After careful analysis, the Board of the Palazzo Strozzi Foundation USA has awarded Ukrainian entrepreneur and philanthropist Victor Pinchuk -- Founder of EastOne Group and the Victor Pinchuk Foundation -- with the "Palazzo Strozzi Renaissance Man of the Year Award 2014.”
Pinchuk received the award on July 13, 2015 in Florence during a celebratory dinner at the Galleria dell'Accademia, among the sculptures of the great artists of the Renaissance, most notably Michelangelo's, David, one of the icons of the Florentine Renaissance.
Pinchuk has already received much international recognition and has been extremely engaged in his philanthropic activities. He recently funded the Ukrainian pavilion at the Venice Biennale, has opened in Kyiv the leading art center in Eastern Europe to spread contemporary art and is dedicated, through his foundation, to education and social causes including fighting some of the most serious diseases that afflict the world by supporting, for example, the Elton John AIDS Foundation. He is on the Board of Directors of the Peterson Institute for International Economics, and on the international Advisory Board of the Brookings Institution, two important think tanks in Washington.
He has hosted events to promote Ukraine on the occasion of the annual meetings in Davos and has joined The Giving Pledge initiative of Bill Gates, with whom he maintains bonds of friendship, with the goal of donating to charity one half or more of his fortune. He has a long-standing philanthropic cooperation with the Clinton Foundation. At the September annual meeting of the non-governmental organization, YES (Yalta European Strategy), which Pinchuk founded in 2004 to facilitate Ukraine’s integration with Europe, leading politicians came to Ukraine as guest speakers, among others, Hillary Clinton, Condoleezza Rice, Muhammad Yunus and Shimon Peres.
One of his main missions is to turn to dialogue and multiculturalism to resolve the crisis with Russia, while preserving the independence, integrity and dignity of the borders of Ukraine. He is working to help solve the economic crisis that has hit his country. Dialogue and multiculturalism as an alternative to war and violence are two key aspects that characterize the mission of the Palazzo Strozzi Foundation.
In 2011 the Board of the Foundation established the Renaissance Man / Woman of the Year Award to identify and honor individuals who, in the course of their lives, represent the Renaissance values that link the classical Greek and Roman culture, the Enlightenment and our own time. As in a contemporary Medicean spirit, these individuals have had a lifelong impact in various fields of knowledge. The honorees represent the qualities of the Renaissance character, either by displaying extraordinary entrepreneurship and establishing new frontiers or by supporting philanthropy, the arts, social causes and global understanding.
"Pinchuk has been a pioneer in one of the most turbulent and exciting periods in European history, during the difficult transition from communism to a market economy in Eastern Europe and during a revolutionary change that brought democracy in Eastern Europe. His dedication to philanthropy -- as promoter of the arts, social and health initiatives -- make him the ideal candidate for our annual award. Through him we are recognizing the efforts of Ukraine and of the Ukrainian people to preserve their borders and the independence of their choices. His dedication to the causes related to freedom, tolerance, multiculturalism, openness and dialogue, in an historical moment when conflict between parties calls for a rapid solution of crisis, represent the values of the Renaissance and of our prestigious award of the Palazzo Strozzi Foundation,” said Mario Calvo-Platero, Chairman of the Palazzo Strozzi Foundation USA.
Victor Pinchuk said: "Renaissance Man is an impossible award. If you accept it, you are already immodest. Because Renaissance men were bigger than life. I can accept it only as recognition for what my country, Ukraine, is trying to do. What Ukrainians are trying to do. Ukrainians went to the street, for a democratic, tolerant, free country. And they won. They will win. This deserves a prize."
In 2011 Renaissance Man of the year was Ted Turner, and in 2012 the Renaissance Woman of the year was Her Excellency Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, President of the African Union. The 2013 recipient was Leonard A. Lauder, Chairman Emeritus of Estee Lauder.
Palazzo Strozzi Foundation is a non-profit 501c-3, based in New York and is in affiliation with the Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi in Florence.
