First Teacher

Yesterday morning brought unfortunate news. Varvara Tymofiyivna Yushchenko, mother of Ukraine’s President Viktor Yushchenko, died after a protracted illness.

Varvara Yushchenko was born on November 27, 1918. For many years she worked as a teacher in the village of Khoruzhivka, Nedryhailiv district, Sumy oblast. She endured famine, war, her husband Andriy Yushchenko’s imprisonment in concentration camps, the national ruin, and change of epochs. She reveled in her two sons, seven grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren. In recent months, her health deteriorated progressively under heavy emotional strain caused by the dramatic presidential campaign of Viktor Yushchenko, and especially his near brush with death.

Millions of people who are mourning with Viktor Yushchenko and his kin are probably thankful that Varvara Tymofiyivna lived to see the triumph of her son. She lived long enough to see that the blessing that she gave her son last summer in a moving expression of motherly love has helped him come victorious out of this extremely difficult struggle.

Editors of The Day offer their heartfelt condolences to President of Ukraine Viktor Yushchenko and the family and friends of Varvara Yushchenko.

Yesterday Kyiv’s St. Volodymyr Cathedral held a burial service for the late Varvara Yushchenko. She will be laid to rest next to her husband in her native Khoruzhivka.