Miroslawa “Maara/Myra” (LAZECZKO) HAAS (c1920-2012)
Miroslawa “Maara/Myra’ was born at Winnipeg on 12 February 1920. She was the daughter of Michael Lazeczko and Maria Chornobei. As a teenager she worked, with her sister, in her father’s drugstore.
On 20 June 1942 in Winnipeg, she married Archibald Gordon Haas (1914-?) and they had two children: Elaine Lanie Maria Haas (c1943-1986) and Lloyd Haas.
Actor, Author, Poet, Teacher
Maara’s writing career started at 15 when she was awarded first prize for her essay titled, “Let No Man Dare to Call Me Foreigner”. Her first novel was “The Street Where I Live”, which portrayed her father’s life as a Ukrainian immigrant in Canada. Her literary work was published in The Canadian Review of Literature, The Indian Record, The Washington Post and The Canadian Dimension. She published a book of poetry. Maara enjoyed speaking on her writing tours and made special appearances in schools to teach creative writing classes and workshops. She was honoured with the Lady Eaton Award in 1996 for her literary satire One Hundred Years of Poetry.
Maara graduated from journalism at Berkeley University and was a recipient of an honorary doctorate from the Free Academy of Arts and Sciences in Kiev, Ukraine, for her work in translation. She was well known for the readings she did on CBC’s This Country in the Morning.
Maara was a national board member of the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists, a representative for the Status of Women and an honorary member of the Canadian Women’s Institute representing rural women in Manitoba. She has appeared in several Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre productions.
Maara cared deeply for nature and dedicated her backyard to being a ‘wildlife sanctuary’ for small animals and birds.
She died at Winnipeg on 29 August 2012.
Sources:
- Birth Registration, Marriage and Death Manitoba Vital Statistics.
- Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 15 September 2012, page B13.
- Obituary [Mary Lazeczko Dnistransky (nee Chornobei)], Winnipeg Free Press, 20 September 1980, page 68.
- “Maara Haas”, Winnipeg Free Press, 23 June 2012, page J14.
- Obituary [Elaine Lanie Maria Haas], Winnipeg Free Press, 25 July 1986, page 38.
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