Paul Yuzyk (1913-1986)

Historian, Senator.

He was born on 24 June 1913 in Pinto (near Estevan), Saskatchewan of pioneer Ukrainian parents. He was an excellent pupil in public and high school, receiving 100% on the final exam in Grade 11 mathematics and physics. After attending the Saskatoon Normal School (Teacher’s Training College) from 1932-33 where he graduated with distinction, he taught public and high school from 1933-42 in the rural district of Hafford, Saskatchewan.

In 1942 he enlisted in the Canadian Army where, as a non-commissioned officer, he trained officers until discharged in 1943 to return to university to complete a B.A. degree.

At the University of Saskatchewan Yuzyk completed a BA in Mathematics and Physics in 1945, BA Honours in History in 1947 and an MA in History in 1948. He was then offered a fellowship from the Manitoba Historical Society to write a history of the Ukrainians in Manitoba. This work was published in 1953 as “The Ukrainians in Manitoba - A Social History”. In 1949 he entered a PhD program in history at the University of Minnesota completing his course work in 1951 and his PhD thesis in 1958.

Yuzyk's academic career began in 1951 with an appointment to the University of Manitoba as Assistant Professor of Slavic Studies and History. In 1958 he was elevated to Associate Professor of History and Slavic Studies. During his tenure at the University of Manitoba he co-authored “The Ukrainian Reader” with Honore Ewach which was used as a text in public and high schools in the prairie provinces. He also served on the Manitoba Historical Society as Treasurer, Secretary, Vice President and President 1952-63; Editor of the Society’s annual Transactions of historical articles 1953-58; Co-Editor on the Editorial Board of the Manitoba Historical Society’s quarterly historical magazine 1956-63; Chairman of Ethnic Group Studies sponsoring several histories of Manitoba’s ethnocultural groups.

Yuzyk continued to teach after his appointment to the Senate (1963) as full professor on a part-time basis at the University of Ottawa from 1966-78. There he taught courses on Central and Eastern Europe, Russian and Soviet History and Canadian-Soviet Relations. He became Director of a seven year major research project culminating in the publication of a large 840 page volume, “Ukraine: A Concise Encyclopedia.”

Alongside his academic pursuits Yuzyk played an active role in numerous community organizations. To highlight a few:

He was founder and first President of the Ukrainian National Youth Federation 1934-36 and editor of its monthly magazine “Youth Speaks” 1948-49;

He was a founder of the Ukrainian Canadian University Students’ Union 1953;

National Treasurer of the Ukrainian Canadian Committee 1952-55;

Founder and first Secretary Treasurer of the Canadian Association of Slavists 1954-56;

Founder and first President of the Progressive Conservative Club of Ukrainian Canadians 1958.

Yuzyk also served as a member of the YWCA Advisory Committee on Adult Education 1958-63 and member of the General Curriculum Committee, Dept. of Education, Government of Manitoba 1958-59.

His profile in Manitoba as historian and community leader earned Yuzyk an appointment to the Senate on February 4, 1963 by the Right Hon. John Diefenbaker whom he had known since 1935. Yuzyk’s activities in the Senate have been primarily In the areas of multiculturalism, human rights, external affairs and national defense. For his role in shaping the policy of multiculturalism he has been called the father of multiculturalism.

Yuzyk was also active in a variety of parliamentary committees as well as parliamentary delegations, particularly delegations to the United Nations, the North Atlantic Assembly (N.A.T.O.) and the Review Conferences of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) in Belgrade, Madrid and Ottawa. As Rapporteur of the Subcommittee of the Free Flow of Information and People, 1977-81, he was responsible for reports on the implementation of human rights on an International level and was editor of a North Atlantic Assembly publication.

In the Senate Yuzyk was closely associated with cultural and human rights organizations particularly the following:

Canadian Council of Christians and Jews, Director from 1963;

Acting Chairman, Canadian Parliamentary Amnesty International Group, from 1974; Chairman, Human Rights Commission, World Congress of Free Ukrainians from 1967; and

Chairman, Canadian Folk Arts Council 1975-80, President from 1980 to his death in 1986.

Yuzyk organized a number of successful cultural events on Parliament Hill such as Baltic Evening, an annual event since 1972, Ukrainian Evening in 1971 and 1981 and the Nintieth Anniversary of Ukrainian Settlement in Canada.

As a Senator, his publications include: “Ukrainian Canadians” published in English and French in 1967; “For a Better Canada”, a compilation of Yuzyk’s speeches in the Senate, published in 1973, and “The Ukrainian Greek Orthodox Church of Canada 1918-1951” published in 1981. He was a member of the editorial boards of 18 investigative Senate reports published by the Queen’s Printer since 1970 and has numerous articles published in magazines and newspapers.

Honours and medals awarded to Yuzyk include keys to the Cities of Detroit, Buffalo and Rochester USA, the Shevchenko Gold Medal, Knight-Commander of the Order of St. Gregory the Great and the Grand Cross of the Knights of Malta.

Family Papers, 1911-1971. (volume 1). This series contains correspondence with family members, personal and family documents, documents and correspondence from his service in the Canadian army as a non commissioned officer. Of interest is a letter to Yuzyk’s wife listing the names of Ukrainian officers serving in the army and correspondence with Brigadier General Trudeau discussing the possibility of forming a Ukrainian regiment within the army.

In November 2008, the Honourable Jason Kenny announced the Senator Paul Yuzyk Award in commemoration of the “Father of Multiculturalism in Canada”. The first Paul Yuzyk Award for Multiculturalism, to John Yaremko, was announced at Toronto on 12 June 2009.

His articles for the Manitoba Historical Society:

The First Ukrainians in Manitoba
MHS Transactions, Series 3, 1951-52 Season

The Ukrainian Canadians
Manitoba Pageant, April 1956

A New Monument on the Legislative Building Grounds
Manitoba Pageant, Volume 7, Number 1, September 1961

Distinguished Descendant of the Selkirk Settlers
Manitoba Pageant, Volume 8, Number 2, January 1963

More information:

Paul Yuzyk Award for Multiculturalism

Source:

The foregoing information is used with permission from www.yuzyk.com.

Profile revised: 27 June 2009

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