Liudmyla Milyaeva and Valentyn Znoba

Liudmyla Milyaeva (1925-2022) Prominent Ukrainian art critic, a member of the National Academy of Arts and Honored Art Worker of Ukraine, DPhil in History of Art. Passed away a month ago at the age of 96.

From 1949 to 1966, Liudmyla Milyaeva worked at the National Art Museum of Ukraine, from 1962 and onwards – at the Department of Theory and History of Art of the National Academy of Fine Arts and Architecture.
Milyaeva is the author and co-author of more than 200 scientific works. For more than 45 years she has been researching the problems of the history of Ukrainian fine arts, bringing back to contemporaries the best samples of national culture from centuries-old history. Mother of the artist and author of satirical plays Les Podervianskyi.

Selected scientific works:● "Ukrainian Art of the 14th - first half of the 17th century" (1963, co-author)● "Ukrainian Medieval Painting" (1976, co-author)● "The Ukrainian Icon in the 11th-18th centuries. From Byzantium to Baroque" (1996; in English, German, French)● "The Icon of Saint George with Scenes from his Life" (Perceptions of Byzantium and Its Neihbours (843—1201), New-York, 2000)

Valentyn Znoba (1929-2006) was a Ukrainian sculptor, People's Artist of Ukraine, Academician of the Academy of Arts of Ukraine, Honorary Citizen of Kyiv, and laureate of national awards and prizes. He was the master in working with stone, wood, and metal, and created both monumental and indoor sculptures.

Many of his works are dedicated to the war because he spent his childhood under the bullets and guns of the Second World War.

Ideological inspirer of Kyiv "Montmartre" - Andriyivsky Descent. The author of Cossack Mamay sculpture in Independence Square in Kyiv, a sculptural ensemble at the Supreme Council of Ukraine. Besides, the sculptor contributed to the wide promotion of Ukrainian art abroad. His artworks are represented both in Europe and the USA.

Selected artworks: ● Cossack Mamay Monument at Maidan Nezalezhnosti in Kyiv city (created in collaboration with son Mykola Znoba)● 4 two-figure sculptures "People of Ukraine" in front of the Verkhovna Rada building in Kyiv● John Napier of Merchiston sculpture in Edinburgh (Napier University)● A monument of Queen Anna Yaroslavna by Valentyn Mykola Znoba in Senlis, France (created in collaboration with son Mykola Znoba)