OBITUARY: Wolodymyr Zyla, literary scholar, former minister of Ukrainian government in exile (11/28/04)

OBITUARY

Wolodymyr Zyla, literary scholar, former minister of Ukrainian government in exile

LUBBOCK, Texas - Wolodymyr Zyla, Ukrainian literary scholar, editor, political activist and minister in the Ukrainian National Republic in exile, passed away on November 16 at the age of 85.

A professor of languages and comparative literature at Texas Tech University in Lubbock (1963-1986), Prof. Zyla founded the university's annual symposia on comparative literature and chaired the program for its first 10 years. An editor of numerous Ukrainian publications as a post-war refugee, upon emigrating to North America he became a frequent contributor to the Ukrainian émigré press, most notably, Svoboda and The Ukrainian Weekly.

Wolodymyr Zyla was born in Zbarazh, in the Ternopil region of Ukraine on June 25, 1919, into a nationally conscious family that was part of the intelligentsia, at a time of Polish occupation of western Ukraine. His father, Ivan Zyla, a teacher by profession, was a soldier in the Ukrainian Galician Army. Mr. Zyla's studies at the university in Lviv were interrupted in 1939 with the occupation of Lviv by the Soviet Army. He was drafted into the army in May 1941; soon after World War II broke out he was captured by the German army.

As a post-war refugee he worked for the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration and the International Refugee Organization. He was among the organizers of the first Ukrainian displaced persons' camp in the British zone of Austria near Villach and founded and edited the short-lived paper Ukrainski Visti.

In 1948, upon marrying fellow Ternopil native Iryna Bagan, Mr. Zyla and his family emigrated to Brazil. In São Paulo, he worked at the General Motors plant and was co-editor of the weekly Nasha Dumka and founder of the Sobornist Ukranian Society.

In 1952 the Zyla family emigrated to Canada, settling in Winnipeg, where Mr. Zyla coninuted his community and political activity. Upon resumption of his universty studies, Mr. Zyla earned bachelor's and master's degress from the University of Manitoba (1962) and a Ph.D. in Slavic philology from the Ukrainian Free University in Munich (1967).

In 1963 the Zyla family moved to Texas, where Mr. Zyla became assistant professor of foreign languages at Texas Tech University and in 1968 chairman of the interdeparmental committee on comparative literature.

A prolific author, literary critic, translator and teacher, Prof. Zyla was member of numerous scholarly societies, including the Shevchenko Scientific Society, the Ukrainian Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Ukrainian Historical Association, as well as American scholarly societies.

Prof. Zyla was a minister in the Ukrainian National Republic in exile, serving as minister of culture and education (1986-1990) and as minister of foreign affairs (1990-1992).

In 1992 Prof. Zyla was named Knight of the Order of St. Gregory the Great in recognition of his book titled "The Apostolic Exarchate in Germany and Scandinavia" (in Ukrainian). He was presented with Ukraine's Order of Merit for his selfless work for the good of Ukraine, for the high level of his political activity and his numerous scholarly studies in the fields of philology and literature at an awards ceremony held at the Ukrainian Embassy in Washington in 2000.

In his acceptance speech at the Embassy Prof. Zyla stated: "During my political life I did everything possible to see to it that the Ukrainian nation was visible on the spritual map of the world. I used every possible opportunity, every seemingly insignificant incident to tell that world that Ukraine lives; it continues to fight for its independence and does not accept its enslavement."

The monograph "Wolodymyr T. Zyla: Life and Works," by Petro Soroka appeared in 1999 as a publication of the Lileia publishing house in Ternopil.

Prof. Zyla is survived by his wife, Irena; daughters, Sviatoslava with husband Stefan, Romanna with husband Michael; son, Lubomyr with wife Dwana; grandchildren, Adriana with husband Harold, Natalia, Laryssa, Talia, Ivan and Taras; great-granddaughter Aleksandra; and extended family in the United States, Canada and Ukraine.

A parastas service was held on November 22 at the Bradley-Braviak Funeral Home in Whippany, N.J., with funeral servies on November 23 at St. John the Baptist Ukrainian Catholic Church in Whippany, N.J., followed by interment at St. Andrew the First-Called Apostle Ukrainian Orthodox Cemetery in South Bound Brook, N.J.

In accordance with the family's wishes, donations in memory of Prof. Zyla may be made to the press funds of Svoboda and The Ukrainian Weekly.

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