User:Obolonska56/Afonso Antonyuk

Afonso Antonyuk (born January 18, 1935, Prudentopolis, Brazil) is a Brazilian scientist, physician, and neurosurgeon of Ukrainian descent.

Biography
Afonso Antoniuk was born into a family of Ukrainian immigrants. His father is Porfirij Antoniuk and his mother is Antonina Antoniuk. He received his education in the cities of Prudentopolis, Curitiba, Ponta Grosa (Parana, Brazil). He acquired professional knowledge at the State College of Paraná (Curitiba).

Professional activity
He is engaged in scientific and pedagogical activities, and conducts medical practice. Dr. Antonyuk is a professor of neurosurgery at the Federal University of Paraná, lectures at various universities in Paraná and various cities in Brazil, and heads the Department of Neurology at the Federal University of Paraná Hospital and the Neurosurgery Sector at Nossa Senhora das Graças Hospital. He performs neurological surgeries almost daily. He is the owner-director of a hospital for neuropsychiatry in Piracuara, Paraná.

In 1994, he gave a unique series of lectures in different cities of Brazil about a very common specific disease, neurocysticercosis, which he studied in depth and which served practitioners in other states of Brazil and in other countries.

Today, Dr. Afonso Antoniuk, as an official representative of the Federal University of Paraná, is authorized by the government of the state of Paraná (as part of the state program) to establish the process of providing medicines to patients with neurocysticercosis in the state. This work has already yielded high results in reducing the number of diseases, including among children with severe chronic illnesses such as epilepsy.

А. Antoniuk initiated and organized several scientific congresses on neuroscience. He is invited to participate in thematic conferences, symposia, and congresses both in Brazil (São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Porto Alegre, etc.) and in different countries of the world (Russia, Argentina, Uruguay, Germany, etc.). Numerous scientific papers by A. Antonyuk have been published in professional Brazilian and foreign journals on neurology and neurosurgery; he co-authored a number of books on this topic.

Public activities
In addition to his scientific work and medical practice, Afonso Antonyuk is actively involved in public activities. He is among the leaders of the Ukrainian community in Brazil. He also acts as a philanthropist: for example, he has been providing financial support to the local radio station "Ukrainian Moment" for many years at his own expense. He is one of the founders of the Ukrainian-Brazilian Central Representation (UBCR), a non-profit organization that coordinates the activities of various public associations of ethnic Ukrainians in Brazil. On January 23, 1985, he chaired the Constituent Assembly and was elected the first chairman of the UCRB.

Awards
In 1998, during the XXIII Professional Congress in Santiago (Chile), he received the Gold Medal of the Latin American Federation of Neurosurgeons; this is the highest award in this field, which was first awarded to a Brazilian citizen.

In 1999, by the Decree of the President of Ukraine, A. Antonyuk was awarded the Order of Merit, 3rd degree, for his significant personal contribution to the development of Ukrainian-Brazilian relations and many years of active work in Ukrainian diaspora organizations.