Jermačenka Ivan (also spelled Ermachenka, Ermachenko, Ermin; Ермачэнка Іван), medical doctor, politician. Ivan Jermačenka was born into a peasant family in the village of Kapačoŭka, near the town of Barysaŭ on May 1, 1894. He studied in Barysaŭ, then at Moscow University. Jermačenka was a volunteer in the Army during World War I, and attended officers' school, discharged at the end of the war with the rank of captain. He emigrated with the Russian Army to Turkey, where he became involved with the Belarusian movement. The representatives of the Belarusian Democratic Republic were beginning their diplomatic demarches there and were looking for young officers of Belarusian background. Although not a dedicated Belarusian, Jermačenka, having joined the movement, played an important role in diplomatic activities on behalf of the Belarusian Democratic Republic during the years 1920-1923. He organized the first Belarusian Mission and Consulate in Constantinople, Turkey, in 1921. He established diplomatic contacts with the French and Italian governments, as well as making diplomatic inroads into Greece, Bulgaria, and Yugoslavia. Ivan Jermačenka participated in the Belarusian political conference in Prague in 1921 and was a member of the Belarusian Government headed first by V.Łastoŭski and then by A.Ćvikievič. From 1922 on, he lived in Prague where he finished Charles University with a degree in medicine. Jermačenka's association with the Belarusian political movement in Prague was only peripheral. During World War II, he began to cooperate closely with the Germans. Having come to Belarus, he was appointed by the Germans a "Man of Trust," — although not for long. The Germans exiled him to Prague in 1943. Jermačenka came to the United States in 1948 and played some role in the organization of the Belarusian communities in New Jersey and New York. He died on February 25, 1970.

References: Biełaruskaja Dumka, South River, N.J., nos. 12-13, 1969-1970, pp. 40-43; The 40th Anniversary of the Proclamation of the Independent Byelorussian Democratic Republic. New York, Belarusian Congress Committee of America, 1958, pp. 40-47.

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