Michael Smolyansky

American businessman

Michael Smolyansky (May 4, 1947 – June 9, 2002) was an American businessman. He was the chairman, president and CEO of Lifeway Foods, Inc., a dairy company based in Morton Grove, Illinois. He founded the company in 1986.[1]

## Family

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Michael Smolyansky was Ukrainian Jewish,[2][3] originally from Kyiv, then in the Soviet Union. His wife was Ludmila ("Lucy"); he had two children Julie and Edward. Julie and Edward became CEO and CFO of Lifeway Foods in 2002.[3][4]

## Education

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In 1971, Michael Smolyansky graduated with an MS mechanical engineering degree from the Kyiv Institute of Technology.[5]

## Career

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In Kyiv Smolyansky worked as an engineer in dairy and food-processing plants.[6]

Smolyansky family emigrated from Kyiv to Chicago in 1976 as part of President Richard Nixon's Grain for Immigrants program.[7] When he arrived, neither he nor his wife spoke any English;[7] he paid for English classes while[7] his wife learned from television.[7] Smolyansky found a job as an engineer's draftsman.[7] His wife opened a Russian delicatessen near their home in Rogers Park.[7] From 1976 to 1985, Smolyansky worked for EJ Littell Machine Company as a project engineer and as the department manager with responsibility for the design of material handling equipment.[5]

Smolyansky's wife suggested the idea of him founding a business making kefir, whilst they were visiting Germany in Winter 1984.[6] Kefir was available in Cologne supermarkets, but not Chicago. Smolyansky rented a small factory on the east side of Skokie in 1985, where he set up a production line; he invested about $50,000 of family savings in the business.[6] Smolyansky founded Lifeway Foods Inc, which commenced operations in February 1986, and was incorporated under the laws of the State of Illinois on 19 May 1986.[1] Smolyansky was chief executive officer, Chief Financial Officer, President, Treasurer and a director of the company.[5] The business focused on selling kefir to the Russian ethnic population,[7] through delicatessens and health food shops.[6] Sales reached $300,000 by the end of 1986.[6] The company went public on NASDAQ in 1988.[4]

Smolyansky visited Kyiv in February 1992 for the first time since 1976, in an effort to form a joint venture to produce and sell kefir in Ukraine.[6]

Smolyansky died of a heart attack at the age of 55, on 9 June 2002.[8][9] When he died, Lifeway had grown into a $12 million business.[7]

## References

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1. ^ a b SEC filing, Lifeway Foods Inc, 31 December 1999
2. ^ Lifeway Foods, Lifeway story Archived 2010-06-12 at the Wayback Machine
3. ^ a b Lifeway Foods, Management Bios Archived 2011-10-20 at the Wayback Machine.
4. ^ a b Lifeway Foods, Timeline. Archived 2011-09-04 at the Wayback Machine
5. ^ a b c Item 9 of an SEC Filing, filed by Lifeway Foods Inc on 31 March 1999.
6. ^ a b c d e f Chicago Trribune, 31 August 1992, Ukrainian Immigrants Culture A Lucrative Niche, by Nancy Ryan
7. ^ a b c d e f g h University of Illinois Alumni Association, Feature Story, Spring 2011, Kefir Master, by Jonathan Black.
8. ^ Business Wire, 11 June 2002, Lifeway Foods Announces Death of President Michael Smolyansky; Board Appoints Julie Smolyansky as Successor.
9. ^ "Michael Smolyansky". Chicago Tribune. Chicago, IL. June 11, 2002. pp. 1–10. Retrieved June 2, 2022 - via Newspapers.com.

## External links

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* Lifeway Foods Company Bio
* [1] From Russia, with Yogurt] Business Week article on beginning of Lifeway Foods by Marc Hogan