Vale Gregory Vaisman

Gregory Vaisman, co-founder of Sputnik Russian Television and Cultural Association and long-term St Kilda resident, died on Friday night the age of 86.

Gregory was born to a Jewish family in Ukraine two years and one day before the German invasion of the Soviet Union on 22 June 1941. His family were sent east so they avoided Germany's wide-spread attacks on the Jewish population that resulted in over 500,000 Jews killed within the first six months.

However, it did not mean that Gregory avoided discrimination. In 1958, he applied to the television faculty at university but though he got 23 out of a possible 25 marks in the entrance exams, he was excluded. It wasn't until he went to a gathering of students who had passed the exam but didn't get in that he discovered why - it was because he was Jewish. Everyone else in the room also happened to be Jewish.

Gregory trained to be a telecommunications engineer. It was not until he emigrated to Australia that he got to realise his ambitions to get behind a camera. Gregory, his wife Anna and the first of their three children, arrived in Melbourne in 1991, as part of a large group of Jews who left Ukraine in the dying days of the Soviet Union.

They expected, as hard-working professionals, that they would have no problems in getting jobs. However, Gregory came up against Keating's 'recession we had to have' and couldn't find a job. Nor could Anna, who was a science teacher.

In the absence of professional opportunities, they decided to set up Sputnik Russian Cultural and Television Association, in 1995. They were able to take advantage of a federal grants program for ethnic television programs to set up their Russian-language program on Channel 31. Over the years, they also secured grants from the Cities of Port Phillip and Glen Eira, the Victorian Multicultural Commission and other bodies. Thirty years later, Sputnik remains the longest running program on C31. It has broadcast well over 3000 episodes.

'Sputnik', meaning 'fellow-traveller' or 'spouse' in Russian was an obvious choice for the program's name. The successful launch of the Sputnik satellite in 1957 was also a tremendous source of national pride back in the USSR as it symbolised the (temporary) victory over the USA in the space race.

Through Sputnik, Gregory and Anna have made a huge contribution to this community. They have been on a mission to educate the Russian-speaking community about life in Australia. One program, produced with the help of former council media officer, Carmel Shute, explained about the different role of local government in Australia. In Ukraine, it was the job of local government to distribute pads and pencils to school students and potato and cabbages to residents for the wintertime.

Sputnik has recorded hundreds of council and community events over the past 30 years such as Anzac Day, Sorry Day, the opening of community housing, school events, theatre productions, the Port Phillip Australia Day Mourning ceremonies at sunrise, Jewish festivals, the Commonwealth Games events in Port Phillip, the NGV Winter Masterpieces Exhibitions, and the annual Australian Dance Championships. They even managed to film the Queen arriving by tram at Government House and Bill Clinton at an international business forum.

Through Sputnik, the Vaismans also succeeded in their other mission - to celebrate art and culture, something hugely important to the Russian-speaking community - and to share that love with the broader Australian community. They organised 20 concerts that showcased the outstanding musical and dancing talent within the Russian-speaking community here in Australian and abroad. Each of the concerts attracted over 500 people. Its first concert was held in 2008 to mark the re-opening of St Kilda Town Hall.

As part of the renovations, Port Phillip Council decided to remove Axiomatic, the huge glass wall with pithy sayings that was installed to divide the main hall space following the 1991 fire. It but didn't know what to do with it but, at Gregory's suggestion, it was put it on the side of the extension at the Carlisle Street entrance where it looks much better than it ever did inside the town hall.

Sputnik also organised a film festival dedicated to the 70th anniversary of the end of World War 11.

In 2009, Gregory was presented with a Multicultural Award for Excellence from the then Governor, Professor David de Kretser. Back in the USSR, Gregory won another award in 1970 - a Lenin medal for 'being a good engineer'.

The last Sputnik concert - in 2022 - collected money to aid the victims of war in Ukraine. Gregory was distraught by the Russian attacks on Odessa, his home town.

A charming and genial man, Gregory was a popular figure with many friends and admirers.

Gregory is survived by his wife of 65 years, Anna, their three children, five grandchildren, and one great grandchild.

Sputnik broadcasts on Mondays at 5.30 pm, repeated 4 pm Thursdays. One World - Israel Weekly is broadcast under the Sputnik banner on Thursdays at 11 am, repeated Sunday 6.00 am. Sputnik also broadcasts via satellite to more than thousands of subscribers.