OBITUARY: Prof. Wolodymyr Stojko, 80, historian, member of OUN (05/14/06)

OBITUARY: Prof. Wolodymyr Stojko, 80, historian, member of OUN

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. - Prof. Wolodymyr Stojko, a historian who lived and taught history as a member of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists in his native Ukraine and as a professor of history at Manhattan College in New York, died here at St. Peter's University Hospital on May 4. He was 80.

Prof. Stojko was also former editor-in-chief of The Ukrainian Quarterly, a scholarly publication of the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America, and president of the Ukrainian Free University Foundation. He was an active member of many Ukrainian community organizations.

The only son of Kateryna and Petro Stojko, he was born on November 23, 1925, in the village of Zhornyska outside of Lviv. He attended elementary school in his native village and completed it in Lviv at the Borys Hrinchenko School.

Afterwards he began attending gymnasium (secondary school) in Lviv, but his studies were interrupted by World War II. He joined the youth of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) and was assigned the task of assisting the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA).

In 1944 Mr. Stojko was directed by the OUN to travel abroad to Germany; from there he escaped to Austria at the time of post-war forced repatriation.

In 1945 in Salzburg he joined the Plast Ukrainian Scouting Organization and enrolled at the Salzburg academy, from which he graduated in 1948. He headed the Ukrainian student society and in 1948, on a directive from the OUN, became one of the initiators of the Ukrainian Youth Association (SUM).

In 1949 Mr. Stojko emigrated to the United States and became active in the OUN network and in Plast. Again on the OUN's directive, he became one of nine founders of SUM in the United States. At the same time he continued his studies at the City College of New York, earning a bachelor's degree, and later at New York University, where he earned both master's and doctoral degrees in history.

As a student he was active in the Federation of Ukrainian Student Organizations of America (known by its Ukrainian-based acronym as SUSTA), and was editor of its student page in the Svoboda Ukrainian-language daily newspaper as well as its magazine Horizonty. He was a leading activist of the Ukrainian Studies Fund at Harvard.

He taught at first at the State University of New York, and for 30 years thereafter at Manhattan College, where he also was director of Eastern European studies. He was invited to teach courses at New York University, the Ukrainian Free University (UFU) in Munich and Ivan Franko University in Lviv, the latter on a Fulbright grant.

Prof. Stojko authored many works on history in both Ukrainian- and English-language publications - books, journals and newspapers. He was a frequent speaker at scholarly conferences in the United States and Europe, including Ukraine, after it regained its independence in 1991.

He was a member of the Shevchenko Scientific Society (NTSh) and held numerous posts within the organization, including that of scholarly secretary and head of the auditing committee. He was active in the NTSh World Council, most recently holding the office of vice-president. He was a member also of the Ukrainian Academy of Arts and Sciences in the U.S.A.

For many years Prof. Stojko was involved in Ukrainian community affairs, most notably as a member of the executive board of the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America (UCCA). He served as editor-in-chief of The Ukrainian Quarterly for 10 years. Since 2002 he headed the Ukrainian Free University Foundation.

Prof. Stojko was a longtime activist of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists, most recently as an advisor and editor; as well as of Plast, holding membership in the Chervona Kalyna fraternity.

He was the recipient of numerous awards presented by such organizations as the Ukrainian World Congress, the UCCA, the UFU and Plast.

Surviving are his wife, Myroslava (the couple married in 1956), his daughters Roksolana Lozynskyj with her husband, Askold, and their children, Maksym and Kira; and Oksana Dziadiw, with her husband, Danylo, and their children, Kalyna and Lili.

Memorial services for Prof. Stojko were offered on May 7-8 at the Boylan Funeral Home in New Brunswick. The funeral liturgy took place on May 9 at the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Ukrainian Catholic Church in New Brunswick; interment followed at St. Andrew Ukrainian Orthodox Cemetery in South Bound Brook, N.J.

Memorial donations may be designated for the patriarchal cathedral in Kyiv (checks should be made out to the Ukrainian Catholic Church), The Ukrainian Quarterly or the Ukrainian Free University Foundation, and sent to: Askold Lozynskyj, 225 E. 11th St., New York, NY 10003.

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