Dobriansky, Lev

Dobriansky, Lev or Lew [Добрянський, Лев; Dobrjans'kyj, Lev], b 9 November 1918 in New York, d 29 January 2008 in Washington, DC. Economist, Ukrainian-American community and political figure. Dobriansky studied at New York University and Fordham University; he taught at Georgetown University in Washington, DC, from 1948, serving as director of the university’s Institute of Comparative Political and Economic Systems from 1970. He taught at the National War College (1957–8). In 1949 he became president of the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America, with particular responsibility for its activities outside the Ukrainian community. As a government adviser, Dobriansky had many contacts with congressmen and the State Department. He was active in American conservative and Republican organizations, as well as in international anti-Communist organizations, taking part in many international conferences and congressional hearings. His publications include The Free Trade Ideal (1945), Veblenism: A New Critique (1957), The Vulnerable Russians (1967), The USA and the Soviet Myth (1971), and over 500 articles. Dobriansky gave many radio and television interviews and commentaries in the United States of America. In 1982 he was appointed United States ambassador to the Bahamas.

[This article originally appeared in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine, vol. 1 (1984).]