Russian-speaking America chooses a man of the year

Outstanding artists of our time, talented musicians and teachers, active public figures, philanthropists and patrons of the arts - all these people are united by the fact that they live in America and speak the same language - Russian. They came to the United States at different times from the countries of the former Soviet Union and achieved success in the New World, making contributions to American society and showing by their own example that the American dream is a reality.

Each of them is widely known in their own circles, but outside of them, unfortunately, not everyone knows about their achievements. Now their names will be known to many thanks to the new competition “Man of the Year, Russian-speaking America,” which debuted this year in New York. The project is represented by the World Forum of Russian-speaking Jewry and the American Council on World Jewry.

Last week, a press conference was held in the elegant room of the Shchukin Gallery in Manhattan, at which journalists were able to communicate with the nominees and the organizers of the competition. Also “Miss America-2015” Kira Kazantseva, the daughter of immigrants from Russia, became an honorary guest.

American Dream

The story of Kira Kazantseva’s family is a textbook American dream. Kira's father is a surgeon who, together with his wife, left Moscow in 1990 to start everything from scratch in America. He succeeded - he maintained his profession and achieved recognition in the USA, and his wife subsequently became a real estate agent. In 1991, the couple had a daughter, Kira, in California.

“My parents' dream came true. They have a house, a dog and two children, and their daughter became “Miss America,” says Kira, smiling radiantly.

However, at the “Miss America” competition, Cyrus did not represent California, but New York. Belle graduated from Hofstra University in Long Island with a triple specialization in political science, global studies and geography.

Living in California, Kira went to the Russian Sunday school for many years, where she studied Russian, the history of Russia and her literature. Today, the girl speaks Russian without an accent, but is sometimes lost trying to find the right word. It is easier for her to express her thoughts in English.

Interestingly, the previous Russian-speaking Miss America, Bess Meyerson, the daughter of Jews who immigrated to the United States from Russia, received this title 70 years ago.

“For them we are all Russians”

There, across the ocean, you can be a Belarusian, a Ukrainian, a Jew or a Kazakh, but, having arrived in America, we all become Russians. Alexander Levin, president of the World Forum of Russian-speaking Jewry, an organization that represents the project, very accurately noticed this trend.

Indeed, upon hearing Russian speech or a characteristic accent, Americans immediately conclude that they are Russians. And where exactly the person came from - from Moscow or Minsk, Kyiv or Alma-Ata - remains an insignificant detail.

Thus, the Russian language has become the main link that unites immigrants from the countries of the former USSR, both in the eyes of the rest of the United States and in their own.

Alexander Levin told about the idea of ​​the contest: “Today, not everyone in America knows what the Russians have achieved here. In order to tell about their successes, my colleagues and I came up with eight nominations that reveal achievements in various fields. ”

We are talking about those people who took place in their profession, who did a lot for America, where they came to start all over again.

“These people have become an integral part of American society, but at the same time they have preserved and passed on to their children the language, culture, traditions and our common heritage,” Levine says. “We all know that as an immigrant, it is very difficult to overcome all barriers and succeed. Therefore, it is so important to pay tribute to those people who were able to do this. They became examples for new generations.”

“Wherever they go, immigrants from the countries of the former Soviet Union make enormous contributions to society,” says Jack Rosen, president of the American Council of World Jewry, who also organized the project.

The award specially created for the competition is also symbolic. In front of us is a Russian girl standing on tiptoe and holding in her hands the symbols of America: the Capitol, the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building. The figurine, at the request of the competition organizers, was created by the talented Israeli artist Yakov Davydov.

Unfortunately, today, even indirectly referring to the topic of Russia and the former USSR, it is impossible to bypass the issue of strained relations between Russia and the West.

By the way, the competition was conceived long before the bloody and absurd Russian-Ukrainian conflict broke out, but it took place, by coincidence, in this very difficult time.

“It was as if part of my soul felt that we must show the whole world that American Russians are completely different Russians,” said Alexander Levin. “We don’t want the restoration of the empire, we don’t need it, we don’t want the use of force.” We want every person to have the right to life, work, creativity, love.”

Russian-speaking America should know its heroes

Each of the nominees of the competition has its own American dream, its own unique success story. Many people know and love in the Russian-speaking community, the names of others for various reasons are less known. But Russian-speaking America should know its heroes and the contest “Man of the Year” will tell her about them.

