This section features the noteworthy events and people of 2014 that defy easy classification. (They appear in the order in which they were reported in our newspaper.)
U.S. Embassy Kyiv
Ruslana Lyzhychko (center) with First Lady Michelle Obama and Deputy Secretary of State Heather Higginbottom at the presentation of the 2014 Secretary of State’s International Women of Courage Awards on March 4.
• Ruslana Lyzhychko was honored by the U.S. Department of State as one of 10 “International Women of Courage,” for her “commitment to the Euro-Maidan community and her steadfast commitment to nonviolent resistance and national unity in the fight against government corruption and human rights abuses.” Presented annually since 2007 on March 4 – International Women’s Day – the awards recognize “women around the globe who have demonstrated exceptional courage and leadership in advocating for peace, justice, human rights, gender equality and women’s empowerment, often at great personal risk.”
• Ukrainian oligarch Dmytro Firtash, long wanted by U.S. authorities on suspicion of bribery and criminal conspiracy, was arrested in Vienna on March 12. Mr. Firtash, one of Ukraine’s richest men, made his money in the gas, chemicals, media and banking sectors, and was a key backer of recently ousted president Viktor Yanukovych. The U.S. requested extradition, against which Mr. Firtash filed an appeal. Bail was set at $174 million, with the understanding that Mr. Firtash would remain in Austria if released on bail.
• The New Jersey Devils hockey team hosted its inaugural Ukrainian Heritage Night on March 8, at a game against the Carolina Hurricanes. Co-organized by Christine and Myron Bytz, the event’s pre-game activities included performances by local dance groups, strolling accordionists and displays of Ukrainian embroidery and pysanky. During one of the intermissions the audience was treated to the sight of a Ukrainian Kozak riding on the Zamboni waving a Ukrainian flag, and during the second period the Devils recognized as one of their “Heroes Among Us” New York Port Authority policeman John Skala, who gave his life on September 11, 2001. The post-game audience enjoyed a concert by the Dobriansky Brothers. Pleased with the success of the event, the Devils welcomed the second Ukrainian Heritage Night on December 6, at a game against the Washington Capitals. The format was similar to the first event – the entertainers were slightly different, and the recognition as a “Hero Among Us” was given to Markian Paslawsky, who was killed in ATO action in Ukraine.
• Ruslana was one of the honorees at the fifth annual Women in the World summit hosted by Tina Brown Live Media, a four-day program highlighting the achievements of women from al continents of the world, as well as revealing many of the dreadful consequences suffered by women and children in conflict zones. Recognized for her leadership during the days and nights of the Euro-Maidan, Ruslana was included in the opening program, where she sang Ukraine’s national anthem against a video backdrop of Euro-Maidan footage. Introduced at the evening program by Melanne Verveer, executive director of the Institute for Women, Peace and Security at Georgetown University and former U.S. ambassador-at-large for global women’s issues, Ruslana was lauded not only for her recent activism during Euro-Maidan, but also for her support of the 2004 Orange Revolution, a national protest against rigged elections, in addition to a less well-known aspect of her activism – her leadership in the fight against human trafficking.
• Camp Spirit lake Internment Interpretative Center, the first internment interpretative museum, won the highest award at Les Grands Prix du Tourisme Québécois, besting many entries in various categories in the annual tourism competition. The competition acknowledges and brings attention to Quebec projects whose programs have an outstanding impact on the general Quebec community and are worthy of public interest. The center, established in 2010 and located on the wooded grounds of the original internment camp 350 miles north of Montreal, tells the story of the still little-known internment of 1,200 innocent men, women and children, mainly Ukrainians, taken to Spirit Lake in 1915-1917, during Canada’s First National internment operations.
