The Emergence of a Contemporary Ukrainian Civil Society: Vitaly Portnikov

University of Manitoba Archives and Special Collections announced the 23rd Annual J.B. Rudnyckyj Distinguished Lecture will be “The Emergence of a Contemporary Ukrainian Civil Society,” presented by Vitaly Portnikov from Ukraine. (Please note updated date – March 22.)

A journalist, author, political commentator and leading opinion maker in today’s Ukraine, Portnikov is a frequent guest on Ukrainian TV and radio current affairs programs, is often quoted in the Western press and has a large following on social media. His articles have appeared in publications around the world and he has won awards for his fearless commentary on events in Ukraine, Russia and Eastern Europe. His recent books include Bohorodytsia v synahozi (Mother of God in the Synagogue) and Tiurma dlia anholiv (Prison for Angels).

Vitaly Portnikov

Born in 1967 in Kyiv, Ukraine, Portnikov graduated from the Moscow University Faculty of Journalism in 1990. He worked for the Kyiv newspaper Molod Ukrainy (Youth of Ukraine) as an analyst specializing in post-Soviet countries, and with the Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. In 2007 he was appointed editor-in-chief of the Media-Domholding and the Ukrainian newspaper Gazeta24. Since 2008 he has hosted the weekly TV show Kyivskyi pohliad (Kyiv View). In May 2010 Portnikov was appointed editor-in-chief of the Ukrainian television channel TVi, and in November 2012 he became its president, a position he held until the channel ceased broadcasting in 2015.

Besides being a leading analyst of Ukrainian political affairs, he also writes on Jews and the Middle East and has a column in Israel’s most popular Russian-language newspaper Vesti (News) and in the Moscow-based Evreiskie novosti (Jewish News).

Portnikov is the winner of the “Zolote Pero 1989” (Golden Pen) award of the Ukrainian Association of Journalists. He has also been nominated as Journalist of the Year in Ukraine.

A selection of his articles in English can be found at: theotherrussia.org/tag/vitaly-portnikov

Note – Updated Date/Time of Lecture:  Tuesday, March 22, 2016 at 7:00 pm

Place:  University of Manitoba Archives & Special Collections, 330 Elizabeth Dafoe Library, Fort Garry Campus, U of M

Admission Free, Reception to Follow

Sponsored by: the U of M Archives & Special Collections; the Slavic Collection – Elizabeth Dafoe Library; and the Department of German & Slavic Studies

For information on the event, please call: 204-474-9986.