Helen Michaluk (Belarusian: Алена (Лёля) Міхалюк, née Marcinkevich; 15 May 1930 – 16 October 2022) was a prominent figure of the Belarusian diaspora, a long-standing (and the only female) head of the Association of Belarusians in Great Britain.
Michaluk was born in the village of LonskijaSecond Polish Republic (now Sharkawshchyna District of Vicebsk Region, Republic of Belarus). She went to a Polish and then – Belarusian school.
, Braslaŭ County in the north-east part of theIn 1947, she settled in the United Kingdom and, two years later, married Janka MichalukAssociation of Belarusians in Great Britain and the Anglo-Belarusian Society; she was also actively involved with St Cyril of Turaŭ Belarusian school in London and the Belarusian Autocephalous Orthodox Church.
. She became a member of theIn 1982, Michaluk became a member of the Rada of the Belarusian Democratic Republic. In 1997, she was elected the chair of the Association of Belarusians in Great Britain – the position she held until 2013.[1]
Michaluk died on 16 October 2022, at the age of 92, and is buried in Manchester Southern Cemetery.[2][3]
In 2019, Michaluk was awarded a Belarusian Democratic Republic 100th Jubilee Medal for her contribution to Belarusian public life in the diaspora.[4][5]