• Poland awarded its first Solidarity Prize to Crimean Tatar leader Mustafa Dzhemilev for his ongoing contributions to peace, democracy and human rights. Mr. Dzhemilev had previously been awarded the 1998 Nansen Peace Medal by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees for his efforts and commitments to the “right of return” of the Crimean Tatars to Crimea, and has twice been a candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize. The 70-year old Crimean Tatar leader, renowned for this non-violent struggle in support of justice, has been labeled an extremist by authorities in his homeland of Crimea, and is banned from entry until 2019.
• Melissa Talaber Matwyshyn, a seventh-grade and science teacher at St. Nicholas Cathedral School in the Ukrainian Village section of Chicago, was one of 10 winners of the 2014 Golden Apple Awards for Excellence in Education. Ms. Talaber Matwyshyn, who holds a bachelor’s degree in biology and chemistry and a master’s degree in education from the University of Illinois at Chicago, is known as a teacher who inspires her students. Golden Apple is a nonprofit organization that works to identify Illinois teachers who exemplify the highest standards and practices of the teaching profession. Award winners receive a tuition-free spring quarter sabbatical at Northwestern University and a cash award.
• Sixteen-year old Mykola Shevchik reached the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro – 19,340 feet – on June 16, having spent seven days on the mountain and hiked 43 miles through five different ecosystems. One of Mr. Shevchik’s goals in making the trek was to raise funds for the “Nebesna Sotnia” (Heavenly Brigade). In this he succeeded admirably, with over $5,750 raised for the United Ukrainian American Relief Committee as a result of his efforts. Young Mr. Shevchik is a 10th grade student at St. Alban’s School in Washington, a student at the Taras Shevchenko School of Ukrainian Studies and a member of Plast Ukrainian Scouting Organization.
• Two prominent Ukrainian civil and human rights activists – Mustafa Dzhemilev and Myroslav Marynovych – received the 2014 Truman-Reagan medal of Freedom awarded by the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, at a ceremony on June 11 in front of the Victims of Communism Memorial in Washington. Mr. Dzhemilev was described at the presentation ceremony as a “heroic example of bravery.” Having spent decades defending the political rights of Crimean Tatars from Soviet aggression, he is now – as a member of the Ukrainian Parliament – leading an offensive against Russian President Vladimir Putin’s aggression and annexation of Crimea. Mr. Marynovych has been defending his countrymen’s human and civil rights for decades. He served time in a Soviet hard-labor camp and in exile for being an “agitator,” helped organize the Ukrainian Helsinki Group and founded and chaired the Ukrainian chapter of Amnesty International; since 2000 he has been the vice-rector of the Ukrainian Catholic University in Lviv.
Stefan Slutsky
The Iskra Ukrainian Dance Academy and Ensemble of Whippany, N.J., lead the Dance Parade and DanceFest in New York on May 17.
• When the eighth annual Dance Parade and DanceFest took place in New York on May 17, it was led by the Iskra Ukrainian Dance Ensemble of Whippany, N.J., which is under the artistic direction of Andrij Cybyk. The troupe was chosen in light of current developments in Ukraine. The mission of the parade, which comprises nearly 10,000 dancers in 142 dance groups showcasing 77 different styles of dance, is to celebrate the diversity of the many forms of dance and promote dance as a unifying art form. Dressed in colorful costumes from the Bukovyna, Hutsulshchyna, Poltava and Zakarpattia regions, Iskra dancers performed almost the entire 1.3 mile length of the parade route, showcasing dance combinations from the represented regions. Dancers from the senior group of Iskra Ukrainian Dance Academy joined Iskra Ensemble dancers for the parade, which finished in Tompkins Square Park, where the ensemble performed its “Pryvit” on stage.
• At its annual meeting February 23-26, the Society for Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration Inc. honored Ihor Kunasz by presenting him with the 2013 Robert M. Dreyer Award in Applied Economic Geology. The award recognizes outstanding achievements accomplished through commercial exploration or development of metalliferous and/or non-metalliferous mineral deposits. Born in France to Ukrainian parents, Dr. Kunasz immigrated to the U.S. in 1958 and wrote his doctoral thesis at the Pennsylvania State University on the origin of lithium in the Clayton Valley.
