Mykhailo Farmiga: Who is Vera Farmiga’s father?

Mykhailo Farmiga is the father of Vera Farmiga. Mykhailo Farmiga’s daughter is an American actress and director. As an actress, she has received an Academy Award nomination for her role in Up in the Air (2009) and Primetime Emmy Award nominations for her roles in Bates Motel (2013) and When They See Us (2019).

Mykhailo Farmiga: Bio Summary

How old is Mykhailo Farmiga?

Mykhailo Farmiga was born in 1942 in Ukraine but raised in Argentina. He is 81 years old as of 2023. In an interview, Mykhailo’s daughter revealed her parents were both born after the second world war, but her grandparents “went through hell, saw unimaginable things, stuff you shouldn’t have to bear.” The actress also went on to share that she considered herself “100% Ukrainian-American” since her mother Luba Farmiga is also a Ukrainian.

The actress revealed her maternal grandparents met at a displaced persons camp in Karlsfeld during World War II and later got married. Mykhailo Farmiga is a computer systems analyst-turned-landscaper. He got married to Luba Farmiga who was also a teacher. The actress has not revealed how her parents meet and eventually got married but their union produced 7 children including The conjuring actress.

ALSO, READ; Luba Farmiga: Who is Vera Farmiga’s mother?

Mykhailo Farmiga and Luba Farming’s children are Taissa Farmiga, Vera Farmiga, Nadia Farmiga, Laryssa Farmiga,  Alexander Farmiga, Victor Farmiga, and Stephan Farmiga. Mykhailo raised his children in an insular Ukrainian American community in Irvington, New Jersey, with Ukrainian as her native language. Vara Farmiga said she did not learn English until she started kindergarten at age six. 

When Vara was 12, the family moved from Irvington to Whitehouse Station, New Jersey where Vera’s younger sister Taissa Farmiga was born. The cement their Ukrainian identity, they sent Vera to St. John the Baptist Ukrainian Catholic School in Newark, New Jersey, and toured with a Ukrainian folk-dancing ensemble, Syzokryli, during her teen years.

Mykhailo’s youngest daughter, Taissa who is also a popular actress has stated that she understands the Ukrainian language but can only partially speak it. She is proficient in American Sign Language, having taken classes for four years. During the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine as part of the Russian-Ukrainian war, the family expressed their support for Ukraine and Vera quoted the anthem of Ukraine, while his wife Luba shared her photo on Facebook with the Ukrainian flag.

 Talking about her family while growing up in an interview with Refinery29 in early 2014, The Conjuring actress said she and her siblings “grew up in a gentle and loving family” with “no deep or twisted secrets,” describing it as the potential reason why she ventured into “dark subject matter” for her various horror film roles.

 Mykhailo Farmiga and her family converted from the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church to Pentecostalism. The children were all raised Pentecostal but Vera Farmiga later converted to a nondenominational Christian and she confirmed that in a 2011 interview with Christianity Today. The actress revealed that her father instilled in her … “to define God, to define holiness for herself “. She recalled that to be her parents’ number one lesson for them.

The actress went on to say – “I don’t belong to any particular church, but I’m someone who will be able to walk into any place of worship, any house of worship, and have a direct correspondence.“

Aside from being a father of seven, Mykhailo Farmiga is also a grandfather. Vera Farmiga had a son, Fynn, in January 2009  and a daughter, Gytta, in November 2010. In addition, Luba Farmiga also has two grandsons from her daughter Nadia, Tadeo, and others.