Abrantovič Fabijan, Rt. Rev. (other spellings: Abrantovich, Abrantowicz; Абрантовіч Фабіян), religious and civic leader. Father (Archimandryt) Abrantovič was born into a poor urban family in the ancient Belarusian town of Navahradak, on September 14, 1884. He studied in Navahradak and then in St. Petersburg at (he Roman Catholic Seminary and the Theological Academy. Graduated with the degree of Master of Theology and was ordained to the priesthood on November 9, 1908. As one of the best students at the St. Petersburg Academy, Fr. Abrantovič received a scholarship for study at the Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium, which awarded him a Ph.D. in 1912. Prior to World War I he was a faculty member at the Catholic Seminary at St. Petersburg. There, he became very active in the Belarusian movement. He organized several groups of students and initiated numerous Belarusian publications. Fr. Abrantovič was the founder of the Belarusian Christian Movement and was the head of the first Belarusian Christian Union (Chryścijanskaja Demakratyčnaja Złučnaść) which was established in St. Petersburg in May of 1917. Father Abrantovič was one of the Belarusian Roman Catholic priests who initiated the organization of the Belarusian political conference in Miensk in March of 1917 and the conference of the Belarusian Roman Catholic Clergy, May 24-25, 1917 in the same city. When the Roman Catholic Seminary opened in Miensk during the fall of 1918, Rev. Abrantovič was appointed rector of this institution. His time was divided between his pastoral obligations, his teaching positions, and Belarusian activities in Miensk. Father Abrantovič was among those clerics who were convinced that Roman Catholicism in Belarus should have its own Belarusian character rather than serve as a cultural tool of the Poles. Fr. Abrantovič's role was enormous in the struggle for the recognition of the Belarusian language in the Roman Catholic Church and the indoctrination of Belarusians of the Roman Catholic faith in their Belarusianness, and his contribution to the revival of Belarusian statehood. After the partition of Belarus (1921), he moved first to the city of Pinsk and then to the town of Druja (1926) where the majority of Belarusian Roman Catholic priests settled following the war.
However, his political activities did not stop there: he vigorously protested the Concordat between the Holy See and the Polish Government and supported numerous Belarusian political programs. At the request of the Polish church authorities, Fr. Abrantovič was removed from Druja and sent to the city of Harbin in the Far East. In 1939, while visiting Belarus, he was captured by the Soviet Army, imprisoned, and tortured in the prison of the city of L'viv. Later on he was exiled to Russia. The place and the date of his death are unknown, although it is thought that he died in a Soviet prison in the early 1940s.
References: Božym Šlacham, Paris, December 1957, pp. 9-20; New Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. 1, 1967, pp. 36-37; Encyklopedia Katolicka, Lublin, vol. 1, 1973, p. 29.
@Adamovič Viačasłaŭ (Адамовіч Вячаслаў), political and military leader. Biographical data are scarce. He was born in Miensk but settled, after the revolution, in Vilna where he died at the age of 75 on February 21, 1939. Adamovič was one of the foremost Belarusian political activists in the period 1917-1921. He served in top leadership positions in the Hramada, Belarusian Military and Supreme Councils and on the Belarusian Military Commission in the years 1919-1920. It was at his home in Miensk that the Executive Council of the First All-Belarusian Congress met for the first time after the dispersal of the Congress by Bolshevik forces in December of 1917. Adamovič was among the most uncompromising of Belarusian leaders with regard to the Bolsheviks. He planned and initiated military actions by Belarusian troops against the Soviets in Miensk and was also the founder of the military unit, Zialony Dub.
References: Šlach Moładzi, Vilna, no. 5(147), March 5, 1939, p. 6.
@Alachnovič Francišak (other spellings: Olechnowicz, Aliakhnovich; Аляхновіч Францішак), artist, writer, producer, reporter, civic and political leader. Francišak Alachnovič was born into an impoverished Belarusian noble family in Vilna on March 9, 1883. He studied in Vilna, the University of Cracow, and the Drama School in Warsaw. He frequently spent time in Belarus and was befriended by the leadership of Naša Niva, especially by Alaksandar Burbis, Alojza Paškievič and Ihnat Bujnicki. Alachnovič's name is intimately interwoven with the development of the Belarusian Theater. He and Bujnicki are the two men who virtually created the Belarusian Theater and brought Belarusian Drama to the masses. Through the theater these cultural leaders became effective propagators of Belarusian political ideas and the concepts of Belarusian statehood. After the revolutionary years, Francišak Alachnovič remained in Vilna, continuing to be active in Belarusian political and cultural life. Alachnovič received an invitation from the Government of Soviet Belarus to attend a Belarusian Linguistic Conference in Miensk in 1926. However, while in Soviet Belarus, Alachnovič was arrested and sentenced to labor camps where he spent seven years. In the early 30s he was exchanged for a Belarusian political prisoner in Poland, Branisłaŭ Taraškievič. He told about his experience in the Soviet concentration camps in the book entitled In the Clutches of the GPU. Alachnovič was assassinated by the Soviets in Vilna on March 3, 1944.
