OBITUARIES

Peter Jacyk, 80, businessman and patron of Ukrainian studies

MISSISSAUGA, Ontario - Peter Jacyk, a successful businessman and generous patron who donated much of his wealth to support numerous scholarly projects and institutions of higher learning associated with Ukrainian studies, died on November 1 at the age of 80.

Peter Jacyk was born July 7, 1921, in Verkhnie Syniovydne, western Ukraine. After emigrating to Canada in 1949, he established a successful building and land development firm.

As a founding member of the Patronat NTSh (Patronage of the Shevchenko Scientific Society, Sarcelles, France), Mr. Jacyk generously supported the Entsyklopediia Ukrainoznavstva (Ukrainian Encyclopedia) project and also was instrumental in the establishment of the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute. The Peter Jacyk Fund at Harvard includes two permanent programs: the Peter Jacyk Bibliographer and the Distinguished Fellowship in Ukrainian Studies.

He also financed the Peter Jacyk Collection of Ukrainian Serials, the Central and East European Resource Center, the Endowment for Ukrainian Periodicals and other projects at the University of Toronto Library.

In 1989 Mr. Jacyk generously endowed the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies (CIUS) at the University of Alberta with $1 million to establish the Peter Jacyk Center for Ukrainian Historical Research. The center's major project is to translate and publish Mykhailo Hrushevsky's monumental "History of Ukraine-Rus' " into English. Mr. Jacyk's dedication to Ukrainian studies was recognized by the University of Alberta with an honorary doctorate of laws in 1995.

Through the Peter Jacyk Educational Foundation, Dr. Jacyk supported many other initiatives, including the endowment of the Peter Jacyk Ukrainian Studies Program at Columbia University in New York (1994) and the Peter Jacyk Lectureship in Ukrainian Studies at the University of London (1991).

In 2000 Mr. Jacyk was honored for his patronage of Ukrainian culture, education and scholarship with Ukraine's highest distinction, the Order of Yaroslav the Wise.

Mr. Jacyk was elected a member of the Harriman Institute National Advisory Committee at Columbia University in 1996, which formulates an overall strategic plan for this important educational and scholarly institution.

Most recently he endowed the Peter Jacyk Program for the Study of Ukraine at the Center for Russian and East European Studies, School of Graduate Studies, University of Toronto.

Funeral services were conducted at St. Mary's Dormition Ukrainian Catholic Church in Mississauga on November 6.

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, November 11, 2001, No. 45, Vol. LXIX

| Home Page |