Author: Myroslav Petriw

Born in Munich, Myroslav Petriw came to Canada as the child of post-war immigrant refugees. He is a product of Toronto’s vibrant Ukrainian community and a graduate of Kursy Ukrayinoznavstva imeni Hryhoria Skovorody (an intense 5-year course of Ukrainian language, history, archeology, literature, religion, and culture). After graduating from the University of Toronto, he worked with Ford Motor Co. as a mechanical engineer from 1973-2007. Petriw wrote the Ukrainian language novel Skarb Yaroslava (winner of the Anna Pidruchny award for new writers) in 2003. He completed his English language novels Yaroslaw’s Treasure in 2009 and Yaroslaw’s Revenge in 2012. Petriw returned to Ukraine as an election observer (2004), a translator with Ukraine’s state-run Uranium mining industry (2009) and on personal visits (2016 and 2017). Petriw served as president of both the Ukrainian Canadian Congress Vancouver Branch and the UCC Provincial Council. Currently he is president of the Vancouver League of Ukrainian Canadians (LUC) and serves on the National Executive level of LUC. Petriw has been awarded the Taras Shevchenko Medal by Canadian Ukrainian Congress for his “outstanding leadership in community development” (2008) and the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal for work in the community (2012). The death of Myroslav’s wife, Luba, in May 2015 has refocused his attention to the role of patriarch of the Petriw family, including an investigation into the history of his own Petriw-Murskyj family.