References: Novy Šlach, Miensk-Riga, no. 6(42), March 1944, pp. 6-7; Biełarus, New York, no. 311, 1983; Biełaruski Śviet, Grand Rapids, Mich., no. 20(49), 1988, pp. 39-49.
@Astramovič Alaksandar, Rev. (also spelled Astramovich; Астрамовіч Аляксандар), writer, religious and political leader. Pen-name: Andrej Ziaziula. He was born into a poor peasant family in the village of Navasady, Ašmiana region, on November 26, 1878. He finished grammar school in Ašmiana. It was not easy for him to continue further studies because of his outspoken awareness of his Belarusian identity. However, he was able to get to St. Petersburg where he entered the Roman Catholic Theological Seminary. Graduated from the Seminary in 1910 and was ordained a Roman Catholic priest. Established working contacts with Professor Epimach-Šypiła and the larger Belarusian community in St. Petersburg and in Belarus. Was one of the organizers of Belarusian students in St. Petersburg and of the newspaper Biełarus which was oriented mainly to Belarusians of the Roman Catholic faith. Fr. Astramovič was from the beginning of his religious career one of the first Belarusian Roman Catholic priests who began working for the introduction of the Belarusian language into Church services. Working and studying in St. Petersburg, Fr. Astramovič maintained close contacts with the newspaper Naša Niva and the Belarusian leadership in Belarus. He was one of the most active contributors to Naša Niva. His writings which strongly emphasized national and political motives, contributed enormously to the political awakening of Belarusians. He took an active part in the political activities of 1917-1918. Fr. Astramovič died on January 17, 1921.
References: Božym Šlacham, Paris, no. 3(42), May-June 1951, pp. 10-12; Enc. Lit. i Mast. Biełarusi, vol. 2, 1985, p. 543.
@Astroŭski Radasłaŭ (also spelled Ostrowski; Астроўскі Радаслаў), teacher, political leader. Radasłaŭ Astroŭski was born on the estate of Zapolle, Słucak region, on October 25, 1887. He attended grammar and secondary schools in neighboring towns. Astrouski entered the University of St. Petersburg, to study mathematical and physical sciences in 1908. However, he did not finish the university course because he was expelled for his revolutionary and Belarusian national activities. Astroŭski was exiled to the town of Pružany, on Belarusian territory, and after some time was able to enroll once again in the University of Derpt, where he completed his studies in 1913. After graduation, he taught in various schools in Belarus and Poland and in 1914 he became professor at the Miensk Teachers Institute. He spent World War I in Russia where he met the Belarusian poet Maksim Bahdanovič and worked with him on a Russian newspaper. After the February Revolution he returned to Belarus and took part in Belarusian activities, convening a Conference of Belarusian Organizations and Parties in March 1917. Following that conference, Astroŭski went to the town of Słucak where he began organizing a Belarusian administration and the local Belarusian Gymnasium which began classes in 1917, with Astroŭski as its first director. This Gymnasium initiated many Belarusian programs, especially theatrical shows, throughout the entire region. Astroŭski was also the editor of the Belarusian-language newspaper, Rodny Kraj. He participated in the All-Belarusian Congress held in Miensk in December 1917. With the advance of the Red Army, Astroŭski went south to Ukraine and joined the Army of Russian General Denikin. He returned to Belarus after the Russo-Polish War and became active in Belarusian political life. Astroŭski was appointed an administrator for the American Relief Administration and assumed various positions in Belarusian organizations. He also taught at the Belarusian Gymnasium in Vilna, being later appointed director of this school. Astroŭski became one of the top leaders in the Society of Belarusian Schools (Tavarystva Biełaruskaj Škoły, TBŠ) and in the Belarusian Peasants' and Workers' Hramada. When the Poles began their pogrom against the Hramada, Astroŭski was imprisoned, tried, and exiled to Polish territory. With the outbreak of the Soviet-German war in 1941, Astroŭski collaborated with the Germans and was active in organizing the Belarusian administration. He also headed numerous Belarusian organizations. Radasłaŭ Astroŭski was appointed President of the Belarusian Council (Biełaruskaja Centralnaja Rada, BCR) in 1943. This council was the prototype of a Belarusian Government under German occupation. After World War II. Astroŭski lived in West Germany, Argentina, and, from 1956 on, in the United States. He died in Benton Harbor, Michigan, on October 17, 1976.