First name Sergey Brin, one of the founders of Google, who was born in Moscow and immigrated to the United States with his parents at the age of five, everyone knows today. But Brin is far from the only Russian-speaking American who has achieved success in the world of information technology.

A striking example of this is Jan Koumnominated for a prize “Discovery of the Year”. Koum is one of the creators of What's App, a messaging application actively used by hundreds of millions of people around the world. Ian was born into a Jewish family in Kyiv and left for the United States at the age of 16.

Surprisingly, in the Russian-speaking community there are still very few people who know that Regina Spector - author and performer of the hit You've Got Time, which became the title theme of the popular comedy-drama series Orange Is the New Black (“Orange is the New Black”), was born into a family of musicians in Moscow. They left the USSR when Regina was nine years old. In the competition “Person of the Year of Russian-Speaking America” she became a nominee in the category “Artist of the Year”.

Her unique musical style, which traces the influence of folk, punk rock, jazz, indie pop and many other genres, provided Spector recognition in the US and beyond. The compositions created by Regina can be heard in a variety of television series, a number of Hollywood films and Broadway musicals. Spector was nominated for a Grammy Award and MTV Channel Award.

Participation is already a victory

Unfortunately, not all of the 24 nominees found time in their busy schedule to talk to reporters at a press conference.

Among those who came to the press conference, Larisa Savelievawhich, together with her husband Gennady Savelyev, is nominated in the category “Lecturer of the Year”. Savelva and her husband are ballet dancers who have performed on the stage of the Bolshoi Theater and the American Ballet Theater in New York.

The Savelyevs came to the USA two decades ago as part of the Bolshoi Theater troupe and stayed forever. “Every time the Bolshoi Theater came to America, it became a little smaller,” Larisa jokes.

Today the couple is actively involved in teaching dance art. Larisa and Gennady founded the Youth America Grand Prix competition, a prestigious and famous competition for young dancers that gathers talent from all over the world.

Larisa learned that she was nominated for the “Man of the Year” award when she was in Japan. Short messages of congratulations began to arrive on the phone. She thought that she was congratulated on one professional award and only then, returning to New York, she found out what award was in question.

Larisa Savelyeva says that becoming a participant in this competition is a great honor for her. The very fact of nomination for the competition, and therefore recognition by Russian-speaking America, is much more important than victory.

Among those nominated for in the category “Teacher of the Year” Rabbi Arieh Katsin, founder of the New York school “Sinai Academy” for Russian-speaking Jewish children and teenagers. He also heads RAJE, the largest Russian-speaking Jewish youth organization in the United States. Aryeh Katsin was born and raised in Moscow. There he began his teaching career, even before immigrating to the United States.

In the same category is presented Leonid (Lenny) Krayselburg, famous swimmer, four-time Olympic champion, multiple winner of world championships. Hailing from Odessa, Krayselburg immigrated to America in America in 14 years with his parents. In the USA, he also founded the Swimming Academy, where children of all ages can practice this sport.

In nomination “Artist of the Year” - several outstanding names at once. Nominee Eduard Bekkerman has been working throughout his career to create images designed to describe the world around him in a new way. Images from the subconscious, the expression of dreams, a dialogue with a world that can only be imagined, but cannot be described in words, are at the center of Beckerman’s work.

It is interesting that when Bekkerman immigrated to the USA, he was a ballet dancer, but, being injured, he turned to painting. Edward notes that his work reflects his “deep Russian roots and Russian fairy tales”. His paintings today are exhibited in the ABC Gallery in New York. He also presented his works in Germany, Holland, France, in the “Russian Museum” of St. Petersburg. Several works by Bekkerman were sold at the last Sotheby’s auction.

Mikhail Turovsky also nominated in the category “Artist of the Year”. A native of Kiev, Turovsky immigrated to the United States in 1979. In 2008, the government of Ukraine awarded him the title of the National Artist, he is also a member of the Academy of Arts of Ukraine. Paintings written by Turovsky in the framework of a special project dedicated to the Holocaust were exhibited at the UN.

