 16.
Sviatoslav Hordynsky, 86, artist, iconographer, translator, art and literary critic. A student of the Oleksa Novakivsky Art School in Lviv, he continued his studies in Berlin and in Paris. A co-founder of the Association of Independent Ukrainian Artists, Mr. Hordynsky edited its journal, Mystetstvo, and organized its art exhibitions. Upon emigrating to the U.S. in 1947, Mr. Hordynsky assisted in the founding of the Ukrainian Artists' Association, serving as its president from 1956 to 1963. Mr. Hordynsky is credited with the iconography of some 50 churches throughout North America and Europe. His most important contributions to the history of Ukrainian art are "Ukrainian Churches in Poland" (1969) and "The Ukrainian Icon of the 12th to 18th Centuries" (1973). Mr. Hordynsky also served as the art subject editor and contributor to the Entsyklopediya Ukrainoznavstva and the Encyclopedia of Ukraine. - Verona, N.J., May 8.
Stephen Juba, 78, former mayor of Winnipeg. Mr. Juba served as mayor of Winnipeg for 21 years, the longest tenure in the city's history. Mr. Juba became one of Canada's most flamboyant and well-known mayors. Elected to the Manitoba Legislative Assembly for Winnipeg Centre in 1953, he won the mayoral elections in 1956. Mr. Juba received the Order of Canada in 1970, thus breaking an Anglo-Saxon-only tradition that began in 1874. - Winnipeg, May 5.
Ivan Honchar, 82, sculptor and ethnographer. A sculptor since the 1930s, Mr. Honchar's collection of over 3,000 historical and ethnographic artifacts gathered in the private museum which he set up in his home in 1960 attracted, on the one hand, persecution by Soviet authorities and the attention of vandals (his house being set ablaze on numerous occasions in the 1970s and again in the 1990s) and, on the other, visitors from throughout Ukraine and the diaspora for whom Mr. Honchar's home became a cultural mecca. Mr. Honchar's petition of Ukrainian government officials to appropriate and secure facilities for his collection did not meet with a response. Mr. Honchar's 16 volumes of ethnographic material remain unpublished. - Kyyiv, June 18.
Charles Mikolaycak, 56, illustrator of children's books and book designer. His illustrations, often inspired by his Polish and Ukrainian heritage, were widely acclaimed for their rich color and evocative design. Among his many honors were the American Library Association Notable Book Award (1975,1980), and The New York Times Best Illustrated Children's Book Award (in 1984 for "Babushka: An Old Russian Folk Tale" (Holiday House), which he wrote and illustrated). - New York, June 25.
Jaroslaw Dobrowolskyj, 50, attorney. Mr. Dobrowolskyj, president of the Ukrainian American Bar Association of Michigan, worked for Wayne County Legal Services and was in private practice specializing in criminal law. Since 1987, he worked tirelessly to uncover information that would clear the accused John Demjanjuk of war crimes charges. - Warren, Michigan, July 5.
Myron Levytsky, 79, painter, editor, journalist and educator. A prolific and varied painter, illustrator and graphic artist as well as noted iconographer, Mr. Levytsky has been credited with modernizing Ukrainian sacred art. A native of Lviv, he studied at the Novakivsky Art School in 1931-1933, and the Krakow Academy of Arts. In Lviv, he worked as illustrator, publisher and editor, as well as war correspondent of the 1st Galician Division's newspaper, Do Peremohy (1943-1944). He emigrated to Canada in 1949 and continued his work as illustrator. His sojourn in Paris (1956-1958) resulted in his first one-man show at the Galerie Ror Valmar and considerable acclaim in the French press. Solo exhibitions followed throughout the 1960s to 1980s in Canada and the U.S., and in 1992 in Ukraine. - Toronto, July 17.
Atanas Figol, 85, prominent civic activist, Plast leader, editor, publisher, politician, a mathematician and economist by training. Dr. Figol served as the Ukrainian Central Committee's representative in Germany. He was a member of the Lisovi Chorty Plast fraternity and was president of the Union of Ukrainian Scouts in exile. He was director of Molode Zhyttia, publishers of Entsyklopedia Ukrainoznavstva, a project to which he dedicated the rest of his life, working with the late Volodymyr Kubijovyc as business manager of the Shevchenko Scientific Society in Europe and editor of its bulletin Visti iz Sarseliu (News from Sarcelles). - Munich, July 31.
