Savella Stechishin, , née Wawryniuk (August 19, 1903 – April 22, 2002), was a

Ukrainian-Canadian Ukrainian Canadians ( uk, Українські канадці, Україноканадці, translit=Ukrayins'ki kanadtsi, Ukrayinokanadtsi; french: Canadiens d'origine ukrainienne) are Canadian citizens of Ukrainian descent or Ukrainian-born pe ...

home economist and writer, recipient of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the ...

. She has been described as "an ethnocultural social maternal feminist" (Ostryzniuk, 1999).

Biography

Stechishin was born in Tudorkovychi,

Austrian Galicia The Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria,, ; pl, Królestwo Galicji i Lodomerii, ; uk, Королівство Галичини та Володимирії, Korolivstvo Halychyny ta Volodymyrii; la, Rēgnum Galiciae et Lodomeriae also known as ...

(today in

Lviv Oblast Lviv Oblast ( uk, Льві́вська о́бласть, translit=Lvivska oblast, ), also referred to as Lvivshchyna ( uk, Льві́вщина, ), ). The name of each oblast is a wikt:Appendix:Glossary#relational, relational adjective—in Englis ...

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 ...

), and her family emigrated to Canada when she was nine in 1913, settling in Krydor,

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...

. The

Ukrainian diaspora The Ukrainian diaspora comprises Ukrainians and their descendants who live outside Ukraine around the world, especially those who maintain some kind of connection, even if ephemeral, to the land of their ancestors and maintain their feeling of Uk ...

is a large one, and her family formed part of a wave that became one of Canada's largest ethnic communities. Pic S A Savella Stechishin and Olena Kysilevska

Pic S A Savella Stechishin and Olena Kysilevska

At age 17 she married Julian Stechyshyn, rector of the St. Petro Mohyla Institute student residence in Saskatoon and brother of Myroslaw Stechishin, and later bore three children, Anatole, Myron, and Zenia. She completed high school and

teachers' college A normal school or normal college is an institution created to train teachers by educating them in the norms of pedagogy and curriculum. In the 19th century in the United States, instruction in normal schools was at the high school level, turni ...

, and obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree specializing in

home economics Home economics, also called domestic science or family and consumer sciences, is a subject concerning human development, personal and family finances, consumer issues, housing and interior design, nutrition and food preparation, as well as texti ...

from the

University of Saskatchewan A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

in 1930, the first Ukrainian woman to receive a degree there. While studying, she was also the Dean of Women at the St Petro Mohyla Institute, where she organized evening courses in cooking and

homemaking Homemaking is mainly an American and Canadian term for the management of a home, otherwise known as housework, housekeeping, housewifery or household management. It is the act of overseeing the organizational, day-to-day operations of a house o ...

, and

the culture The Culture is a fictional interstellar post-scarcity civilisation or society created by the Scottish writer Iain M. Banks and features in a number of his space opera novels and works of short fiction, collectively called the Culture series. ...

and cuisine of her homeland, and

public speaking Public speaking, also called oratory or oration, has traditionally meant the act of speaking face to face to a live audience. Today it includes any form of speaking (formally and informally) to an audience, including pre-recorded speech deliver ...

for young women. Later, she taught in public schools and lectured in

Ukrainian language Ukrainian ( uk, украї́нська мо́ва, translit=ukrainska mova, label=native name, ) is an East Slavic language of the Indo-European language family. It is the native language of about 40 million people and the official state langu ...

and in the Department of Women's Services at the University of Saskatchewan, as well as running outreach programs for Ukrainian immigrants. She also lectured around North America and in Western Ukraine (Polish Galicia) before it was annexed by the Soviet Union in 1939. She helped establish the

Ukrainian Women's Association of Canada 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 * Som ...

in 1926, and the

Ukrainian Museum of Canada The Ukrainian Museum of Canada is a network of museums across Canada that promote Ukrainian cultural life, with a particular focus on experiences of the Ukrainian Canadians, Canadian Ukrainian diaspora. Background The Ukrainian Museum of Canada ...

