Dr. Konstantin Frank, Unlikely (Viti)cultural Hero? The Legacy of Ukrainian Agriculture Science that Transformed American Winemaking

Daniel J. Epstein (Harvard University)

Dr. Konstantin Frank, born in Odessa in 1900, became a path-breaking agricultural scientist of wine-making against difficult obstacles in Soviet-dominated Ukraine. He pioneered technologies to grow true European wine grapes (vinifera) in continental climate zones with cold winters, previously thought impossible. He fled Ukraine at the end of World War II and eventually came to upstate New York with a large family and no English, but eventually founded his own winery (still flourishing on Keuka Lake today). He taught Americans how to cultivate vinifera in any region (previously it had only been grown in California). Through his indomitable devotion, Ukrainian agricultural scientific practices were adapted to spawn wine-growing industries in almost every state in America, from upstate New York to Virginia to Texas to the Pacific Northwest. Could he be a new cultural hero for Ukraine in America?

Daniel J. Epstein did his undergraduate degree in Slavic Studies at Harvard University, and later continued on to receive his PhD in Government, also from Harvard University.  His early work focused on political parties and elections in the wake of regime change in Eastern Europe and Latin America.  He has taught political science at the University of Rochester, Colgate University and Texas Tech University, and also served as a Fulbright Scholar in 2011.  Since 2021, he has been a Lecturer on Government at Harvard University.  His research focus has shifted to nationalism and identity in times of war (he has traveled three times to Ukraine since the full-scale invasion.  He currently works at Harvard University’s Davis Center as Assistant Director for Scholars Without Borders, an initiative to support scholars affected by Russia’s war on Ukraine.

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