Savaryn, Peter

Savaryn, Peter [or Petro; Саварин, Петро], b 17 September 1926 in Zubrets, Buchach county, Galicia, d 6 April 2017 in Edmonton, Alberta. Lawyer and community leader. He emigrated to Canada in 1949 and graduated from the University of Alberta with a B.A. in 1955 and a law degree in 1956. He became a stalwart supporter of the Progressive Conservative party (PC) and served as president of the Alberta PC association and Alberta vice-president for the national association. Savaryn was active in numerous Ukrainian-Canadian community organizations at various levels. He was instrumental in the establishment of the Ukrainian-English bilingual school program in Alberta, the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies, the Canadian Foundation for Ukrainian Studies (president, 1979–83), and the Edmonton-based Heritage Savings and Trust Company. He was a member of the board of governors and of the senate at the University of Alberta (1972–8) as well as the university’s chancellor (1982–6). In 1983–8 he was president of the World Congress of Free Ukrainians. Savaryn was appointed a Queen’s Counsel in 1974 and was awarded the Order of Canada in 1987. A compilation of his memoirs (largely related to academia), sketches, and speeches was published in 2007 as Z soboiu vzialy Ukraïnu: Vid Ternopillia do Al'berty (They Took Ukraine with Themselves: From the Ternopil Region to Alberta). A large portion of Savaryn’s personal papers have been deposited at the Provincial Archives of Alberta.

[This article was updated in 2017.]