Yankel Ginzburg

Yankel Ginzburg, painter, sculptor, printmaker, and statesman, is a Grand Master of the Washington, D.C. “School of Light." He was born in a province of the old Soviet Union, the grandson of famous Soviet General Marshal Zhukov, who defeated Hitler on the Eastern Front in WWII. Jewish on his mother's side, Yankel and his family emigrated to Israel, thereafter -- where Ginzburg became the youngest student, ever, to be admitted to the prestigious Institute of Art, from which he graduated with honors in 1965. By an Act of Congress, Ginzburg and his family were made U.S. citizens in 1968. 

In addition to his high-profile career in fine art, Ginzburg has been a major philanthropist and political activist. His duties have included serving as artist-in-residence at the Camp David Peace Accords between Egypt and Israel, hosted by President Jimmy Carter (1978) to chairing The Fund for Democracy and Development, having raised $240 million in aid for former Soviet Republics (1994). He counts royalty among his collectors, including King Juan Carlos of Spain and his wife Queen Sofia, and the former Pahlavi Royal Family of Iran.