Kaye, Vladimir J., 1896-1976 : Vladimir Kaye (born Vladimir Kysilewsky), public servant, author, and university professor, was born on 4 August 1896 in Kolomyia, then in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He completed his secondary education in 1914 in Chernivtsi, Bukovina, and joined the Ukrainski Sitchovi Striltsi, a Ukrainian volunteer unit in the Austro-Hungarian Army. He served throughout the First World War and from 1918 to 1920 he served in the Ukrainian Army.
Although he began his university education in engineering he developed an interest in his family history which broadened to include Ukrainian history. He obtained his Ph.D. degree in 1924 from the University of Vienna where he defended his thesis, "Ukrainian Nobility of the XVII Century".
He emigrated to Canada in 1925 where he worked on a farm for a short period and took various university courses. In 1927 he worked as a newspaper correspondent and in 1928 was editor of "Western news", a Ukrainian weekly published in Edmonton. In 1930-1931 he was assistant editor of the weekly "Ukraina" in Chicago.
From 1931 to 1940, he was head of the Ukrainian Press Bureau in London, England. At the same time (during 1933-1936) he studied at the University of London and prepared a doctoral thesis, "Ukrainian national revival in Austria, 1772-1848".
He returned to Canada in 1940 and in 1942 joined the Nationalities Branch, Department of National War Services in Ottawa. In 1945 he continued to work in the reorganized Citizenship Branch until his retirement in 1962.
In 1948, the University of Ottawa invited Dr. V.J. Kaye to teach at the university. He taught until 1960 and continued at the same time his career in the Canadian Public Service. After he retired from the Public Service in 1962 he continued his research and writing and prepared a number of studies on Ukrainian pioneer history.
Dr. Kaye was elected to many executive positions in various learned academic societies during his academic and public service career in Canada. Dr. Kaye died on 30 August, 1976.