Every year, Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales honors the most successful members of the international Wikimedia community. This year, the title of "Wikimedian of the Year" was awarded to Anton Protsiuk, an administrator of the Ukrainian Wikipedia and coordinator of Wikimedia Ukraine programmes. The announcement was made by the organization's press service.
"This award is recognition of the work of Wikimedia Ukraine and the Ukrainian wiki-community since the start of the full-scale Russian invasion. Despite the challenges of a great war, we continue and will continue our work. This award is for everyone who supports the development of free knowledge and Ukrainian wiki-projects in particular," stated Anton Protsiuk.
During the award ceremony, the organizers highlighted the role of Wikimedia Ukraine in organizing and supporting photo contests, including the international "Wiki Loves Earth" and "Wiki Loves Monuments" contests in Ukraine. Among other recognized projects were #1Lib1Ref, the Month of Cultural Diplomacy of Ukraine, efforts to address gender imbalance on Wikipedia, and the annual Wiki-Marathon.
Winners in other categories for 2023 were: Taufik Rosman from Malaysia - "Wikimedian of the Year," user Eugene Ormandy from Japan - "Rookie of the Year," Siobhan Leachman from New Zealand - "Wikimedia Laureate," user Funcrunch from the USA - "Media," user Zabe - "Technical Innovator."
It's worth noting that the "Wikimedian of the Year" award was established in 2011 to recognize members of the international wiki-community who have made significant contributions to the development of the Wikimedia movement.
In 2014, the title of "Wikimedian of the Year" was first awarded to Ukrainian Igor Kostenko - an active contributor to the Ukrainian Wikipedia, a Hero of Ukraine, who tragically lost his life on February 20, 2014, during the Euromaidan protests.
Anton Protsiuk has been a volunteer editor and administrator on Wikipedia for over a decade. In 2018, he joined Wikimedia Ukraine as a project manager, and since 2021, he has been leading the organization's programmatic work as a program coordinator. Anton is also a member of the steering committee of the Wikimedia hub for Central and Eastern European organizations.