Another artist whose name is announced in this nomination is Vitaly Komar. From 1973 to 2003, he worked in collaboration with another Russian-speaking artist, Alexander Melamid. They once stood together at the origins of the Sots Art movement, opposing Soviet ideology. In 1977, the artists immigrated to the United States together.

The works of Vitaly Komar were exhibited in the museums of modern art in New York, Moscow (“Moscow Museum of Modern Art”), Berlin.

Alexander Melamid also became a nominee in the category “Artist of the Year”. After the end of the joint work with Komar in 2003, Melamid turned to the topic of hip-hop and began to paint portraits of representatives of this musical direction. Today, his work is exhibited in the Museum of Modern Art in Detroit.

Among the participants in the category “Young Leader of the Year” - Yuri Furman, an outstanding athlete, former world welterweight champion according to the World Boxing Organization. He is actively involved in charity, educational and motivational work with Jewish Russian-speaking youth, designed to improve understanding between different ethnic and cultural groups. Yuri Furman in Belarus, lived in Israel, and finally moved to the United States.

In the same nomination a young community leader is declared. Alex Rubinwho devoted a lot of time and effort to perpetuate the memory of the writer Sergey Dovlatov. Alex Rubin was able to collect more than 20 000 signatures, which convinced the New York administration to rename one of the streets of the metropolis in honor of the writer. In the future, thanks to the efforts of Rubin in the Big Apple, the street of the poet Joseph Brodsky may also appear.

Another young leader participating in the competition is Mikhail Belogorodsky, founder of the Association of Russian-speaking officers of America, which today includes more than 330 participants.

Leonard Petlach, since 2006, the incumbent executive director of the Kings Bay Y Community Center, is also nominated as a young leader. Under the leadership of Leonard, the Center grew and expanded, opening four new branches in different parts of Brooklyn.

Of course, the list of successful Russian-speaking Americans would be incomplete without journalists. It was for them that the nomination was created. “For outstanding achievements in the field of media”.

The competition participants in this category are prominent representatives of radio, television and the press, working in both Russian-language and English-language media.

Among them Sergey Gordeev is a journalist and TV presenter who also plays in the Dialogue Theater and translates American plays into Russian and Russian literature into English. Seva Kaplan is the founder of Danu Radio 87.7 FM and the host of a popular morning program. Gennady Katsov is a Russian-American poet, writer and one of the founders of the news portal RUNYweb. Alexandra Gerson is the producer and director of the Daily Live Radio program, broadcast in both Russian and English. Alexandra lives and works in Canada. Victor Topaller is a journalist, director and producer currently working on the RTVi TV channel. Katya Kazakina is a Bloomberg News correspondent specializing in art market news.

Open election winners

The winners of the project “Man of the Year of Russian-speaking America” were chosen by direct vote on the project website and on its Facebook page. Anyone could vote for participants from October 15 to November 18.

Voting on the Internet was preceded by the selection of nominees by an expert council. Nominations were submitted for review from August 1 to September 30. The nominee could have been nominated by his colleagues, friends or simply people who thought that a person was worthy of this award. From 1 to 10 of October, experts selected 24 candidates in the 8 categories: “Teacher of the Year”, “Young Leader of the Year”, “Patron of the Year,” Discovery of the Year ”,“ Artist of the Year ”,“ For Outstanding Achievements in the Field of Media ”,“ Artist of the Year ”And” For contribution to the profession ”.

The competition's expert council included eight members: American public leaders, journalists, diplomats and artists. This is Larry King - winner of the Emmy and Peabody awards, Boaz Vaadia - famous sculptor and member of the Board of Trustees of the World Sculpture Center, Jack Rosen - President of the American Council for World Jewry, Alexander Levin - President of the World Forum of Russian-Speaking Jewry, Curtis Sliwa - television and radio presenter, leader and creator of the Guardian Angels organization, Ido Ahorani - Consul General of Israel in New York, Shai Beitel - co-founder and senior vice president of the Mana Contemporary arts center in New Jersey, and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Elie Wiesel.

Member of the expert council Curtis Sliva, who spoke at the press conference, praised the role of the competition.

“In America, to be noticed, you have to shout about yourself,” says Sliwa. “Therefore, Russians and all immigrants from the former USSR must make themselves known as loudly as possible. For example, with the help of such projects. And then they will pay attention to you, they will start talking about you.”