• Dr. Maria Korkatsch-Groszko was appointed in February to Illinois’ Holocaust and Genocide Commission, which promotes and provides advice and assistance to public and private elementary and secondary schools, and institutions of higher education, regarding implementation of Holocaust and genocide education and commemoration. Dr. Korkatsch-Groszko is professor emerita of Northeastern Illinois University (1975-2013), where she specialized in bilingual-bicultural and elementary education, in addition to serving as associate chair and chair of the Department of Teacher Education
• The book “Kyiv, Ukraine. The City of Domes and Demons from the Collapse of Socialism to the Mass Uprising of 2013-2014,” by Roman Cybriwsky, Temple University professor of geography and urban studies, was released in June. The book not only covers Kyiv’s many attractions – the ancient city center, various museums and churches, and topping the list, Trukhaniv Island – but also explores the city’s people, their struggles, their spirit and their fight against the “demons” wreaking havoc on the city. The “demons” take many forms, including poverty, takeover and demolition of the city’s ancient structures, the outrageous spending of state funds, and the popularity of Kyiv as a sex tourism and marriage destination.
• Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s Ukrainian Service, known in Ukraine as Radio Svoboda, marked its 60th anniversary on September 18 at an event in Kyiv attended by Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk and Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko, and hosted by the Prague Freedom Foundation. The event included a panel discussion on the role of propaganda and the power of independent journalism in situations of conflict and war. The Ukrainian Service enjoyed dramatic growth in 2014 as a result of its live-streamed coverage of events relating to Euro-Maidan; its reports from Crimea and the conflict zones in eastern Ukraine. Its investigations into the properties and finances of the Yanukovych regime are regularly cited by major international and local media. Programming via radio, the Internet, television and mobile reaches audiences in 21 countries.
• The Lech Walesa Foundation on September 25 awarded its annual freedom prize to the Euro-Maidan protest movement. The award, worth 100,000 Euros ($127,000 U.S.), was presented to representative of the Euro-Maidan at a ceremony in Gdansk, Poland. Mr. Walesa, who spearheaded Poland’s democracy movement and was the country’s first post-Communist president, said his foundation normally honors specific individuals but this year chose “the whole movement which gave hope to the Ukrainian people.” Created in 2008, the award is “dedicated to all those working for understanding, cooperation and solidarity between peoples, in the name of freedom and values intrinsic to the Solidarity movement.”
• When First Lady Michelle Obama invited 150 students to the White House on October 8 for a fashion education workshop, she wore a dress designed by Natalya Koval of Ukraine, a 29-year-old student at New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology. Ms. Koval was selected from among 26 FIT students competing in a challenge to dress a celebrity. They had been given specifications – not too short, but not too long; not too revealing, but not too conservative – but had not been told the celebrity would be the first lady. In speaking to the New York Daily News about her assignment, Ms. Koval said she’d had Mrs. Obama in mind as her inspiration for the dress.
Vera Nakonechny was honored on September 17 by the National Endowment for the Arts.
• Vera Nakonechny, a Philadelphia Ukrainian and prominent mast in traditional Ukrainian folk art, received from the National Endowment for the Arts the country’s highest honor in the folk and traditional arts category. The award also carries a $25,000 stipend. Ms. Nakonechny is an expert in the art of crafting Ukrainian textiles, including embroidery, beadwork and weaving, and cultivates and preserves these Ukrainian traditions both in the United States and Ukraine. The nine recipients of the award for 2014 were feted on September 17 at a gala banquet in the Great Hall of the Library of Congress. The cover of the invitation featured Ms. Nakonechny’s stunning gerdan beadwork.
• Photographer Joseph Sywenkyj received the W. Eugene Smith Memorial Fund’s 2014 grant in humanistic photography for his project “Verses from a Nation in Transition,” which takes a sensitive look at families who have been seriously impacted physically, mentally and economically by the crisis in Ukraine. The Smith grants are presented annually to photographers whose work is judged by a panel of experts to be in the best tradition of the compassionate dedication exhibited by photojournalist W. Eugene Smith. This year’s recipients were selected from 170 entries received from 42 countries, and presented their awards at a special ceremony at the School of Visual Arts Theater in New York on October 15.
