The Faina Petryakova Scientific Center for Judaica and Jewish Art has been set up to commemorate the life of Faina Petryakova – a passionate defender and promoter of Jewish art, and a great scholar. Faina Petryakova was born in 1931 in Old Buxov (now in Belarus territory) into a Jewish family. Her father was an officer and her mother was a nurse. She studied Russian philology at the Lviv University and art criticism in St. Petersburg and Moscow. Faina Petryakova was an extraordinary person. She was very popular among her colleagues, and also with critics and artists. She was popular not only because of her flamboyant nature, beauty and charm, but above all because of her knowledge, her passion for her work, and her outstanding work ethic. She was a professor at the Lviv Academy of Arts, a Doctor of Art History, and senior scientist at the Lviv Department of the Folklore Institute of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine., where she earned her doctorate. In 1990 she curated the first exhibition of Jewish work in the USSR. The exibition was a unique event in the 90s following the collapse of the Soviet Union. Having spent most of her […]

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The Faina Petryakova Scientific Center for Judaica and Jewish Art has been set up to commemorate the life of Faina Petryakova – a passionate defender and promoter of Jewish art, and a great scholar. Faina Petryakova was born in 1931 in Old Buxov (now in Belarus territory) into a Jewish family. Her father was an officer and her mother was a nurse. She studied Russian philology at the Lviv University and art criticism in St. Petersburg and Moscow. Faina Petryakova was an extraordinary person. She was very popular among her colleagues, and also with critics and artists. She was popular not only because of her flamboyant nature, beauty and charm, but above all because of her knowledge, her passion for her work, and her outstanding work ethic. She was a professor at the Lviv Academy of Arts, a Doctor of Art History, and senior scientist at the Lviv Department of the Folklore Institute of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine., where she earned her doctorate. In 1990 she curated the first exhibition of Jewish work in the USSR. The exibition was a unique event in the 90s following the collapse of the Soviet Union. Having spent most of her […]

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Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky is known as the `saviour of Jews` during World War II. Renata Hanynets explains why, in this week’s look at Ukraine’s Jewish Heritage.   Transcript. Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky is known as the `saviour of Jews` during World War II. In the words of Rabbi David Kahane: “When I call Andrey Sheptytskyi a saint, I am not exaggerating.” According to Rabbi Kahane, more than 240 Ukrainian priests and nuns risked their lives hiding 200 Jewish children. In his own residence, Metropolitan Sheptytsky sheltered 15 Jews. Among them was Rabbi Kahane, who later became the chief rabbi of the Israeli Air Force. Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky was born Count Roman Alexander Maria Sheptytsky in 1865 in Prylbychi, a Ukrainian village near Lviv, then part of the Austrian Empire. His family was from an aristocratic Ruthenian line which had become Polonized. His maternal grandfather was the Polish writer Aleksander Fredro. One of his brothers, became a Studite monk, while another became a General in the Polish army. Among his ancestors, however, were two metropolitans of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church … in whose footsteps the young count decided to follow. Despite many obstacles created by his father, in 1891 he entered […]

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James Temerty is a distinguished Canadian entrepreneur, civic leader, and philanthropist, and founder of the Ukrainian Jewish Encounter. Well-known and respected for his vision, initiative and servant leadership, James Temerty has received many honours for his achievements. He was born in the Donbas region of Ukraine during WWII. His parents were deported to Germany as forced labourers. After the war, his family lived in Belgium for three years, before coming to Canada and settling in Montreal. Mr. Temerty’s lifelong entrepreneurial attributes appeared early in life. His first venture was founding a University Student Business Association, which brought Dick Clark’s American Bandstand to a thrilled audience in Montreal, and eventually employed 42 students. After graduating, he held various marketing and management positions with IBM in Canada and the United States. After 15 years, Mr. Temerty returned to his entrepreneurial roots, building a single franchise into the world’s largest privately held chain of ComputerLand stores. Today Mr. Temerty is well known as the founder and chair of Northland Power, Canada’s first independent power producer and a Canadian icon for clean and green energy sources. Founded in 1987, Northland Power operates biomass, natural gas and wind power projects in Ontario, Quebec and Saskatchewan. […]

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