By National Bank of Ukraine….
On June 17, 2016, the National Bank of Ukraine presented the new “Ivan Mykolaychuk” (Іван Миколайчук) commemorative coin at the Museum of Money.
The presentation was attended by Chairman of the State Agency of Ukraine for Film Illienko Philip; Chairman of the National Union of Cinematographers of Ukraine Sergey Trymbach; People’s Artist of Ukraine Raisa Nedashkivska; cameraman Yuri Garmash; coin designer Nicholas Kochubey; and Deputy Head of Numismatic Products and the Marketing Department of the National Bank of Ukraine Victoria Suzanska.
The two-hryvnia (UAH2) face value “Ivan Mykolaychuk” commemorative coin entered into circulation on June 15. On that day, the prominent Ukrainian actor and screenwriter Ivan “John” Mykolaychuk would have turned 75, but unfortunately his life ended tragically almost 30 years ago.
“The National Bank always pays tribute to Ukrainians representing Ukrainian culture [such as] art world personalities,” said Victoria Suzanska. “The coin that we present today is dedicated to actor, director and screenwriter Ivan Mykolaychuk, who in his films and roles managed to embody the uniqueness and national identity of Ukrainian culture.”
According to Suzanska, the “Ivan Mykolaychuk” commemorative coin is part of the National Bank’s oldest and most numerous series – “Outstanding Personalities of Ukraine” – which was launched in 1995 with the “Bohdan Khmelnytskyˮ commemorative and currently includes 130 coins.
The Ukrainian media was on hand to mark the release of the Ivan Mykolaychuk two-hryvnia coin.
Illienko Philip praised the initiative of the National Bank of Ukraine to create coins dedicated to prominent representatives of Ukrainian cinema:
“It is thanks to the coin’s designer that we get such a beautiful figure in Ivan Mykolaychuk. I think he is one of the most prominent figures in Ukrainian cinema, and of all the others he best distinguished the Ukrainian natural genre.”
According to many of the honored guests at the presentation, including Sergey Trymbach, Ivan Mykolaychuk promoted the popularization of Ukrainian art and culture both in their own country and abroad. “Hopefully, this coin and this anniversary will help Ukraine and the world understand that we have earned our cultural and artistic credibility through figures and names such as John Mykolaychuk,” he said.
In turn, the People’s Artist of Ukraine Raisa Nedashkivska spoke about Mykolaychuk’s work with a talented colleague.
“They were such wizards, they made it look easy. They, like Atlas, kept the sky on their shoulders. And we are grateful to John Mykolaychuk because he kept the heavens on his shoulders and raised the bar for our national culture.”
Coin designer and Honored Artist of Ukraine Nicholas Kochubey said as he worked on creating sketches for the commemorative: “I believe that John knew the formula for the universe. But this formula is very simple – it is harmony. Component harmony – is was his love for people. I tried to reproduce this in my design.”
On the obverse there is distant mountain, with the foreground against a dark background showing a symbolic gate. Under this gate is the slim figure of Ivan Mykolaychuk with a lamb in his arms. On the reverse against a dark background is a portrait of John Mykolaychuk surrounded by his cinema heroes.
