Vladimir Fekula was born in New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 on 25 May 1936.

Fekula had a distinguished career on Wall Street spanning more than forty years. Since retiring from the financial world in 2004, he has devoted himself full-time to charitable work.

Origins and Early Life

Vladimir's father, Peter Michael Fekula (Пётр Михайлович Фекула, 1900–1954), was the son of a Russian Orthodox priest of Carpatho-Rusyn

Rusyns

Carpatho-Rusyns are a primarily diasporic ethnic group who speak an Eastern Slavic language, or Ukrainian dialect, known as Rusyn. Carpatho-Rusyns descend from a minority of Ruthenians who did not adopt the use of the ethnonym "Ukrainian" in the early twentieth century...

 ancestry. Peter was born in Canada but grew up in the United States.

Vladimir's mother, Maria Ivanovna Karzubova (Мария Ивановна Карзубова, 1908–1991), was born in Moscow

Moscow

Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...

, but her family left Russia for Latvia

Latvia

Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...

 after the 1917 Revolution.

Peter and Maria met when Peter was chief of Eastern European Sales at Ford Motor Company

Ford Motor Company

Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK...

. They were married in Riga

Riga

Riga is the capital and largest city of Latvia. With 702,891 inhabitants Riga is the largest city of the Baltic states, one of the largest cities in Northern Europe and home to more than one third of Latvia's population. The city is an important seaport and a major industrial, commercial,...

 in 1929. Their son Alexis was born in Riga in 1931.

In 1936, the year of Vladimir's birth, the family moved from New York City to Sea Cliff

Sea Cliff, New York

The Village of Sea Cliff is a village located within the Town of Oyster Bay in Nassau County, New York. As of the United States 2010 Census, the village population was 4,995...

, Long Island

Long Island

Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...

. There, with several other Russian families, they founded the Our Lady of Kazan

Our Lady of Kazan

Our Lady of Kazan, also called Theotokos of Kazan , was a holy icon of the highest stature within the Russian Orthodox Church, representing the Virgin Mary as the protector and patroness of the city of Kazan. Copies of the image are also venerated in the Catholic Church...

 Russian Orthodox Church

Russian Orthodox Church

The Russian Orthodox Church or, alternatively, the Moscow Patriarchate The ROC is often said to be the largest of the Eastern Orthodox churches in the world; including all the autocephalous churches under its umbrella, its adherents number over 150 million worldwide—about half of the 300 million...

 in 1942.

Vladimir Fekula earned a Bachelor of Science in Economics Degree from the Wharton School of Business of the University of Pennsylvania

University of Pennsylvania

The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...

 where he was a member of Psi Upsilon

Psi Upsilon

Psi Upsilon is the fifth oldest college fraternity in the United States, founded at Union College in 1833. It has chapters at colleges and universities throughout North America. For most of its history, Psi Upsilon, like most social fraternities, limited its membership to men only...

 fraternity; then served in the United States Marine Corps

United States Marine Corps

The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...

 before commencing his Wall Street

Wall Street

Wall Street refers to the financial district of New York City, named after and centered on the eight-block-long street running from Broadway to South Street on the East River in Lower Manhattan. Over time, the term has become a metonym for the financial markets of the United States as a whole, or...

 career.

Beginnings

After completing a training program, Fekula was employed as a credit officer at the Chase Manhattan Bank

Chase Manhattan Bank

JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., doing business as Chase, is a national bank that constitutes the consumer and commercial banking subsidiary of financial services firm JPMorgan Chase. The bank was known as Chase Manhattan Bank until it merged with J.P. Morgan & Co. in 2000...

.

Goldman Sachs

He was then recruited by Goldman Sachs

Goldman Sachs

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. is an American multinational bulge bracket investment banking and securities firm that engages in global investment banking, securities, investment management, and other financial services primarily with institutional clients...

