Digital Literacy: Exploring Russian and Ukrainian History in Canada

Birth of NHL Superstar Wayne Gretzky A second-generation Ukrainian Canadian, Wayne Gretzky is the NHL’s all-time leader in goals, assists and points. Considered by many to be the greatest hockey player of all time, “the Great One” held or shared 61 NHL records when he retired in 1999 after 20 seasons. Other notable Ukrainian Canadian hockey players include Terry Sawchuk, who won the Vezina Trophy four times and holds the record for most shutouts (103), and Dale Hawerchuk, who scored 100 points or more in six seasons with the Winnipeg Jets. 20 June 1956 First Ukrainian Canadian Woman Elected to Provincial Office Mary John Batten earned a law degree from the University of Saskatchewan. After winning the Saskatchewan Liberal Party’s nomination in Humboldt, she won the riding in the 1956 election. She was re-elected in 1960. Batten left politics in 1964 to become the first woman in Saskatchewan (and only the second in Canada) to serve as a federal judge . In 1983, she became Saskatchewan’s first female chief justice. 21 January 1961

1924 Boris Babkin Appointed Professor at Dalhousie University Like many Russian intellectuals and academics, Boris Babkin (1877– 1950) fled his home after the revolution and subsequent civil war. Babkin notably resumed his career in gastroenterology (medicine of the digestive system) at Dalhousie and McGill universities. Though there were concerns about spreading communism, Russian intellectuals contributed important work in many professional and academic fields.

1928

1931

Paraskeva Clark Immigrates

George Ignatieff arrives in Canada Count Paul Ignatieff was the last education minister in the government of Tsar Nicholas II. His four sons, including George Ignatieff, arrived in Canada in 1928. George would

Paraskeva Clark lived through the Russian Revolution and subsequent civil war before she left for Paris. There, she met a Canadian accountant and eventually immigrated to Canada in 1931. Like many artists who moved to Canada, her upbringing and artistic tradition helped transform Canadian arts and culture. Clark rejected the landscapes that had become popularized in Canada thanks to the Group of Seven. Instead, early on, she pursued portraits and still lifes, often featuring strong women.

later become an important Canadian diplomat, acting as Canadian ambassador to the United Nations and to the UN Security Council.

29 October 1924 Peter Verigin Assassinated

Doukhobor leader, Peter Verigin, died along with several others in a mysterious train explosion. Many believe it was a targeted assassination.