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Struggled to come out on top
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BY: ARLENE FINE Senior Staff Reporter
Coming to America in 1988 saved Russian émigré Viktor Shpirt’s life, literally.
In 2001, the Moscow native suffered a heart attack and required an emergency quadruple bypass at Cleveland Clinic’s Hillcrest Hospital. “I know if I had had that heart attack in Russia, I would be dead right now,” insists Shpirt, 57.
Shpirt, his wife Gena, their two young children, and his mother-in-law first lived in a small apartment on Mayfield Road, and “we had no heat,” he says.
Within months of their arrival, the Shpirt family was interviewed by a Plain Dealer reporter who saw them shivering. “She was very angry and called the landlord and told him if he did not turn on the heat, she would take him to court,” recalls Shpirt. “That shows how helpless we were at the time. Because we had no command of language or the system, we could not take care of ourselves.”
At first, Shpirt and his wife took menial jobs. Eventually, Gena Shpirt enrolled in nursing school. “The schoolwork was hard for her, and many nights she came back from class crying,” relates her husband.
Their daughter Yeva who was 5-1/2 when they arrived, attended Agnon School on full scholarship. Her English was so poor when she began school that she did not have the words to tell the teacher she had to go to the bathroom. It took another Russian-speaking student, who acted as an interpreter, to help Yeva navigate her first year at Agnon.
Over time, both Shpirt children began to excel. Yeva, an honors student, went from Agnon to Fuchs Mizrachi. She then spent a year in Israel and returned to America to graduate from Touro College in New York. Shpirt’s son Alex attends Notre Dame College in South Euclid, and Yeva married her high-school sweetheart Ethan Stein.
Shpirt, who had taught physics in Russia, is now manager of a downtown jewelry shop. He has always maintained a close connection to the Russian community here. “The reason so many of us have succeeded in our new country is because we are like boxers in the ring,” he says. “Many of us have gotten knocked down plenty times, but we held onto the ropes and pulled ourselves up again and again.”
afine@cjn.org
In 2001, the Moscow native suffered a heart attack and required an emergency quadruple bypass at Cleveland Clinic’s Hillcrest Hospital. “I know if I had had that heart attack in Russia, I would be dead right now,” insists Shpirt, 57.
Shpirt, his wife Gena, their two young children, and his mother-in-law first lived in a small apartment on Mayfield Road, and “we had no heat,” he says.
Within months of their arrival, the Shpirt family was interviewed by a Plain Dealer reporter who saw them shivering. “She was very angry and called the landlord and told him if he did not turn on the heat, she would take him to court,” recalls Shpirt. “That shows how helpless we were at the time. Because we had no command of language or the system, we could not take care of ourselves.”
At first, Shpirt and his wife took menial jobs. Eventually, Gena Shpirt enrolled in nursing school. “The schoolwork was hard for her, and many nights she came back from class crying,” relates her husband.
Their daughter Yeva who was 5-1/2 when they arrived, attended Agnon School on full scholarship. Her English was so poor when she began school that she did not have the words to tell the teacher she had to go to the bathroom. It took another Russian-speaking student, who acted as an interpreter, to help Yeva navigate her first year at Agnon.
Over time, both Shpirt children began to excel. Yeva, an honors student, went from Agnon to Fuchs Mizrachi. She then spent a year in Israel and returned to America to graduate from Touro College in New York. Shpirt’s son Alex attends Notre Dame College in South Euclid, and Yeva married her high-school sweetheart Ethan Stein.
Shpirt, who had taught physics in Russia, is now manager of a downtown jewelry shop. He has always maintained a close connection to the Russian community here. “The reason so many of us have succeeded in our new country is because we are like boxers in the ring,” he says. “Many of us have gotten knocked down plenty times, but we held onto the ropes and pulled ourselves up again and again.”
afine@cjn.org
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