Tuesday, September 28, 2004

Famous Slavs of New York

  • Adamic, Louis. Blato, Slovenia, 23/3/1899 – Milford, New Jersey, 4/9/1951. Slovene; Writer and translator.
  • Balanchine, George. St. Petersburg, 22/1/1904 – New York City, 30/4/1983. Russian; Choreographer. Part of West 63rd Street near Lincoln Center in Manhattan is named Balanchine Way in his honor.
  • Baryshnikov, Mikhail. Riga, 27/1/1948 – . Russian, Choreographer and dancer.
  • Bell, Thomas. Braddock, Pennsylvania, 7/3/1903 – 17/1/1961, New York City, 1961. Slovak/Carpatho-Rusyn; Writer.
  • Brodsky, Joseph. Leningrad/St.Petersburg, 5/24/1940 - New York City, 1/28/1996. Russian; Poet, Nobel Prize laureate.
  • Dvorak, Antonin. Nelahozeves, Bohemia, 8/9/1841 – Prague, 1/5/1905. Czech; Composer. A bust of Dvorak by Ivan Mestrovic is located at the northeastern corner of Stuyvesant Square in Manhattan.
  • Herman, Augustine. Prague, circa-1621 – Baltimore, 9/1686. Czech; Explorer, merchant and cartographer.
  • Kapralov, Yuri. Stavropol, Russia, 7/3/1933 – New York City, 27/8/2005. Russian; Writer. His Once There Was a Village depicts Slavic life in the East Village in the 1960s and 1970s.
  • Kerensky, Alexander. Simbirsk, Russia, 4/5/1881 – New York City 11/6/1970. Russian; Revolutionary leader.
  • Krzyzanowski, Wladimir. Roznowo, Poland, 8/7/1824 – New York City, 1/31/1887. Polish; Military leader during the Civil War.
  • Mestrovic, Ivan. Vrpolje, Croatia, 15/8/1883 – University of Notre Dame, 16/1/1962. Croatian (Yugoslav); Sculptor. A bust of Antonin Dvorak by Mestrovic is located at the northeastern corner of Stuyvesant Square in Manhattan; A bust of Michael Pupin by Mestrovic is located at Pupin Hall at Columbia University, and at St. Sava Cathedral, both in Manhattan; and a statue of Cardinal Alojzije Stepinac is located at the Croatian SS. Cyril & Methodius Church on West 41st Street in Manhattan. Mestrovic also is the author of six bas-reliefs at Hunter College School of Nursing on East 25th Street in Manhattan, though they are not accessible by the general public.
  • Paderewski, Jan Ignace. Kurylowka, Podolia, 12/11/1860 – New York City, 29/6/1941. Polish; Pianist, composer and statesman. A tree in the southwestern corner of Tompkins Square Park in Manhattan is named the Paderweski Tree in his honor.
  • Pavlova, Anna. St. Petersburg, 12/2/1881 – The Hague, 23/1/1931). Russian; Dancer.
  • Pupin, Michael. Idvor, Serbia, 4/10/1858 – New York City, 12/3/1935). Serbian; Physicist and inventor. A hall at Columbia University in Manhattan is named in his honor, which features a bust of him by Mestrovic; a second bust of Pupin is located at St. Sava Cathedral in Manhattan.
  • Raszewski, Alexander. Poland, 1806 – New York City, 1880. Polish; Military leader during the Civil War.
  • Roerich, Nicholas. St. Petersburg, 9/10/1874 – Kullu, India, 13/12/1947. Russian; Painter, theosophist and philosopher.
  • Stravinsky, Igor. Oranienbaum (Lomonosov), Russia, 17/6/1882 – New York City, 6/4/1971. Russian; Composer.
  • Tesla, Nikola. Smiljan, Croatia, 10/7/1856 – New York City, 7/1/1943). Serbian; Physicist, electrical engineer and inventor. The corner of 41th Street and 6th Avenue in Manhattan is named Tesla Corner in his honor, and a plaque honors him at the New Yorker Hotel, where he died.
  • Trotsky, Leon. Yanovka, 26/10/1879 – Mexico City, 21/8/1940. Russian; Revolutionary.
  • Warhol, Andy. Pittsburgh, 6/8/1928 – New York City, 22/2/1987. Carpatho-Rusyn; Painter and filmmaker.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

How about "Brodsky, Joseph. Leningrad/St.Petersburg, 5/24/1940 - New York City, 1/28/1996. Russian; Poet, Nobel Prize laureate."

As for Trotsky, he hardly deserves a place on this list - he only spent some three months in New York City.

Dmitri
dg2158@columbia.edu

Anonymous said...

Nathan Handwerker - The guy who opened the original Nathan's on Coney Island - was a Polish immigrant. Born 1892, came to the us at age 20 and worked his way up from dishwasher at various NYC restaurants. While he did not invent the hot dog (Charles Feltman did), Nathan is credited for bringing it to the masses.

Anonymous said...

Nikola Tesla was Croatian, born to parents of Serbian descent

Anonymous said...

Nikola Tesla is Serbian,it's not where you're born,but what your heritage is...

a croat said...

why is ivan mestrovic a "croatian (yugoslav)" but others from former communist agglomerate countries get their propers?

Anonymous said...

Alexandra L. Tolstoy, the daughter of Lev Tolstoy

Vera Konstantinovna Romanoff, Princess, the daughter of K.K. Romanoff

Solzhenitsyn, Russian Writer

Andrew Diky, Historian of Soviet History, Writer.

Also please note: The original "Russian area of New York City" was called the Russian Kvartal, on and around 141st street & broadway, down towards riveerside drive and up to columbia university. "Russia House" (Russki Dom) was on the corner of 141 & broadway.