Ivan-Yaroslav
MUSIANOVYCH

1915, Yavoriv - 1999, Paris

In Freemasonry since 1956 (the Parisian Lodge "Hamayun"), a member of the "Astrea" Chapter for the higher degrees of Freemasonry since 1969. In the 1970s he led the Ukrainian lodge "Voice of Ukraine." Raised to the 30th degree, and in 1989 raised to the 33rd degree of Freemasonry. It is known that Ya. Musianovych lived in France from 1933, where he graduated from a medical institute and defended a doctoral dissertation in medicine. In 1940-1944, Ya. Musianovych worked as a physician in Lyon, aided the anti-fascist Resistance movement, and saved French Jews from extermination.

After the war he became one of the leaders of the organizations: "Ukrainian National Unity in France" (1949-61), "Ukrainian Central Civic Committee in France" (1979-87), "Ukrainian Movement for the Unification of Europe" (1961-98), "Ukrainian-Jewish Dialogue," the Society of Former Soldiers of the Army of the UNR (1979-82), the audit commission of the Shevchenko Scientific Society in Europe, and the Representation of the State Center of the UNR in France "Echanges" (1971-88).

He founded and led the Ukrainian-Jewish Society (1981); Chairman of the Senate of the OUN(m), and was director of the newspaper "Ukrainske Slovo." As a member of the French delegation, he took part in the Conference on Human Rights in Tehran (1968). Here is what V. Mykhalchuk wrote about Ya. Musianovych in the newspaper "Ukrainske Slovo" (Paris, 1995): "Doctor Musianovych has the reputation of being one of the most distinguished figures of Ukrainian civic life in France." Masonic initiation in 1966 (the Lodge in France "Voice of Ukraine").

Liubomyr-Yevhen
HUZAR

1911, Chernivtsi - 1995, Paris

Known for being a founder of the Ukrainian national movement in Bukovyna, and from 1935 he lived in Paris, where he studied political science and jurisprudence, was a member of the Ukrainian People's Union, and a co-founder and administrator of the weekly "Samostiynist" (Chernivtsi). On behalf of Ukraine he took part in the Vienna Arbitration of 1938, where, together with A. Voloshyn, he spoke out against the decision of Nazi Germany to transfer part of Ukraine to the rule of Hungary.

During the World War he was a prisoner of a fascist concentration camp. In 1948-1995 he was the director of the only Ukrainian newspaper in Paris, "Ukrainske Slovo" (from the newspaper obituary in "Ukrainske Slovo." - Paris, 1995).

In Freemasonry since the 1950s, the Worshipful Master of many European Masonic lodges, one of the founders of the Areopagus of the Supreme Council of France "Order out of Chaos" and the Worshipful Lodge "Voice of Ukraine," a Freemason of the 33rd degree (1972).

Temistokl VYRSTA

1923, the village of Ispas, now in the Vyzhnytsia district of the Chernivtsi region - 2017, Paris

An outstanding Ukrainian artist. Until 1940 he lived in Bukovyna, and later began to study painting in Bucharest and Italy. From 1948 in France, he studied in Paris and at the Venice Academy of Fine Arts.

A participant in art exhibitions since 1950. Solo exhibitions - France, the USA, Canada, Sweden, Belgium, Italy, Denmark, Japan, Ukraine.

President of the art society "Phoenix" (France). In the Masonic order since the mid-1960s (a master since 1969).

Worshipful Master of the lodge "Voice of Ukraine," President of the "Astrea" Chapter of the Supreme Council of France (1983-86), Commander of the Areopagus of the Supreme Council of France "Order out of Chaos" (1988-91). A Freemason of the 33rd degree (1992).

Volodymyr Hrynchuk

1935 - 2022

A Ukrainian by origin, whose parents were forced by the Soviet occupation to emigrate to Western Europe, he obtained an education as a dental surgeon in France and worked in medicine for many years, enjoying professional recognition.

V. Hrynchuk was an active member of the Ukrainian community in France, did much for the recognition of Ukraine in the world, was a member of the "Lyon-Lviv" Association, and President of FAVAL.

