MICHAEL KOWALSKY AND DARIA MUCAK-KOWALSKY FUND
DESCRIPTION
This Fund was established in 2002 by Mrs. Mucak-Kowalsky to provide support to three institutions in Ukraine:
- Kyiv-Mohyla Academy National University
- Ostroh Academy National University
- Alushta Collegium in Crimea*
*The support to the Alushta Collegium was recently discontinued following Crimea’s annexation by Russia.
GRANT ALLOCATION/AMOUNT
Grants are issued annually to each institution.
The amount of the annual grant is dependent on the annual income earned by the Fund.
70% of the annual grant to each institution is to be used to provide assistance through scholarships and bursaries to students of low-income backgrounds, as follows:
- in the first year, and subsequent years, of undergraduate studies in the fields of social studies, economic studies, studies pertaining to Ukrainian culture;
- in the post-graduate program (master’s degree or equivalence) for those in fields bearing on democratic educational principles andmethods;
- in the first year, and subsequent years, of undergraduate study in the fields of psychology and pedagogical sciences;
- in the first year, and subsequent years, in the fields of history and law.
30% of the annual grant to each institution is to be used to support the institution’s efforts in the fields of international relations and cooperation with other educational institutions in Ukraine and in other countries, including Canada.
REPORTING
The annual grants are contingent on each institution submitting annually to CFUS a report on how they used the previous year’s grant, namely, what scholarships and bursaries have been provided and the names of students assisted, as well as what University/Collegium activities have been supported through the Kowalsky Fund.
Daria Mucak-Kowalsky’s lifelong connection to Ukraine continued through her generous benefactions.
On August 28, 2020, Daria Mucak-Kowalsky, a generous benefactor of the Canadian Foundation for Ukrainian Studies, as well as of many other Ukrainian charitable organizations and academic institutions, died in Toronto at the age of 103.
A woman of determination, Mrs. Mucak-Kowalsky believed strongly in the importance of university level education and in scholarly research in shaping and sustaining a newly independent Ukraine. Equally important for her was the growth of Ukrainian Studies outside of Ukraine to provide an important vital source of objective information about Ukraine and Ukrainians in the diaspora. Thus, she together with her husband, the late Michael Kowalsky, set about establishing a series of endowed funds to support a wide range of academic and related activities in both Ukraine and Canada.
One such fund, the Michael and Daria Mucak-Kowalsky Endowment Fund, was established in 2002 at the Canadian Foundation for Ukrainian Studies (CFUS). This Fund aims to provide financial support through scholarships and bursaries to students from low-income households as well as orphans enrolled at the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy (NaUKMA) and the National University of Ostroh Academy in Ostroh, Rivne region. Having lost her own mother at a very young age, Mrs Mucak-Kowlasky was particularly sympathetic to the plight of orphans and needy students with academic potential, believing that even a small helping hand can sometimes change the trajectory of those less privileged.
The Mucak-Kowalsky Fund at CFUS also supports a range of scholarly activities, conferences and the expansion of academic networks (learning communities) at NaUKMA and Ostroh Academy, and until 2014 the Alushta Collegium, in the Ukrainian territory of Crimea.
Mrs. Mucak-Kowalsky’s generous gifts to the Canadian Foundation for Ukrainian Studies, the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies, the Ukrainian Canadian Foundation of Taras Shevchenko, and the Ukrainian Catholic Education Foundation, among others, underline not only her generosity but also her sense of vision, perspicacity and dedication to education and learning. She, together with her husband, leave an incredible legacy that is making a difference in Ukrainian communities around the world.
Daria Mucak-Kowalsky was born in the town of Burshtyn in Western Ukraine. She graduated from a private teachers’ college for women run by the Basilian Sisters in Stanyslaviv (now Ivano-Frankivsk) and taught at a primary school in Burshtyn, where she prepared students for Gymnasium exams, taught violin, and was actively involved in local Ukrainian cultural and community life. As a young woman, Daria Mucak married Andrii Cholii (1912–41), a graduate of Lviv University with a master’s degree in law (1935) and a member of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists. Mr. Cholii was arrested during the 1939–41 Soviet occupation of Western Ukraine and was murdered by the NKVD in a Stanyslaviv prison in June 1941. His tragic death had an immense impact on his wife and provided much of the inspiration for her future philanthropy and support of education.
As a postwar refugee, Daria Mucak immigrated to Canada in 1949. Thereafter she was actively involved in Ukrainian cultural and community life in Toronto and continued teaching violin. There she met her second husband, Michael Kowalsky. Mr. Kowalsky was born in 1908 in Uhornyky near Stanyslaviv, graduated from Lviv University with a master’s degree in law and political science, and worked as a regional manager of the Maslosoiuz Ukrainian dairy co-operative and a director of а branch of the Tsentrobank Ukrainіаn Credit Union. He was arrested several times by the Polish authorities for his activity in the Ukrainian nationalist movement and incarcerated for three years in Polish prisons before the Second World War. As a postwar refugee he also immigrated to Canada, settled in Toronto, and became a successful businessman there. He died on 24 May 2000.
For many years, Mrs. Mucak-Kowalsky and her late husband supported or helped to create important and visionary undertakings through exceptionally generous and well-thought-out donations. While the Canadian Foundation for Ukrainian Studies grieves the loss of one of our most revered supporters, we are heartened by the knowledge that Mrs. Daria Mucak-Kowalsky’s legacy will endure for many generations to come, in the lives of many students, university faculty and scholars, and community members.
Daria Mucak-Kowalsky’s kindness, dedication, and munificence will be forever remembered by everyone who knew her or benefitted from her philanthropy.
Вічна їй пам’ять! Memory Eternal!
