Michael Smolyansky
Michael Smolyansky | |
|---|---|
| Born | Template:Birth date Kyiv, Soviet Union |
| Died | June 9, 2002 (aged 55) |
| Occupation(s) | Entrepreneur, mechanical engineer |
| Known for | Founder and CEO of Lifeway Foods |
Michael Smolyansky (born May 4, 1947 – passed away June 9, 2002) was an entrepreneur originally from the Soviet Union who founded and led Lifeway Foods, Inc., a dairy products company based in Morton Grove, Illinois. He launched the enterprise in 1986 and served as its chairman, president, and CEO.
Family
Smolyansky hailed from a Ukrainian Jewish background in Kyiv, which was then within the Soviet Union. He was married to Ludmila, known as "Lucy," and they had two children, Julie and Edward. In 2002, both children assumed leadership roles at Lifeway Foods as CEO and CFO respectively.
Education
He obtained a Master of Science degree in mechanical engineering from the Kyiv Institute of Technology in 1971.
Career
Before emigrating, Smolyansky worked as an engineer in dairy and food-processing facilities in Kyiv. The family relocated to Chicago in 1976 through President Nixon's Grain for Immigrants initiative. Upon arrival, neither he nor his wife spoke English; he attended language classes while she learned through television programs. Smolyansky was employed at EJ Littell Machine Company, initially as an engineer’s draftsman and later advancing to project engineer and department manager until 1985.
During a visit to Germany in 1984, his wife observed that kefir—a fermented dairy product popular abroad—was not available in Chicago. This inspired the idea to start a kefir business. In 1985, Smolyansky leased a modest production facility in Skokie and invested approximately $50,000 of family funds to begin manufacturing. Operations for Lifeway Foods commenced in February 1986 with formal incorporation following in May of that year. Smolyansky assumed several executive positions including CEO and CFO. The company initially focused on serving the Russian ethnic community through delicatessens and health food outlets, generating $300,000 in revenue by the end of its inaugural year. Lifeway Foods became publicly traded on NASDAQ in 1988.
In 1992, Smolyansky traveled back to Kyiv to investigate potential partnerships for kefir production and distribution within Ukraine.
He died suddenly from a heart attack at age 55 on June 9, 2002. At that point, Lifeway Foods had expanded into a business valued at $12 million.
External links
- Lifeway Foods Company Bio
- From Russia, with Yogurt Business Week article on the founding of Lifeway Foods by Marc Hogan
- 1947 births
- 2002 deaths
- American drink industry businesspeople
- American chief executives of food industry companies
- American company founders
- American mechanical engineers
- American retail chief executives
- Businesspeople from Illinois
- Jewish engineers
- Engineers from Kyiv
- Soviet Jews
- Soviet emigrants to the United States
- Ukrainian emigrants to the United States
- 20th-century Ukrainian Jews
- 20th-century American engineers
- 20th-century American businesspeople
- 20th-century Ukrainian engineers