Thomas M. Prymak

Background

Thomas Prymak was born on April 10, 1948 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, into the family of Michael and Amelia Prymak.

Education

Thomas Prymak started his higher education at the University of Manitoba, where he received a Bachelor of Arts in 1969 and a Master of Arts in 1972. Then he got a Diploma in Polish Language and Civilization at the University of Krakow in 1975 and a Certificate in Ukrainian Language at Shevchenko State University in 1981. Prymak also studied at the University of Toronto, where he earned a Ph.D. in 1984 and a Certificate in Persian in 1989.

Career

Thomas Prymak started his career in 1973 as a producer and director at Steppe to Prairie Productions in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and held that position until 1975. Then he relocated to the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon, where he was an instructor in Ukrainian history during 1984 - 1985. The same year he became a historian and a research associate at the University of Toronto, a position he still holds.

In 1987 - 1988, Prymak was an instructor in Ukrainian studies at the University of Toronto. After that he worked as an instructor in Russian studies at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, during 1989 - 1992. During 2010 - 2014 Prymak held a position of a Book Review editor of the Journal of Ukranian studies in the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies.

Achievements

• Dr Prymak is the author of four published scholarly books, including an award-winning biography of the Ukrainian historian and statesman, Michael Hrushevsky, and numerous articles, reviews, review articles, letters, translations, and published/edited documents. His personal bibliography lists over 150 printed titles.

Works

More photos

• book

  • Mykhailo Hrushevsky, The Politics of National Culture

    (Historian, educator, and author Mykola Kostomarov was a l...)

    1987
  • Gathering a Heritage: Ukrainian, Slavonic, and Ethnic Canada and the USA

    (In Gathering a Heritage, Thomas M. Prymak uses the essays...)

    2015
  • Mykola Kostomarov: A Biography 1996
  • Maple leaf and trident: The Ukrainian Canadians during the Second World War 1988

Views

Quotations: “I have always been interested in reading and writing history. Soon after the beginning of my university career, I decided to become a professional historian. My interest in history was soon tied to a quest to discover my ethnic heritage, about which I knew very little during my early years. I eventually learned to read and, somewhat more haltingly, to speak Ukrainian, Polish, and some other European languages. This enabled me to do advanced academic work in East European history, which has been my vocation ever since. Personal acquaintance with the Middle East has made the Islamic world and world history accompanying areas of scholarly inquiry and, when all these come together, I am especially interested.”

Membership

Over the years, Dr Prymak has been a member of several scholarly societies and cultural institutions including the Canadian Association of Slavists, the Ukrainian Historical Association, the Shevchenko Scientific Society (Toronto), the Royal Ontario Museum (Toronto), the East European Genealogical Society (Winnipeg), and the Ukrainian Cultural and Educational Centre (Winnipeg).

Connections

Thomas Prymak married Jasmin Kalhori in 1980. They have two children - Shahram and Cyrus.

Father:

Michael Prymak

Mother:

Amelia Prymak

Spouse:

Jasmin Kalhori

Son:

Shahram Prymak

Son:

Cyrus Prymak