Award of The Antonovych Foundation, 2013

On October 19, 2013 Leonid Finberg, director of the Center for Jewish Studies of the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy and the editor-in-chief of the Duch i Litera Publishing House, received an honorary Award of The Antonovych Foundation for his contribution into the development of Ukrainian culture. Award ceremony was held in Washington at the Embassy of Ukraine in the USA. Among the honored guests of the ceremony there were the Ambassador of Ukraine to the United States Oleksandr Motsyk, and the former Ambassador from the United States to Ukraine John Herbst.

The text of the speech presented by Leonid Finberg at the awarding ceremony 

Photos are taken from the web-site of Ukrainian Embassy in the United States

The Omelian and Tatiana Antonovych Foundation  is a private philanthropic foundation created in 1980 by spouses Antonovich. It assists in the development of Ukrainian culture and promotes understanding between the Ukrainian and American people. The Foundation activities have being continued after deaths of Tatiana and Omelian Antonovych. The Fund’s managers today are Igor Voevidka, Andrew Levitsky, and Roman Slonevsky.

As an examples of Foundation actions we can mention restoration of the Lvov Scientific Library named after Vasyl Stefanyk, restoration and furnishing of the library of the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, creation of the regional museum “Boykovschina” at the Dolyna city, Ivano-Frankivsk region, renovation of the showroom in the Ukrainian Museum in New York, etc.

Separate sphere of the Fund activity is the annual award of the special prizes. The Omelian and Tatiana Antonovych Award were established in 1981, and it is available for literary works in the Ukrainian language, and for Ukrainian studies researches. The first literature awards were given to Vasyl Barka (1981), Vasyl Stus and Orest Subtelny (1982). In subsequent years more than 60 well-known writers and scholars were awarded by the Fund, among them: Yuri Shevelev, Lina Kostenko, Valery Shevchuk, Ivan Dziuba, Vyacheslav Bryukhovetsky, Mihajlina Kotsyubinska, Roman Szporluk, Yuri Andrukhovich, Mykola Ryabchuk, father Boris Gudziak, Jaroslav Gritsak, and others.

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On the occasion of the award receiving Leonid Finberg was interviewed by the Voice of America. Leonid was speaking about the publication of intellectual books in Ukraine and about contemporary Ukrainian culture.

Video is taken from the web-site of Information Network Voice of America