• Dr. Timothy Snyder, Yale University professor and historian, whose research and analysis of developments in Central and Eastern Europe, and his recent book, “Bloodlands: Europe between Hitler and Stalin,” have earned him worldwide acclaim, was honored in Washington on October 25 as the 2014 recipient of the Omelan and Tatiana Antonovych Foundation Award. Since the awards program began in 1981, “intellectual integrity and objective writing were always paramount in the choice of candidates.” In accepting the award, Dr. Snyder stressed that “Ukrainian studies are extremely important at this particular time and place” because Ukrainian history helps one see the multiplicity, confusion and complexity of that region.
• The Ukrainian Technological Society of Pittsburgh honored Pittsburgh native Dorothy Walgus Waslo with its 2014 Ukrainian of the Year Award, presented on November 1. Ms. Waslo, an accomplished choir conductor, was honored for her efforts to promote and maintain the tradition of Ukrainian sacred and choral music through the founding and leadership of the Ukrainian Cultural Trust Choir of Western Pennsylvania since 1990; and her directorial accomplishments, as she introduced Ukrainian sacred and choral music to church and community audiences in over 20 years of performances.
• A new biography of legendary dancer, teacher and choreographer Vasile Avramenko, “The Showman and the Ukrainian Cause,” was written by Orest Martynowych, a historian at the Center for Ukrainian Canadian Studies, University of Manitoba in Winnipeg. His book is meticulously and scrupulously researched, covering Ukrainian, Ukrainian Canadian and Ukrainian American history, culture, politics and entertainment over many decades, presenting “the truths of a well-documented life.”
• The Ukrainian Service of the Voice of America marked its 65th anniversary with a December 11 celebration at the VOA headquarters in Washington. Ukraine’s Ambassador Olexander Motsyk read greetings from President Petro Poroshenko and Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk, and the presentation from President Poroshenko awarding the Order of Princess Olha to Myroslava Gongadze, anchor of the Ukrainian Service’s daily TV news and the current affairs program “Chas-Time,” for her “personal contribution to the development of journalism, active civic efforts and high professional skills.” Many of the greetings highlighted the importance of the VOA Ukrainian Service’s most recent work – during the Euro-Maidan protests, the subsequent changes in the Kyiv government and Russia’s aggression in Crimea and eastern Ukraine.
• The Ukrainian Graduates of Detroit and Windsor celebrated their 75th anniversary with a banquet on October 19, awarding their Ukrainian of the Year award for 2014 to Nadia Komarnyckyj McConnell, founder and president of the U.S.-Ukraine Foundation (USUF). Co-founded in 1991 by Ms. McConnell and her husband, Robert, the USUF has generated over $40 million in grants over the years for a large variety of assistance programs, working with the Verkhovna Rada, the State Department Summer Work/Travel Program, U.S. Ukraine Policy Dialogue and many others. The foundation has also given close to $1 million in stipends for professional programs, as well as scholarships to students.
• During the Euro-Maidan, there was an avalanche of propaganda against the demonstrators, mostly from Russian sources. They were accused of being “fascists,” “neo-Nazis,” “ultra-nationalists” and, most commonly, “anti-Semites.” The book “Jews, Ukrainians and the Euromaidan,” edited by Dr. Lubomyr Luciuk of the Royal Military College of Canada and presented in Toronto on November 30, aimed to set the record straight. It is a collection of works by various authors covering the period November 21, 2013, to March 20, 2014, that give compelling evidence about the positive role played by Ukraine’s Jews, as well as those in the diaspora. Prof. Luciuk said that, as a historian, he felt the interaction between Ukrainians and Jews on the Maidan was significant, and he wanted to preserve its historical record.