- Savella Stechishin
Savella Stechishin, née Wawryniuk (
August 19 ,1903 –April 22 ,2002 ), was aUkrainian-Canadian home economist and writer, recipient of theOrder of Canada . She has been described as "an ethnocultural social maternal feminist" (Ostryzniuk, 1999).Stechishin was born in Tudorkovychi,
Lviv Oblast of WesternUkraine (Galicia), and her family emigrated toCanada in 1913, settling in Krydor,Saskatchewan . At age 17 she married Julian Stechyshyn, rector of thePetro Mohyla Institute in Saskatoon, and later bore three children, Anatole, Myron, and Zenia. She completed high school and teachers college, and obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree specializing inHome Economics from the University of Saskatchewan in 1930, the first Ukrainian woman to receive a degree there.While studying, she was also the Dean of Women at the Petro Mohyla Institute, where she organized evening courses in
cooking ,homemaking ,Ukrainian culture and cuisine, andpublic speaking for young women. Later, she taught in public schools and lectured inUkrainian Language and in the Department of Women's Services at the University of Saskatchewan, as well as running outreach programs for Ukrainian immigrants. She also lectured around North America and in Western Ukraine (Polish Galicia) before it was annexed by the Soviet Union in 1939.She helped establish the
Ukrainian Women's Association of Canada in 1926, and theUkrainian Museum of Canada in 1936.For over 25 years she was editor of the women's page and columnist for the Winnipeg-based
Ukrainian Voice weekly ("Ukrayins’kyy Holos"). She also contributed to other Ukrainian women's publications in North America and Western Ukraine, and wrote for the Canadian Consumer Information Service during theSecond World War .Shechishin's most prominent book is the English-language "Traditional Ukrainian Cookery" (1957), which saw its eighteenth reprinting in 1995 and has sold 80,000 copies. Her other books are in Ukrainian: "Art Treasures of Ukrainian Embroidery" (1950), and a 50th anniversary book for the Saskatoon branch of the Ukrainian Women's Association (1975). She assisted her husband, Julian Stechishin, with a "Ukrainian Grammar" (1951), and completed his "History of Ukrainian Settlement in Canada" (1971) after his death—an English translation was published in 1992.
Savella Stechishin was awarded many honours. Most notably, she was appointed to the
Order of Canada onApril 20 ,1989 , and theSaskatchewan Order of Merit in 1998.References
* Momryk, Myron (1996). " [http://data2.archives.ca/pdf/pdf001/p000000605.pdf Stechishin, Savella, MG 30, D 380] ", Finding Aid No. 2072. Ottawa: Manuscript Division, Canadian Archives Service. This is a list of materials available at the Archives of Canada.
* Ostryzniuk, Natalie (1999). "Savella Stechishin: a case study of Ukrainian-Canadian women activism in Saskatchewan, 1920–1945", master of arts in history thesis. University of Regina. ISBN 0-61230-531-7. [http://www.umanitoba.ca/centres/ukrainian_canadian/dissertations/ostryzniuk.html Abstract] , [http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk2/tape17/PQDD_0003/MQ30531.pdf PDF: 11.8 MB] .
* Stechishin, Savella (1950). "Art Treasures of Ukrainian Embroidery" ("Mystets’ki skarby ukraïns’kykh vyshyvok"). Winnipeg: Ukrainian Women's Association of Canada.
* Stechishin, Savella ( [1957] 1995). "Traditional Ukrainian Cookery", 18th ed., Winnipeg: Trident Press. ISBN 0-919490-36-0.
* Stechishin, Savella (1975). "Fifty years of the Olha Kobylianska Branch of the Ukrainian Women's Association of Canada, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan: 1923–1973" ("Pivstorichchia, 1923–1973, Zhinochoho tovarystva imeny Olh’hy Kobylians’koï v Saskatuni, Saskachevan, pershoho viddilu soiuzu ukraïnok Kanady"). Saskatoon: Ukrainian Women's Association, Olha Kobylianska Branch. [http://amicus.collectionscanada.ca/aaweb-bin/aamain/itemdisp?sessionKey=999999999_142&l=0&d=2&v=0&lvl=1&itm=13041516]External links
* [http://www.ukrweekly.com/Archive/1998/069813.shtml The mother of all Ukrainian Canadian pioneers] by Chris Guly, Ukrainian Weekly
* [http://ukrweekly.com/Archive/2002/280211.shtml In Memoriam: Savella Stechishin, Ukrainian Canadian pioneer and feminist (07/14/02)] , Ukrainian Weekly
* [http://www.gr.gov.sk.ca/protocol/honours/SOM_1998.htm#stechishin Savella Stechishin, 1998 Recipient – Saskatchewan Order of Merit] , Saskatchewan Government Relations
* [http://www.gg.ca/honours/search-recherche/honours-desc.asp?lang=e&TypeID=orc&id=2611 Order of Canada: Savella Stechishin, C.M., S.O.M., B.A., D.C.L.] , Governor General of Canada
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.