Father Alexander Basil Duchnovich

Father Duchnovich was a priest, poet, educator and author of the Rusyn National Anthem who lived from 1803 to 1865. He was also distinguished as a dramatist, historian, scholar and legislator who was undaunted in preserving the language and spirit of the Rusyn people and in fighting for universal education. The Rusyns, an ethnic Slavic people, are also known as Carpatho Rusyns because they hail from the Carpatho-Rusyn Mountains. At one time, the largest community of Carpatho-Rusyns outside of Europe lived in Cleveland. The Carpatho-Rusyn Garden was dedicated in the 1940s.