Джамала Jamala (Susana Jamaladinova) (August 27, 1983) Ukrainian singer of Crimean Tatar descent, People’s Artist of Ukraine, and the winner of the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest. Renowned for her powerful voice and emotional performances, she has become a symbol of resilience and national pride through her music. I was told: Read more
Uliana Kravchenko (Julia Schneider) April 18, 1860, Mykolaiv, Galicia province (Russian Empire)March 31, 1947, Przemyśl (Poland) Ukrainian writer, teacher, and activist in the Ukrainian women’s movement. As the first female poet in Western Ukraine to publish a poetry collection, she became a prominent voice for national and feminist causes, inspiring Read more
Malytska Kostiantyna May 30, 1872, Kropyvnyk (Austria-Hyngary)March 17, 1947, Lviv (Ukrainian SSR) Ukrainian poet, prose writer, translator, bibliographer, editor, educator, and cultural and educational society activist in Galicia. She is best known as the author of the popular songs “Chom, chom, chom, zemle moya…” (“Why, why, why, my land…”) and Read more
Beck Mary Virginia February 29, 1908, Ford City, Pennsylvania (USA)January 30, 2005, Clinton Township, Michigan (USA) Mary Beck, also known as Marusia, was a prominent Ukrainian-American who broke numerous barriers in the United States. As the first woman elected to the Detroit City Council and later the city’s first female Read more
Okunevska-Morachevska Sophia May 12, 1865, Dovzhanka, Galicia (Austria-Hungary) – February 24, 1926, Lviv (Second Polish Republic) Trailblazing Ukrainian doctor, educator, and feminist, celebrated as the first female university graduate and doctor in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, as well as Ukraine’s first female gynecologist. A champion for women’s education and healthcare, she Read more
Lesya Ukrainka ( born Larysa Kosach ) 1871 – 1913 Ukrainian poetess and writer known for her resolute spirit and social commitment. Endure chains — it is a universal shame; forgetting them without breaking them is an even greater disgrace! Lesya Ukrainka Portrait of Lesya UkrainkaArtist: Anastasia Haidaenko Lesya’s life Read more
Viazovska Maryna (Born December 2, 1984) Ukrainian mathematician Maryna Viazovska is the second woman, after Maryam Mirzakhani, to receive the Fields Medal (2022) for her elegant solution to a part of Hilbert’s 18th problem — the problem of sphere packing in an eight-dimensional space. Portrait of Maryna Viazovska, 2023Artist: Olena Read more
Matviichuk Oleksandra (Born October 8, 1983) Oleksandra Matviichuk is a Ukrainian human rights advocate, laureate of the Vasyl Stus Prize and recipient of the ‘Defender of Democracy’ Award. She is the head of the organisation ‘Centre for Civil Liberties’, which was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2022. Her work Read more
Lyniv Oksana (1978) Ukrainian Conductor Portrait of Oksana Lyniv, 2023Designer: Tamara Chop Oksana Lyniv is a Ukrainian conductor and, since 2022 has served as the music director of the Teatro Comunale di Bologna. She is first woman to be appointed as Head Conductor of the Opera and Philharmonic Orchestra in Read more
Stefanyshyn-Piper Heidemarie (Born in 1963) An American astronaut of Ukrainian-German heritage, Heidemarie participated in two space missions (2006, 2008), where she performed a range of technical tasks. She is notable for being the eighth woman to conduct a spacewalk and the first person of Ukrainian descent to do so. She Read more