in 1936. For over 25 years, she was editor of the

women's page The women's page (sometimes called home page or women's section) of a newspaper was a section devoted to covering news assumed to be of interest to women. Women's pages started out in the 19th century as society pages and eventually morphed into ...

and columnist for the Winnipeg-based '' Ukrainian Voice'' weekly (''Ukrayins’kyy Holos''). She also contributed to other Ukrainian women's publications in North America and Western Ukraine, and wrote for the Canadian Consumer Information Service during the Second World War. Shechishin's most prominent book is the English-language ''Traditional Ukrainian Cookery'' (1957), which saw its eighteenth reprinting in 1995 and has sold 80,000 copies. Her other books are in Ukrainian: ''Art Treasures of

Ukrainian Embroidery Ukrainian embroidery ( uk, вишивка, ''vyshyvka'') occupies an important place among the various branches of Ukrainian decorative arts. Embroidery has a rich history in Ukraine, and has long appeared in Ukrainian folk dress as well as play ...

'' (1950), and a 50th anniversary book for the Saskatoon branch of the Ukrainian Women's Association (1975). She assisted her husband, Julian Stechishin, with a ''Ukrainian Grammar'' (1951), and completed his ''History of Ukrainian Settlement in Canada'' (1971) after his death—an English translation was published in 1992.

Awards

Savella Stechishin was awarded many honours. Most notably, she was appointed to the

on April 20, 1989, and the

Saskatchewan Order of Merit The Saskatchewan Order of Merit (french: Ordre du Mérite de la Saskatchewan) is a civilian Award, honour for merit in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. Instituted in 1985 by Lieutenant Governor of Saska ...

in 1998.

References

* Momryk, Myron (1996).
Stechishin, Savella, MG 30, D 380
', Finding Aid No. 2072. Ottawa: Manuscript Division, Canadian Archives Service. This is a list of materials available at the Archives of Canada. * Ostryzniuk, Natalie (1999). ''Savella Stechishin: a case study of Ukrainian-Canadian women activism in Saskatchewan, 1920–1945'', master of arts in history thesis. University of Regina.
PDF: 11.8 MB

Works

* Stechishin, Savella (1950). ''Art Treasures of Ukrainian Embroidery'' (''Mystets’ki skarby ukraïns’kykh vyshyvok''). Winnipeg: Ukrainian Women's Association of Canada. * Stechishin, Savella ( 9571995). ''Traditional Ukrainian Cookery'', 18th ed., Winnipeg: Trident Press. . * Stechishin, Savella (1975). ''Fifty years of the Olha Kobylianska Branch of the Ukrainian Women's Association of Canada, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan: 1923–1973'' (''Pivstorichchia, 1923–1973, Zhinochoho tovarystva imeny Olh’hy Kobylians’koï v Saskatuni, Saskachevan, pershoho viddilu soiuzu ukraïnok Kanady''). Saskatoon: Ukrainian Women's Association, Olha Kobylianska Branc

External links

The mother of all Ukrainian Canadian pioneers
by Chris Guly, Ukrainian Weekly
In Memoriam: Savella Stechishin, Ukrainian Canadian pioneer and feminist (07/14/02)
Ukrainian Weekly

Saskatchewan Government Relations * * Archives of Savella Stechishi
(Savella Stechishin fonds, R9158)
are held at

Library and Archives Canada Library and Archives Canada (LAC; french: Bibliothèque et Archives Canada) is the federal institution, tasked with acquiring, preserving, and providing accessibility to the documentary heritage of Canada. The national archive and library is th ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stechishin, Savella Writers from Saskatchewan Members of the Order of Canada Members of the Saskatchewan Order of Merit Canadian feminists Canadian women journalists Canadian women non-fiction writers Canadian food writers Journalists from Saskatchewan University of Saskatchewan alumni 1903 births 2002 deaths Women's page journalists Austro-Hungarian emigrants to Canada Canadian people of Ukrainian descent Canadian columnists Canadian women columnists Ukrainian columnists Ukrainian women columnists