Stechishin, Julian

Stechishin, Julian [Стечишин, Юліян; Stečyšyn, Julijan], b 30 June 1895 in Hleshchava, Terebovlia county, Galicia, d 24 February 1971 in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Community leader; brother of Michael Stechishin and Myroslaw Stechishin and husband of Savella Stechishin. Stechishin emigrated to Canada in 1910 and graduated from the Ruthenian Training School in Brandon, Manitoba, in 1915 and the University of Saskatchewan (BA, 1926). While rector of the Mohyla Ukrainian Institute in Saskatoon (1921–9, 1931–3) he earned a law degree from the same university (1931). Stechishin was prominent in the establishment of the Ukrainian Self-Reliance League (SUS) and served as its head (1940–2, 1952–8) and a major formulator of its positions on the issues of the day. He was also a member of the consistory of the Ukrainian Greek Orthodox Church of Canada (1951–74). He edited Iuveleina knyha 25-littia Instytutu im. P. Mohyly v Saskatuni, 1916–1941 (Twenty-Five Years of the P. Mohyla Ukrainian Institute in Saskatoon, 1916–41, 1945) and was the author of Ukrainian Grammar (1951) and Istoriia poselennia ukraïntsiv u Kanadi (History of Ukrainian Settlement in Canada, 1975). His biography, by Rev Hryhory Udod, was published in 1978 as Julian W. Stechishin: His Life and Work. His papers have been deposited with Library and Archives Canada in Ottawa.

[This article originally appeared in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine, vol. 5 (1993).]