, where from 1965 to 1973 he managed the day-to-day Credit Review function of the Commercial Paper

Commercial paper

In the global money market, commercial paper is an unsecured promissory note with a fixed maturity of 1 to 270 days. Commercial Paper is a money-market security issued by large banks and corporations to get money to meet short term debt obligations , and is only backed by an issuing bank or...

 Department, Goldman Sachs being at that time the world's largest dealer in short-term notes.

In June, 1970 Penn Central declared bankruptcy with $82 Million of commercial paper outstanding. A year earlier, Credit Review had recommended Penn Central withdraw from the commercial paper market, but they had been over-ruled by the department head. Following the bankruptcy, a meeting chaired by John C. Whitehead

John C. Whitehead

John Cunningham Whitehead is an American banker and civil servant, currently a board member of the World Trade Center Memorial Foundation and, until his resignation in May 2006, chairman of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation.-Biography:He was born in Evanston, Illinois...

 resulted in the firm withdrawing certain issuers from the commercial paper market because of potential credit concerns. After court cases were settled, the head of Goldman Sachs' Commercial Paper Department was terminated.

Salomon Brothers

In 1978, Fekula established the Credit Review Department at Salomon Brothers

Salomon Brothers

Salomon Brothers was a bulge bracket, Wall Street investment bank. Founded in 1910 by three brothers along with a clerk named Ben Levy, it remained a partnership until the early 1980s, when it was acquired by the commodity trading firm Phibro Corporation and then became Salomon Inc. Eventually...

, then the largest government securities dealer in the world. Fekula restructured the approvals process so that the Credit Department reported to a Credit Committee which in turn reported to the Management Committee. Original members of the Credit Committee included James Wolfensohn

James Wolfensohn

Sir James David Wolfensohn AO KBE FKC was the ninth president of the World Bank Group.-Early life:James Wolfensohn was born in Sydney, Australia, on 1 December 1933...

, Lewis Ranieri

Lewis Ranieri

Lewis S. Ranieri is a former bond trader and former vice chairman of Salomon Brothers. He is considered the "godfather" of mortgage finance for his role in pioneering securitization and mortgage-backed securities...

, Thomas Strauss and Donald Feuerstein. All transactions that settled beyond the normal cash settlement period required Credit Department approval.

During the early 1980s a crisis developed in the savings and loan industry. Salomon Brothers quickly became the "private lender of last resort" by continuing to finance security positions. Salomon, with Fekula's recommendation and participation, met with the Federal Reserve Bank

Federal Reserve Bank

The twelve Federal Reserve Banks form a major part of the Federal Reserve System, the central banking system of the United States. The twelve federal reserve banks together divide the nation into twelve Federal Reserve Districts, the twelve banking districts created by the Federal Reserve Act of...

 of New York, and an understanding was reached. The Federal Reserve Bank, wishing to avert a financial crisis, encouraged Salomon to continue financing the thrifts, and agreed not to interfere if Salomon found it necessary to liquidate positions.

First Boston and Credit Suisse First Boston

In 1984, Fekula was appointed Manager of the Credit and Market Risk Department at First Boston Corporation. He continued in that position under the successor corporation, Credit Suisse First Boston, where he was also a member of the Investment Banking Screening Committee.

On December 6, 1994, Fekula signed a letter terminating and liquidating $2,614,218,000 in securities of Orange County, California

Orange County, California

Orange County is a county in the U.S. state of California. Its county seat is Santa Ana. As of the 2010 census, its population was 3,010,232, up from 2,846,293 at the 2000 census, making it the third most populous county in California, behind Los Angeles County and San Diego County...

 for failure to pay monies owed

Robert Citron

Robert Lafee Citron is a Democratic Party politician who was the longtime Treasurer-Tax Collector of Orange County, California, when it declared Chapter 9 bankruptcy on December 6, 1994. Citron was the only Democrat to hold office in otherwise Conservative/Republican Orange County at the time...

. This represented the largest amount ever liquidated on a loan to that date.

