Michael Luchkovich

Luchkovich was not an ordinary person, but a kind of guiding light on the roads of our life in Canada, a person who shone and will always shine as an example of how to live to be a good Ukrainian and a good Canadian citizen as well.

Dmytro Prokop, educator and public figure

Michael Luchkovich was the first ethnic Ukrainian in the federal Parliament of Canada, a member of the House of Commons from 1926 to 1935,  an educator, writer, translator, and public figure.

He was born on November 13, 1892, in Shamokin, Pennsylvania, USA, but his family moved to Canada when he was ten. He graduated from high school in Winnipeg, got a bachelor’s degree from the University of Manitoba, and a master’s degree in political science from the University of Alberta. Having started his career as a teacher in Alberta schools in 1917, Luchkovich became the rector of the Mykhailo Hrushevsky Institute in Edmonton.

In 1926, Michael Luchkovych was elected to the House of Commons of the Parliament of Canada from the United Farmers of Alberta and the constituency of Vegreville. Being the sole ethnic Ukrainian in the Parliament, he voiced the concerns of the entire Ukrainian community in Canada. He actively fought against discrimination faced by Ukrainians in the country. Luchkovich was also among the first politicians in the West to speak about the hardships of Ukrainians in Poland and the USSR. From the rostrum of the Canadian Parliament, he repeatedly spoke about “pacification” and the Holodomor as deliberate actions to exterminate the Ukrainian nation.

During his second term, he represented the British Commonwealth at the Inter-Parliamentary Union Congress in Bucharest in 1931, and at the same time, visited Bukovyna and Galicia. In 1932, M. Luchkovich co-founded the Social Democratic Party “Co-operative Commonwealth Federation” but did not win the next parliamentary elections.

Michael Luchkovich left a great legacy as a publicist and translator. In particular, he translated works by Ukrainian writers into English and edited publications in English: “Their Land: An Anthology of Ukrainian Short Stories”, “A Ukrainian Pioneer in Alberta.” Of particular interest are his two autobiographical works: “A Ukrainian Canadian in Parliament” (1965) and “My Memoirs, 1892-1962” (1963).

Michael Luchkovich died in Edmonton, Canada, on April 21, 1973.

Since 1986, the Alberta Provincial Council of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress has presented the Michael Luchkovich Award annually to public officials for their significant contributions and dedication to improving the lives of all Canadians.