Viktor Kaczkowski of Brockville, Ontario, has been voted Historian of the Year for 2026 by the Marine Historical Society of Detroit. He is the primary author of the MHSD’s award-winning 2024 book Ahoy & Farewell III, published to mark the 80th anniversary of the society. The book was honored by the Historical Society of Michigan in 2025.
The award is presented annually, with the recipient determined by the vote of previous Historian of the Year awardees.
Viktor has had a lifelong interest in ships and the St. Lawrence Seaway since arriving in Canada on the ocean liner Empress Of England in 1967. Settling first in Iroquois and then in Midland, ON, he spent many happy hours at the water’s edge watching and documenting the ships he saw. He studied geography at the University of Guelph, where he completed his B.A., and then at York University in Toronto, where he completed his M.A., with the development of Canadian Great Lakes shipping the subject of his thesis.
He spent many years in public service at the legislatures of Ontario and Saskatchewan before ultimately retiring as a parliamentary clerk. Since then, he has worked for the Lost Villages Historical Society and Museum, dedicated to the story of the villages lost due to the building of the St. Lawrence Seaway. He also worked for more than a decade at the Brockville Museum as Community Engagement Officer.
In 2004, he co-authored the Canadian Encyclopedia entry about the St. Lawrence Seaway with shipping expert Dr. Gordon C. Shaw. He also appeared in and assisted with the research the St. Lawrence Seaway episode of the A&E series Modern Marvels. He has given numerous talks about Great Lakes shipping and the Seaway to the Toronto Marine Historical Society, the Lost Villages Historical Society and on various Great Lakes cruises. He also founded the Brockville-based Seaway Ship Enthusiasts marine history group, which ran from 2010-2020. Aside from Ahoy and Farewell III, he has written and hosted the cable television program Seaway Secrets, which explores the history of the Seaway region.
Traveling the world on cruise ships is one of his great joys, with almost 40 cruises, six continents and 90 countries tallied up so far. His other interests include industrial archaeology, civil aviation, art history and modern architecture. He currently lives close to the St. Lawrence River in Brockville, ON.
