1922 - 2006 Soviet Russian painter. Member of the USSR Union of Artists, Honored Artist of the RSFSR (1978). People’s Artist of Russia (1982). Born March 24, 1922 in the village Zavalino Kolchuginsky district of the Vladimir region. Childhood and youth Yuri spent in the Vladimir region, near the county town of Kolchugin. He studied at the Yaroslavl Art College until 1941. Already at the time of writing the thesis the terrible news came: the war began. Young artists were collected at the recruiting station, shaved, but were given a respite for 2 weeks to protect the diplomas. And then – in the army. Father – a participant in World War I – said at the station: “Do not go ahead without looking back. Do not fool every head.” Yuri underwent accelerated training in the Podolsk artillery school and was evacuated to Bukhara. He was promoted to the rank of lieutenant. He took part in the Kursk-Belgorod, Korsun-Shevchenko and Yassko-Kishinev operations. Then he fought in Bessarabia, Romania, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia. After the war, he worked as an artist-designer at the 1-st mechanical plant (now OJSC Polymermash), then was invited to the Yaroslavl Association of Artists, later transformed into the department of the Art Fund. Here he joined the creative life of the collective, in the work on paintings, began to participate in art exhibitions, worked a lot on nature. Lived and worked in Yaroslavl. In 1952, he was approved as a candidate, and in 1954 he was admitted to the Union of Artists of the USSR. In 1957-92, he was a delegate of the First and subsequent Congresses of Artists of the USSR and the RSFSR. Since 1951, he took an active part in exhibitions. From 1958 to 1961, he headed the board of the Yaroslavl branch of the Union of Artists of the RSFSR. In 1960-1993, he was a member of the board of the Union of Artists of the RSFSR. From 1977 to 1982, he was Chairman of the board of the Yaroslavl organization of the Union of Artists of the RSFSR. In 1977-1983 and 1988-1992, he was a member of the board of the Union of Artists of the USSR. Works Yu.I. Semenyuk: landscapes, still lifes, genre sketches – can be seen in more than 40 museums and art galleries of Russia and foreign countries as well as in private collections throughout the world. He is an active participant in more than 300 art exhibitions, including a number of personal exhibitions. Hundreds of works by the Yaroslavl artist were reproduced in domestic and foreign publications. He was awarded the Order of the Patriotic War II degree, the Red Star, Friendship of Peoples, medals “For Courage”, “For Victory over Germany”, commemorative and anniversary medals and signs.