Jadvihin Š. (also spelled Iadvihin Sha; Ядвігін Ш.), writer, political activist. His real name was Anton Lavicki; he was born on the estate of Dobaśnia, near the town of Rahačoŭ on June 13(25), 1868. He attended high school in Miensk and later studied medicine at Moscow University. He was expelled from the University for his revolutionary activities. During the last decade of the 19th century he began to translate into Belarusian short stories, as well as writing his own. He became an important contributor and writer for the newspaper Naša Niva and other Belarusian-language newspapers. He also edited a Belarusian-language journal, Biełarus, 1913-1915, which was published in Roman characters. Jadvihin Š. holds an important place in modern Belarusian literature. He was active in the Belarusian political movement, organizing Belarusian cooperatives and taking an active role in the preparation of various conferences, including the All-Belarusian Congress. Jadvihin Š. also became a member of the Executive Council of the Belarusian Democratic Republic in 1918. When Soviet Belarus was established, he did not want to stay in Miensk. He moved to Vilna where he was active in the Belarusian community. He died in Vilna on February 24, 1922.
References: Bieł. Sav. Enc., 11, 1974, p. 524; Jadvihin Š., Vybranyia Tvory, Minsk, 1976, pp. 3-8, 397-403; Biełarus, New York, no. 74, 1962; Arnold B. McMillin, A History of Byelorussian Literature, Giessen, 1977. pp. 136 ff.; Vanda Losik remembers... Adradžeńnie, Miensk, no. 1, 1928. pp. 265-267; Pałuta Badunova remembers... Adradžeńnie, Miensk, no. 1, 1922. pp. 267-271.
