Leo Mol

Canadian artist

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

Born Leonid Molodozhanyn in Polonne, Russian Empire (now Ukraine), Mol learned the art of ceramics in his father's pottery workshop. Mol studied sculpture at the Leningrad Academy of Arts from 1936 to 1940. Following the German invasion of the Soviet Union he was deported to Germany where he was influenced by Arno Breker. 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. 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 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.