For the first time in the USA: the winners of the contest "Person of the Year of Russian-Speaking America"

The awards ceremony for the winners of the first ever Contest of the Year of Russian-speaking America was held in New York with the participation of Miss America by Kira Kazantseva.

The competition was organized on the initiative of the American Forum for Russian-Speaking Jewry (American Forum for Israel), the American representative office of the World Forum of Russian-Speaking Jewry, headed by Alexander Levin. The purpose of the competition was to demonstrate the impressive successes achieved by Russian-speaking Americans over the past two decades in all areas of life.

Winners were determined by open electronic voting in the United States and Canada. The producer of the contest was Marina Kovaleva.

The commission of experts of the competition included leading cultural and public figures of the USA and Israel: TV host Larry King, winner of the Emmy Award and a descendant of Belarusian Jews; Ido Aaroni, Consul General of Israel in New York; writer Elie Wiesel, Nobel Peace Prize laureate; Curtis Plum, a well-known TV and radio host, founder and leader of the Guardian Angels organization for civilian anti-crime street patrols; sculptor Boaz Vaadiya, member of the board of trustees of the International Center for Sculpture; Alexander Levin, President of the World Forum of Russian-speaking Jewry; Jack Rosen, president of the American Council for World Jewry.

The award ceremony took place during a colorful ceremony at the National Art Club in downtown Manhattan.

Among the winners in various categories were announced:

Award “For Contribution to the Profession” - sculptor Ernst Neizvestny;

Philanthropist of the Year Award: Dr. Alex Rovt, business leader, philanthropist and board member of the American Forum for Israel;

Young Leader of the Year Award - Alex Rubin, the initiator of naming one of the streets of New York after the writer Sergei Dovlatov;

Artist of the Year Award - Mikhail Turovsky, author of a series of paintings about the Holocaust;

Award for Excellence in the Field of Media - TV presenter Victor Topaller;

Performer of the Year Award: singer Regina Spektor.

In the photo: participants in the contest with Miss America Kira Kazantseva and President of the World Forum of Russian-speaking Jewry Alexander Levin.