Mikhail Z. Morgulis (russian: Михаил Моргулис) (October 1, 1941 – November 16, 2021) is a

Russian-language Russian (russian: русский язык, russkij jazyk, link=no, ) is an East Slavic language mainly spoken in Russia. It is the native language of the Russians, and belongs to the Indo-European language family. It is one of four living Eas ...

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles and techniques to communicate ideas. Writers produce different forms of literary art and creative writing such as novels, short stories, books, poetry, travelogues, p ...

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, photographic, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, orga ...

and

theologian Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

. He was among the first Americans to broadcast

sermon A sermon is a religious discourse or oration by a preacher, usually a member of clergy. Sermons address a scriptural, theological, or moral topic, usually expounding on a type of belief, law, or behavior within both past and present contexts. El ...

s in Russian to millions of people living behind the

Iron Curtain The Iron Curtain was the political boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1991. The term symbolizes the efforts by the Soviet Union (USSR) to block itself and its s ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by R ...

and other former republics of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

and to Russian-speaking audiences in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

Personal life and education

Mikhail Morgulis was born in

Kiev Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...

Kiev Governorate Kiev Governorate, r=Kievskaya guberniya; uk, Київська губернія, Kyivska huberniia (, ) was an administrative division of the Russian Empire from 1796 to 1919 and the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic from 1919 to 1925. It wa ...

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

(now

Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...

). His father, Zinovii Morgulis (russian: Зиновий Моргулис), was a

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

who published in

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

and

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports a ...

s and

journal A journal, from the Old French ''journal'' (meaning "daily"), may refer to: *Bullet journal, a method of personal organization *Diary, a record of what happened over the course of a day or other period *Daybook, also known as a general journal, a ...

s. His mother, Lubov Sadanovska was a

medical doctor A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

. Morgulis studied at the Naval College.He studied and graduated

Kyiv University Kyiv University or Shevchenko University or officially the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv ( uk, Київський національний університет імені Тараса Шевченка), colloquially known as KNU ...

. He studied and graduated with MA from

Norwich University Norwich University – The Military College of Vermont is a private senior military college in Northfield, Vermont. It is the oldest private and senior military college in the United States and offers bachelor's and master's degrees on-campus ...

(

Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...

) where he was a teaching in their Russian School during summers. Also a DMin from Seminary. In 1971 Mikhail Morgulis married Tatiana Titov (russian: Татьяна Николаевна Титова). They have three children, Val, Z, and Nikola.

Career

In 1972 Morgulis won a coveted award sponsored by the Ukrainian Union of Soviet Writers and the

Soviet Ministry of Culture The Ministry of Culture of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) (), formed in 1936, was one of the most important government offices in the Soviet Union. It was formerly (until 1946) known as the State Committee on the Arts (). The Minis ...

for his collection of stories entitled ''It's Hope's Turn'' (''Очередь за надеждой''). In 1977 he emigrated from the Soviet Union, going first to Vienna and then Rome before settling in New York City. There he wrote for The ''New Russian Word'' (''Новое Русское Слово'') and ''Russian Thought'' (''Русская Мысль'') in Paris. At the same time he worked in a relief organization for Soviet immigrants. His articles and stories also appeared in the journals ''Continent'' (''Континент''), ''Time and Us'' (Время и Мы), ''The World'' (''Мир''), ''The New Journal'' (''Новый журнал'') and ''Panorama'' (''Панорама''),as well as in the literary almanacs ''Three Anniversaries for Andrei Sedykh'' (''Три юбилея Андрея Седых'') and ''Kaleidoscope'' (''Калейдоскоп''). In the 1980s he edited two literary journals, ''Literary Abroad'' (''Литературное зарубежье'') and ''Literary Courier'' (''Литературный курьер''), both intended to offer an opportunity for Russian-language writers and readers in exile, primarily in the United States. In 1982, by an invitation from Slavic Gospel Association, he moved to Chicago where he helped establish the Slavic Gospel Press which published over 100 works in Russian and Ukrainian, including copies of the

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

and translations of text by

C.S. Lewis CS, C-S, C.S., Cs, cs, or cs. may refer to: Job titles * Chief Secretary (Hong Kong) * Chief superintendent, a rank in the British and several other police forces * Company secretary, a senior position in a private sector company or public se ...

G.K. Chesterton Gilbert Keith Chesterton (29 May 1874 – 14 June 1936) was an English writer, philosopher, Christian apologist, and literary and art critic. He has been referred to as the "prince of paradox". Of his writing style, ''Time'' observed: "Wh ...

Dietrich Bonhoeffer Dietrich Bonhoeffer (; 4 February 1906 – 9 April 1945) was a German Lutheran pastor, theologian and anti-Nazi dissident who was a key founding member of the Confessing Church. His writings on Christianity's role in the secular world have ...

and others. Mikhail also began a series of spiritual radio broadcasts to the Soviet Union, beginning with his own literary novellas, ''Farewell, Cranes'' (''До свиданья, журавли''), and ''The Fate of the Clown'' (''Судьба клоуна'') that later appeared as audio-albums. In 1990, he was one of the first Americans to broadcast Christian programming on Soviet television. In 1991 he visited Russia with a delegation of American spiritual leaders and they met with president of USSR

Mikhail Gorbachev Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (2 March 1931 – 30 August 2022) was a Soviet politician who served as the 8th and final leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to dissolution of the Soviet Union, the country's dissolution in 1991. He served a ...

and other political figures. He prayed in the Kremlin and in the KGB headquarters. Mikhail Morgulis continues his work today through Christian Bridges International (Международный Христианский Мост) and founder of Spiritual Diplomacy Foundation (Духовная Дипломатия) located in

North Port, Florida North Port is a city located in Sarasota County, Florida, United States. The population was 74,793 at the 2020 US Census. It is part of the North Port–Bradenton–Sarasota Metropolitan Statistical Area. It was originally developed by G ...

. He continues to write and participate in an active ministry. He served as the Honorary Consul of Belarus in North Port, Florida.

Published books

*1989 ''Return to the Red Planet: 22 Days in Gorbachev's Backyard'' (Scripture Pr Pubns) . *1991 ''Dreams of My Life'' (''Сны моей жизни'') (Zoloti vorota) . *1993 ''The Sermon of the Good Samaratin'' (''Притча о добром самаритянине'') (Moscow). *1994 ''What is the Most Terrifying Thing?'' (''Что самое страшное?'') (Moscow). *1995 ''The Cross and Love'' (''Крест и Любовь'') (Sacramento). *1996 ''Russia, between Sword and Cross''. With Melissa Rose Marshall. *2001 ''Spiritual Diplomacy: real-life stories'' (''Духовная Дипломатия: невыдуманные истории''). *2005 ''Yearning for Paradise'' (''Тоска по раю''). (Moscow). *2006 "Country of Mum flowers, mountains and blessings" ("Cтрана хризантем гор и благословений") (New York) *2012 ''It Was a Dream'' (''Это был сон'') (Moscow). ("Unost")

References

External links

US BELARUS OBSERVER

Spiritual Diplomacy

Article in Russian American Business

Мorgulis TV
{{DEFAULTSORT:Morgulis, Mikhail Living people Christian writers Russian-language writers Television evangelists Ukrainian writers in Russian People of Ukrainian-Jewish descent Sermon writers Year of birth missing (living people) People from North Port, Florida