by Andrew Gregorovich

Leon Kossar was a dynamic, energetic and talented program organizer and journalist who dedicated his life to the ideal of promoting multiculturalism in Canada through the performing arts. He is best known as the founder, with his wife Zena, of the Caravan Metro International Festival. Every June since 1968 Caravan has blossomed into a colorful festival of up to 58 ethnic groups or pavilions in church and organization halls across the city of Toronto. With his wife Zena he provided the leadership necessary for a third of a century to steer Caravan through a multitude of problems. Caravan is based mainly on the work of voluntary groups in Toronto’s ethno-cultural communities.

I have known the Kossar family for half a century and every time I met Leon he always had a very warm, almost mischievous, smile. Behind the smile was a highly talented musical mind and organizational genius. Through his work he helped Canadians redefine their national identity through the performing arts.

Caravan has been a showcase for ethnic groups in Toronto. There are concerts of music and dance, exhibits of folk arts, history and culture and tasty ethnic foods provided for visitors with Caravan Passports. For example, at one time in the 1960s there were five Ukrainian pavilions named after cities in Ukraine: Kiev (UNF), Lviv (League), Odessa (St Vladimir Institute), Poltava (St. Vladimir Cathedral), and Kolomaya (St. Demetrius Ukrainian Catholic Church). However, this year there were no Ukrainian pavilions.

Leon was born in Saskatoon on February 11, 1929 the son of Wladimir Kossar, who had emigrated to Canada in 1927, and his wife Francis. W. Kossar was active in Ukrainian community life and served as the third National President of the Ukrainian National Federation, after Alexander Gregorovich (1932-36) and Michael Pohorecky (1936-37). He was the longest serving UNF President with a record 17 years (1937-54).

Leon followed in his father’s footsteps and was active in the Ukrainian National Youth Federation in Winnipeg where he was president 1950-52. It was in the UNYF and UNF that Leon’s talent was nurtured by a supportive environment which prepared him for his brilliant career. In 1952 Leon came to Toronto where he met and married Zena Strilchuk at St. Vladimir Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral in 1957.

He graduated from the University of Manitoba in 1950 after studies in English literature and music. At the University he was President of the Alpha Omega Club, 1949-50. Because of his talent in writing he became a reporter for the Winnipeg Tribune newspaper. Later, after moving to Toronto, he became a reporter and columnist for the Toronto Telegram newspaper. He also was Editor of the Ukrainian Digest and Youth Speaks published by the UNYF of Canada and was the driving force behind the short-lived Toronto magazine Pace.

Leon attended the Summer Courses sponsored by the UNF with teachers like choral conductor and composer Alexander Koshetz and musicologist Pavlo Macenko. His sister Alma says that he never lost his love of the liturgical choral music of Ukraine and “became a proficient natural musician.” She said “He played piano, violin, trumpet and trombone, began arranging music and formed his own band.” “Two of his friends, Mary Pidkowych [now UNF President] and the late Walter Klymkiw”, said Alma Bilak, “along with Leon began directing the choir which Walter Klymkiw led for many years and became the Oleksander Koshetz Memorial Choir of Winnipeg.”

Starting in the 1950s Leon Kossar was the producer of some major shows on television and at venues like the CNE where he created the memorable Nationbuilders extravaganza in 1967. Today these colorful ethno-cultural musical and dance programs, in addition to Caravan, have shrunk down. Toronto’s largest ethno-cultural event now is the annual Caribana parade limited to black culture rather than the major multi-ethnic programs which Leon had promoted and organized. When the Government of Canada adopted an official multicultural policy in 1971 Leon Kossar was one of the few experts in multi-ethnic programming. He made a substantial contribution to Canadian cultural development, national unity and pride through his programs which promoted an understanding of Canada’s diverse cultural heritage.

He served on the Board of the National Arts Centre in Ottawa, was a founder of the Canadian Folk Arts Council, and a co-producer of the Nation Builders program at the Canadian National Exhibition 1957-69. When Canada celebrated its centennial in 1967 he contributed to the success of many programs across Canada. He was a co-producer of the Canadian arts and cultural program at the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal. He believed in the Olympics and had made Caravan a partner in the Arts and Cultural Programs of the Toronto 2008 bid for the Olympic Games.

Hon. David Crombie, one of Toronto’s finest mayors, at the Panakhyda on Wednesday gave the widow, Zena, a very warm sympathetic embrace. Crombie, who was Toronto’s mayor when Leon was very active, told me that Leon’s early achievements have been mostly forgotten. “Leon Kossar showed us that art can become reality and that Torontonians could enjoy many cultures. He understood the global village like Marshall McLuhan and could foresee the multicultural future of the city.”

Two eloquent eulogies in tribute to Leon Kossar were given by Rev. B. Sencio at the Wednesday Panakhyda and by Yuri Kovar at the funeral Thursday in St. Vladimir Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral.

In his eulogy Yuri Kovar, a friend of 28 years, said: “The first thing that struck me was his creative energy. He was always tinkering on the piano or conducting an imaginary choir or orchestra. I quickly realized that this man was an artist whose passion was to create and celebrate life through the performing arts.” “Leon Kossar was a man whose ideas, commitment and energy helped change the way the rest of the world sees Canada. That is his legacy.”

Mr. Kovar worked with Leon on the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games organizing Canadian talent for the world audience. He remembers that “often after a grueling 18 hour day, when most of us just wanted to slide into bed, Leon could be found at some hotel ‘jamming’ with many of the artists who had just come off stage.” Leon was a cultural impresario, a remarkable man --and a great Canadian. “His legacy is both extraordinary and unique: through his example, Canada holds a mirror to the world and says this is what it could be like, if we all just learned a little more tolerance...”

The Toronto Star paid tribute with a portrait of Leon at the top of page one and an article by Peter Small which said: “He had the ability to bring consensus to more than 30 different cultural communities and to get them singing from the same song sheet. But he never lost his sense of humour.”

Caravan’s Brian Kilgore at the funeral had the idea that Caravan was like a symphony with Zena as the composer putting down the notes, the communities were the orchestra and Leon was on the podium conducting everything. Leon and Zena were a strong team always working together

Mr. Kossar died Saturday, August 4th, 2001 age 73 at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Toronto. He is survived by his wife Zena of 44 years, his sister Alma and other relatives. Alma is the wife of Jaroslaw Bilak who had served as President of the UNF in 1966-68. The funeral was held at St. Vladimir Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral on Thursday morning August 9th.

Vichnaya pamyat!