Retirement

After an unblemished record of over 40 years of successfully managing the credit function for major U.S. Investment banks, Fekula retired from Wall Street in 2004.

Charitable Work

Fekula has been the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Russian Children's Welfare Society (RCWS) in New York City since 2000. He is also a board member of the American Friends of the Saint Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra, and was formerly on the Board of Directors of the Tolstoy Foundation

Tolstoy Foundation

The Tolstoy Foundation is a non-profit charitable, philanthropic organization. It was established on April 26, 1939 by Alexandra Tolstoy, youngest daughter of the Russian writer Leo Tolstoy. Its headquarters are in Rockland County, New York in Valley Cottage....

 and the Pearl Theatre Company.

Fekula is active in organizing fundraisers for the charities of which he is a board member, principally RCWS. In this capacity he has presented numerous major figures in opera, ballet, and classical music:
Anna Netrebko

Anna Netrebko

Anna Yuryevna Netrebko is an Russian operatic soprano. She now holds dual Russian and Austrian citizenship and currently resides in Vienna. She has been nicknamed "La Bellissima" by fans.-Biography:...

,
Dmitri Hvorostovsky

Dmitri Hvorostovsky

Dmitri Aleksandrovich Hvorostovsky , is a leading baritone opera singer from Russia.Hvorostovsky was born in Krasnoyarsk in Siberia. He studied at the Krasnoyarsk School of Arts under Yekatherina Yofel and made his debut at Krasnoyarsk Opera House, in the role of Marullo in Rigoletto...

,
Elina Garanča

Elina Garanca

-Biography:Garanča was born in the Latvian city of Riga into a musical family, her father a choral director, mother a lieder singer and singing teacher. Her mother Anita is a professor at the Latvian Academy of Music, an associated professor at the Latvian Academy of Culture, a vocal music teacher...

,
Rolando Villazón

Rolando Villazón

Emilio Rolando Villazón Mauleón is a Mexican tenor. He settled in France and in 2007 became a French citizen.-Early life and education:...

,
Piotr Beczala,
Elena Obraztsova

Elena Obraztsova

Elena Vasiliyevna Obraztsova is a Russian mezzo-soprano, widely recognised as one of the greatest opera singers of all time, thanks to her outstanding stage presence and the vocal abilities....

,
Matthew Polenzani

Matthew Polenzani

Matthew Polenzani is an American lyric tenor, born in Evanston, Illinois. He has appeared with the Metropolitan Opera of New York, the Seattle Opera, and other companies. He has also sung with numerous symphony orchestras. Polenzani earned a bachelor’s degree from Eastern Illinois University in...

,
Ekaterina Semenchuk,
Diana Damrau

Diana Damrau

Diana Damrau is a German lyric coloratura soprano of the operatic stage.-Biography:Diana Damrau was born in 1971 in Günzburg, Bavaria, Germany, and began her operatic studies with Carmen Hanganu at the Musikhochschule in Würzburg. After graduating from music conservatory she worked in Salzburg...

,
Kate Lindsey

Kate Lindsey

Kate Lindsey is a mezzo-soprano opera singer from the United States.Lindsey holds a Bachelor of Music Degree with Distinction from Indiana University. Her many awards include the 2007 Richard F. Gold Career Grant, the 2007 George London Award in memory of Lloyd Rigler, the 2007 Lincoln Center...

,
Maija Kovalevska,
Mikhail Petrenko

Mikhail Petrenko

Mikhail Petrenko is a Canadian Cinematographer .Ukrainian-born Mikhail graduated from University of Indianapolis and York University with BFA in Cinematography...

,
Hélène Grimaud

Hélène Grimaud

Hélène Grimaud is a French pianist.-Biography:Grimaud was born in Aix-en-Provence, France. Although her autobiography Variations Sauvages suggests a...

