James Temerty "James Temerty Canadas Walk of Fame 2022" by Mykola Swarnyk is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Ukraine has risen to the level of an important equal member of the global community, treated with respect. This country has so much talent, I have seen it before, and I see it now. I sincerely believe in the great future of Ukrainians.
James Temerty
James (Constantine) Temerty is a Ukrainian businessman, public figure, a generous philanthropist from Canada, co-chairman of the Ukrainian World Congress, and honorary citizen of Lviv.
Constantine Temerty was born on December 3, 1941, in the village of Styla in Donetsk Oblast in a family of mining engineer. The boy was named after Constantine Temerty’s grandfather, who the Soviet government repressed. In 1943, the family decided to move to the West. On the way, Constantine’s sister Liudmyla, a future painter and sculptor, was born in Slovakia. Upon reaching Germany, the parents were forced into labor, and after the end of World War II, they spent some time in a camp for displaced people and refugees in Bavaria. After that, they moved to Belgium, where the head of the family got a job in his specialty. Lastly, after several years of wandering, they settled in Canada.
Constantine-James Temerty came to Canada when he was eight years old. On weekdays he attended a local school, and on Saturdays, he attended a school at St. Sophia’s Cathedral, where his mother, Raisa, taught Ukrainian. He graduated from Concordia University in Montreal. He became a successful entrepreneur. He founded Computerland and Northland Power, which produces clean electricity in Canada. In 2010, Temerty was recognized as the best entrepreneur in Canada.
His success in business, family upbringing, and desire to make the world a better place prompted him to participate in charitable activities. To this end, he founded the Temerty Family Foundation in 1997. J. Temerty can be called one of the most generous philanthropists of our time. With his wife, Louise, he invests most of his funds in developing scientific research, education, and museums. In Ukraine, J Temerty has implemented several important charitable projects, including founding a business school at the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy (1999) and constructing the Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky Center at the Ukrainian Catholic University in Lviv. He financed exhibitions of Scythian gold and artifacts of Trypillian culture at the Royal Ontario Museum. During the Russian-Ukrainian war, the Foundation has provided funds for humanitarian programs in Ukraine and assisted refugees from Ukraine in Canada.