John Stashuk, 70, leading activist among British Columbia Ukrainians. A native of Winnipeg, Mr. Stashuk was president of the Ukrainian Professional and Business Association of Vancouver, vice-president of the B.C. Ukrainian Professional and Business Federation, president of the Vancouver branch of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, and initiator and president of the B.C. Provincial Council of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress since 1990. He was also a founding director and president of the Canadian Foundation of Ukrainian Studies (1983-1987). - Vancouver, August 7.
Zenon Feszczak, 62, deputy director of the Port of History Museum in Philadelphia. A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania with an M.F.A. degree, Mr. Feszczak worked as design director and later as deputy director of the Port of History Museum organizing and curating numerous exhibits. Since 1977, Mr. Feszczak contributed his talent over the years to design many of the most memorable exhibitions at The Ukrainian Museum in New York, among them: "Ukrainian Pysanky," "Traditional Design in Ukrainian Textiles," "Ukrainian Ritual Cloths," "Lost Architecture of Kiev," "To Preserve A Heritage: The History of the Ukrainian Immigration to the United States," and "Masterpieces in Wood: Houses of Worship in Ukraine." - Philadelphia, August 5.
Walter Tarnopolsky, 61, judge and rights scholar. A native of Saskatchewan, Justice Walter Tarnopolsky of the Court of Appeals for Ontario was a graduate of the University of Saskatchewan as well as of Columbia University and the London School of Economics. A leading Canadian scholar on human rights and civil liberties. Justice Tarnopolsky held academic posts in leading Canadian law schools and was president or the Canadian Civil Liberties Association and chairman of the Civil Liberties Section of the Canadian Bar Association. Judge Tarnopolsky was active also in the Ukrainian community in Canada, serving as head of the Canadian Committee for the Defense of Political Prisoners and as president of the Canadian Foundation for Ukrainian Studies. Mr. Tarnopolsky served as adviser on Ukraine's new constitution and on the board of directors of the Ukrainian Legal Foundation in Kyyiv. - Toronto, September 15.
Roman Danyluk, 67, UACC treasurer, Ukrainian Fraternal Association officer. He was president of the Ukrainian National Home in New York and vice-president of the Veterans of the 1st Division of the Ukrainian National Army. He served as chief coordinator of commemorations marking the 50th anniversary of the Galicia Division. - New York, September 26.
Hanna Korenets, 86, prominent Plast leader and organizer. A pharmacist by profession, Ms. Korenets dedicated her life to Plast. In 1927, she joined the sorority "Ti Shcho Hrebli Rvut" which she subsequently headed for 50 years. Ms. Korenets remained active in Plast after it was banned and forced underground by Polish authorities in the 1930s and during World War II. With the re-establishment of Plast in Germany in 1945, Ms. Korenets served as leader of the Association of Emigre Ukrainian Plast Members in Germany and as member of the Supreme Plast Command. Upon emigrating to the United States, she continued as member of the Supreme Plast Council and director of counselor training. - Chicago, November 6.
Anna Sten, 85, Hollywood's first Ukrainian-born film star. Born in Kyyiv, daughter of ballet master Petro Fesak and a Swedish actress, at age 15, Ms. Sten was discovered by Stanislavsky, who took her to Moscow's Russian Film Academy. She toured with the Moscow Art Theater to great acclaim and starred in four Soviet films in the late 1920s. Her role as Dostoyevsky's Grushenka in "The Murderer Dimitri Karamazov" (1931), a film directed by her husband, made her into a cult figure. Captivated by her professionalism and intensity, Hollywood's Sam Goldwyn took her to the U.S. in 1932, hoping to create another Greta Garbo or Marlene Dietrich. Though critically acclaimed, Ms. Sten was not as successful at the box office in her American films. Mr. Goldwyn stuck by Ms. Sten until she became known as "Goldwyn's folly." Ms. Sten made films until 1962 and continued to appear in many stage productions. - New York, November 16.

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