,
Lang Lang

Lang Lang (pianist)

Lang Lang , born June 14, 1982, in Shenyang, Liaoning, China, is a Chinese concert pianist, currently residing in New York, who has performed with leading orchestras in Europe, the United States and his native China. He is increasingly well known around the world for his concert performances,...

,
Eteri Andjaparidze

Eteri Andjaparidze

Eteri Andjaparidze is a Georgian/American pianist and pedagogue. Born on September 15, 1956, to the family of musicians in Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia, Andjaparidze received her first piano lessons from her pianist mother Yvette Bachtadze. Her father Zurab Andjaparidze was the leading tenor with...

,
Diana Vishneva

Diana Vishneva

Diana Vishneva is a prima ballerina with both the Mariinsky Ballet in Russia, and American Ballet Theatre in the United States. She was born in St. Petersburg and was trained at the Vaganova Choreographic Institute and upon her graduation in 1995, joined the company of the Mariinsky Theatre...

,
Irina Dvorovenko

Irina Dvorovenko

Irina Dvorovenko is a classical ballet dancer. She was born in Kiev, in the Ukrainian SSR of the Soviet Union. She began her ballet training at the age of 10 at the Kiev Ballet School. She joined the National Opera and Ballet Theatre of Kiev in 1990 as a soloist, rising to the rank of Principal...

,
Maxim Beloserkovsky,
Veronika Part,
Daniel Ulbricht,
Maria Guleghina

Maria Guleghina

Maria Agasovna Guleghina is a Ukrainian-Russian soprano opera singer, particularly associated with the Italian repertory.-Biography:Maria Guleghina was born in Odessa, Ukraine , to an Armenian father and a Ukrainian mother, where she studied voice at the Music Conservatory with Evgeny Nikolaevich...

,
Nina Kotova

Nina Kotova

Nina Kotova is a Russian Americancellist.Nina Kotova was accepted by the cello faculty into an adult class of the Moscow Conservatory at the age of seven, while studying at the Central Music School Pre-Conservatory. Nina gave her first performance as a soloist with an orchestra at the age of 11 and...

,
Ignat Solzhenitsyn

Ignat Solzhenitsyn

Ignat Aleksandrovich Solzhenitsyn is a Russian-American conductor and pianist who is the conductor laureate of the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia and the principal guest conductor of the Moscow Symphony Orchestra.-Career:...

,
Paul Groves,
Anna Alkhimova,
Isabella Boylston

Isabella Boylston

Isabella Boylston is an American ballet dancer and a soloist with American Ballet Theatre .-Life and career:Boylston was born in Sun Valley, Idaho and has been dancing since she was 3 years old. She studied at the of Colorado Ballet. During that time, she won a gold medal at the 2001 Youth...

,
Irina Mishura,
Gulnara Mitzanova,
André Emelianoff,
Anna Polonsky,
Natasha Paremski, and
Alexey Arkhipovskiy, among others.

Personal life

An accomplished photographer, Fekula has had his work featured in Connoisseur magazine. In 1989, he was illustrator/photographer of a book published by the Office of the University Publisher, Harvard University which won first prize in "Professional Illustrated" books at the New England Book Show.

Vladimir married Beatrice Patricia (née Masson) on September 8, 1968. The Fekulas have one child, Natalia Fekula, born on April 8, 1971. Vladimir is also stepfather to Lisa and Christopher.

The 1996 novel

1996 in literature

The year 1996 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*Harper Lee's novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, is removed from an advanced placement English reading list in Lindale, Texas because it "conflicted with the values of the community."* In the United Kingdom, the first...

 Seeing Calvin Coolidge in a Dream by John Derbyshire

John Derbyshire

John Derbyshire is a British-American writer. His columns in National Review and cover a broad range of political-cultural topics, including immigration, China, history, mathematics, and race. Derbyshire's 1996 novel, Seeing Calvin Coolidge in a Dream, was a New York Times "Notable Book of the...

contains a character "Boris" based on Vladimir Fekula.