FACES AND PLACES: Of doctors and museums (09/17/06)

FACES AND PLACES

by Myron B. Kuropas

Of doctors and museums

There is much that could be mentioned when writing about Ukrainian medical doctors in Chicago.

For one thing, there are quite a few of them - more than 200 by some estimates.

The most significant thing about our Chicago doctors is that so many are active in the community. They are visible; they are seen at various community functions; they give back to the community with substantial contributions; they volunteer to chair important projects and institutions.

Since medical doctors as a general rule make a fairly good salary, they really don't need our community. Most don't even practice among Ukrainians. They could easily move to some swanky suburb and forget their Ukrainian heritage. Some of them have done just that. They have their reasons, I suppose. And yet, there are some who have made an extraordinary contribution to our Ukrainian community in Chicago.

The first ethnonationally conscious Ukrainian in Chicago was Volodymyr Simenovych. A law student in Ukraine, he was sent by Metropolitan Sylvester Sembratovych to Shenandoah, Pa., to help Father Ivan Volansky develop our first community in America. In 1893, following his graduation from Johns Hopkins Medical School, he moved to Chicago. He was one of the founders of St. Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic parish in 1905.

Dr. Stephen Hrynevetsky is another Chicago luminary. He was one of the founders of Holy Trinity Ukrainian Orthodox Church in 1916. He was also the supreme otaman of the Hetman Sich for a number of years. A graduate of the University of Vienna Medical School, he married Natalia Pidliashetko, a soloist with the Vienna Opera Company. Before succumbing to the flu epidemic of 1918, she organized a Ukrainian choir and drama group in Chicago.

Drs. Simenovych and Toma Lapychak have served as editors of Ukrainian-language newspapers in Chicago. Many Ukrainian doctors have musical talents. Dr. Vasyl Truchly has been a choir director for years, while Dr. Volodymyr Kasaraba directed a female vocal quartet. At one time, there was even a string quartet consisting of Drs. Kasaraba, Myroslav Kolensky, Osyp Shandra and Achilles Chreptowsky.

Two Ukrainian museums/institutes in Chicago owe their existence to Ukrainian medical doctors. The Ukrainian National Museum was initiated by Dr. Myroslaw Siemens, a nephew of Dr. Simenovych. The museum almost doubled in size under the recent leadership of Dr. George Hrycelak.

A significant cultural contribution to Chicago was made by Dr. Chreptowsky, founder and principal benefactor of the Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art (UIMA). Joining Wasyl Kacurovsky, UIMA's first curator and principal art expert, and well-known artists Konstantin Milonadis and Mychailjo Urban, Dr. Chreptowsky believed it was important to present the work of Ukrainian artists who worked in the modern art arena.

These four individuals wanted to elevate the artistic contributions of Ukrainians beyond the beauty of traditional folklore. They wanted the world to become aware that contributions to modern art originating in Eastern Europe were not solely Soviet or Russian, but Ukrainian as well.

As so it was that in 1971 Dr. Chreptowsky and his three artistic colleagues embarked on a bold and ambitious project: the establishment of the first Ukrainian institute of modern art in the United States. It was not an easy task. Some tradition-bound local Ukrainians were not exactly thrilled with the idea, believing that modern art was insufficiently "Ukrainian." The four pioneers prevailed, however, and with financial assistance from Selfreliance Ukrainian American Federal Credit Union and the Heritage Foundation of First Security Savings, as well as the dedicated volunteer base, stores were purchased and a new modern structure was erected in Chicago's Ukrainian Village.

Over the last 35 years, the UIMA has flourished, sponsoring numerous exhibits, musical events, seminars and receptions related to cultural growth and understanding. The museum has become an important part not only of Ukrainian Chicagoland but of Chicago's art scene in general.

On September 27 the UIMA will be honored by the Arts Entertainment and Media Management Department at Columbia College in Chicago with the prestigious Entrepreneurship in the Arts Award for its presentation of "Artists Respond: Ukrainian Art and the Orange Revolution."

A few words about the medical career of Dr. Chreptowsky are in order. Born in Czechoslovakia in 1920, he was an outstanding soccer player in his youth. Completing his medical degree in Germany in 1948, he arrived in Chicago in 1949, passed his medical certification here, and began a successful medical practice in Norridge, Ill. President of the Ukrainian Medical Association of North America from 1975 to 1977, he was a staunch promoter of closer ties with medical doctors in Ukraine. Like many of his colleagues in the United States, he attended the First All-Ukrainian Medical Conference in Kyiv and Lviv in 1990.

Dr. Chreptowsky passed away in 1998. His granddaughter, Laryssa Reifel, carries on the family tradition as vice-chair of the UIMA board of directors.

Myron Kuropas's e-mail address is: [email protected].

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