• Serhii Plokhy, the Mykhailo Hrushevsky Professor of Ukrainian History and director of the Ukrainian Research Institute at Harvard University, on April 21 was presented the 2015 Lionel Gelber Prize for his book “The Last Empire: The Final Days of the Soviet Union.” The literary award is given to “the world’s best non-fiction book in English on foreign affairs that seeks to deepen public debate on significant international issues.” Anne Applebaum called the book “an indispensable guide to the tensions and rivalries of the present,” while the Wall Street Journal said it had “uncanny parallels to the present day.” Prof. Plokhy had previously been a finalist for the Lionel Gelber Prize in 2011 with his book “Yalta: The Price of Peace.” Later in the year, on November 14, Prof. Plokhy received the 2015 Omelan and Tatiana Antonovych Foundation award for his work as a historian and author of history books that insightfully analyze Ukraine’s past and present and shed light on what may be in store for its future Ukraine’s Ambassador Valeriy Chaly noted that Prof. Plokhy’s work “has helped us to understand better our contemporary reality and predict further developments,” while Dr. Marta Bohachevsky-Chomiak said “he has been able to… present so that others may read and understand the critical role of Ukraine as a cultural, intellectual and political player.”
Oksana Zakydalsky
At the Lionel Gelber Prize awards ceremony (from left) are: Patricia Rubin, chair of the prize board; author Serhii Plokhy; and Stephen J. Toope, director of the Munk School of Global Affairs.
• Nadiya Savchenko on April 22 became the 2015 laureate of the Light of Justice Award – established by a Canadian of Ukrainian background, Anastasia Shkilnyk, in honor of her father, Dr. Mykhaylo Shkilnyk, and given in recognition of “moral, spiritual and ethical leadership.” Because Ms. Savchenko remains illegally imprisoned by Russia, her sister Vira, who conveyed words of gratitude on Nadiya’s behalf, accepted the award. Previous winners of the award have included human rights advocate and former Soviet political prisoner Yevhen Sverstiuk and Crimean Tatar leader and rights activist Mustafa Dzhemilev.