He began his Masonic path in the second half of the 1960s. His fate connected him with the founding Brothers of the Ukrainian lodge in France "Voice of Ukraine" of the National Grand Lodge of France: the brothers Vyrsta, V. Musianovych, L. Huzar, and others.

In this lodge he was initiated into the degrees of fellowcraft and master. In 1988 he was elected treasurer of this Worshipful Lodge, and in 1979 he was elected Worshipful Master of the Lodge "Voice of Ukraine."

He was the Worshipful Master of the Lodge "Heliopolis" of the National Grand Lodge of France (Lyon) and took part in the work of the Lodge "Lutetia" (Geneva). In the early 1990s he became the Grand Provincial Master of the Province of Auvergne of the National Grand Lodge of France. Brother Volodymyr was initiated into the 32nd and 33rd degrees of the Order. He became a member of the Grand Areopagus of the Supreme Council of France "Order out of Chaos" (Paris), the Sovereign Grand Committee of the National Grand Lodge of France, and the Thrice Powerful Master of the Lodge of Perfection of the Supreme Council of France in Lyon. It was in Lyon that V. Hrynchuk lived the greater part of his life and was buried.

He loved Ukraine, his homeland; dozens of times, at the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries, he was in the Masonic Lodges of Kyiv, Lviv, Odesa, Kharkiv, and Ivano-Frankivsk. He became one of the founders of the Ukrainian Lodges: "Three Columns," "Kameniar," and "Golden Acacia."

Oleksandr Kryvenko

1963-2003

1963, Lviv - 2003, Skybyn, Kyiv region In 1987-1989 he was one of the organizers and activists of the "Lev Society," the Society of the Ukrainian Language, and a delegate to the Founding Congress of the People's Movement of Ukraine. In 1989 - the editor and founder of the newspaper "Postup," in 1990-1994 - a deputy of the Lviv Regional Council, and in 1991-1995 - the editor-in-chief of the newspaper "Post-Postup."

In 1995-1999 - deputy head of the government press service, a member of the Expert Council under the head of the government, of the Political Council of the People's Democratic Party, editor-in-chief of the news programs "Vikna" and "Vikna v Svit," and editor-in-chief of the "Television News Service" of the 1+1 channel.

In 1999-2001 he was the editor-in-chief of the magazine "Polityka i Kultura (PiK)," president of the civic organization "Charter 4," director of the Ukrainian-Polish journalists' club "Without Prejudice," a member of the presidium of the Civic Committee of Resistance "For the Truth!," and press secretary of the "Forum of National Salvation." From 2002 he led the independent project of information-and-talk radio "Public Radio."

Co-author (together with V. Pavliv) of the cult book "Encyclopedia of Our Ukrainian Studies." A member of the "New Literature" association and vice-president of the Association of Ukrainian Writers. He died on April 9, 2003, in a car accident.

In the Masonic Order since the mid-1990s, the first Worshipful Master of the first Lodge in independent Ukraine, "Three Columns," the first Provincial Master of the District "Ukraine" of the National Grand Lodge of France, the builder of the first Masonic Lodges in Ukraine, and a founder of the GLU.

Yurii Pokalchuk

1941- 2008

A Ukrainian writer and scholar, a candidate of philological sciences, the leader of the literary group "Dogs of Saint George" and the musical group "Lights of the Big City." From 1976 - a member of the Writers' Union of Ukraine, in 1997-2002 - president of the Association of Ukrainian Writers, and a member of the National Council on Television and Radio Broadcasting.

For more than 16 years he cared for juvenile prisoners, for whom he published the periodical "Horizon."

The author of 5 collections of poetry and 15 collections of novellas and stories: "Chimera" (1992); "That Which Lies Beneath" (1998), "The Lake Wind" (2000), "A Beautiful Time" (2002), "Taxi Blues" (2003); "Forbidden Games" (2005), and others. A translator of the works of Borges, Hemingway, Salinger, Cortazar, Kipling, Rimbaud, and many others. He was fluent in Polish, English, Spanish, and French.

One of the first Freemasons in Ukraine in the early 1990s. He became one of the founders of the Ukrainian Lodges: "Three Columns" and "Kameniar."