Leo Mol

Leonid Molodozhanyn (January 15, 1915 – July 4, 2009), known as Leo Mol, was a Russian-born- Ukrainian Canadian stained glass artist, painter and sculptor.

Early life There are two distinct versions of Leo Mol's biography. One of them states that he was the only child and studied sculpture in Vienna from the age of 15. Another version states that he studied at the Leningrad Academy of Arts under Matvey Manizer. The first version, likely fabricated by Leo Mol himself in order to protect his family members back in the USSR, was disproven when Mol met his sister Nina in Siberia on the brink of the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Born Leonid Molodozhanyn in Polonne, Russian Empire (now Ukraine). Polonne was rich in good clay and its inhabitants were a community of potters. Mol's father, Hryhorii, came from a long line of potters.

Education Leonid Molodozhanyn received a grade five education in Nalchik. The Soviet approach to education and training around 1925, when Leonid was ten, demanded that youth from the grade five or six level cease school and move into a trade.

Career In Leningrad, Molodozhanyn's first commission, in 1939, was a sculpture of composer Alexander Borodin, which still stands in the St. Petersburg Conservatory.

Death Mol died July 4, 2009, at St. Boniface Hospital in Winnipeg, Manitoba. He was 94.

Other important subjects who Mol sculpted include members of the Group of Seven, A. J. Casson, A.Y. Jackson and Frederick Varley. Mol also sculpted Sir Winston Churchill 1966, Winnipeg editorial cartoonist Peter Kuch (1917-1980), Dwight D. Eisenhower 1965, John F. Kennedy 1969, Elizabeth Bradford Holbrook ca. St. Volodymyr located at the St. Volodymyr Institute in Toronto. 1970, Terry Fox 1982. On Parliament Hill in Ottawa stands his impressive over life-size standing portrait figure of Prime Minister John Diefenbaker 1985. Also on Parliament Hill stands an impressive bronze statue of Elizabeth II. The maquette of Sir William Stephenson C.C. (code-named "Intrepid") is displayed in a place of honour within CIA Headquarters, Langley, VA, USA

In 2018, a church in Manitoba was raising money to protect its stained glass windows created by Leo Mol with bulletproof glass.

Honours In 1989, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada. In 2000, he was awarded the Order of Manitoba. He was a member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts.

He received honorary degrees from the University of Winnipeg, the University of Alberta and the University of Manitoba.

Leo Mol's papers are held by the University of Manitoba Archives and Special Collections.