Although Astroŭski was involved, throughout his long career, in a number of questionable programs and unpopular enterprises, one cannot deny his skills, energy, and dedication to Belarus, his desire to advance the Belarusian cause and his numerous accomplishments.
References: Bieł. Sav. Enc. vol. 1, 1969, p. 543; Biełaruskaja Dumka, South River, N.J., no. 20, 1976, pp. 16-17; Vestki InstytutuBelarusavedy, Leimen, West Germany, 4, 1989, pp. 46-48; Carkoŭny Śvietač, South River, N.J., no. 25, 1976, pp. 11-16; V.Kalush, In the service of the people for a free Belarus; biographical notes on Professor Radaslaŭ Ostrowski, London, Abjednańnie, 1964, 92 p.
@Aŭsianik Anton (Аўсянік Антон), engineer, political leader. Anton Aŭsianik was born in the village of Kabylle (Vialejka region) into a peasant family in 1888. He studied in the local schools and then graduated from the Technical Institute in Charkau and later on from the Ship-Building Institute in St. Petersburg. Aŭsianik joined the Belarusian Socialist Hramada in St. Petersburg and became active in Belarusian political life. For a few years he worked in the city of Babrujsk, establishing Belarusian political and civic organizations there. He was involved in organizing the election of delegates to the All-Belarusian Congress. Aŭsianik held various positions in the Belarusian governments and was also vice-chairman of the Belarusian Military Commission in 1919. He was also active in behalf of Belarusian Government in negotiations with the Lithuanians. He was elected to the Polish Sejm (Congress) and continued to be active in Belarusian activities in Western Belarus.
References: Biełaruski Kalandar, Vilna, 1923, p. 31; The Journal of Byelorussian Studies, London, vol. 5(3-4), 1984, pp. 18-20.
@Badunova Pałuta (Бадунова Палута), teacher, political leader. Biographical data about her are scarce. It is known that Badunova studied prior to the revolution at Moscow University. She joined the Belarusian Socialist Hramada and was a member of the Central Committee in 1917. Paluta Badunova was very active during the years 1917-1918 and took part in numerous conferences and meetings. She held many important positions in the Government of the Belarusian Democratic Republic, wrote extensively and participated in negotiations with the Poles and other political parties and groups. Badunova was arrested several times for her political activities. She was one of the pioneers in forming the Party of Belarusian Socialist Revolutionaries, together with Hryb and Mamońka. She played an important part in organizing the conference of Belarusian Socialist revolutionaries in Miensk in 1920, at which many of the members of this group took a mold position toward the Bolsheviks, and expressed a willingness to compromise on a variety of issues. Badunova, Hryb and Mamońka did not compromise however, and chose to emigrate when the Bolsheviks began to consolidate their power. For a while she was involved in clandestine political activities on the territory of Soviet Belarus. Sometime toward the second half of the 1920s Pałuta Badunova returned to Soviet Belarus where she vanished; it is presumed that she was shot by the Bolsheviks, without leaving any trace.
References: Adradžeńnie, Miensk, no. 1, 1922, pp. 267-277; Belarusian Institute of Arts and Sciences, New York, Archives.
@Baroŭski Andrej (Бароўскі Андрэй). Born on December 11, 1873 in Mitawa; died on January 12, 1945. Baroŭski studied at the University of Derpt and in St. Petersburg. Became active in the Belarusian movement and was closely associated with the leadership of Belarusian Socialist Hramada. Baroŭski entered the diplomatic service in behalf of the Belarusian Democratic Republic and was one of the members of Belarusian delegation to Germany. He was also a member of the Łastoŭski cabinet, having functioned as a vice-secretary in the Department of Commerce. Later Baroŭski moved to Berlin representing the Government of the Belarusian Democratic Republic there and assisting numerous Belarusian organizations and Belarusian students at the University of Berlin. Baroŭski was one of the founders of the Belarusian Assistance Committee in Berlin in the 1940s.
References: Ranica, Berlin, January 24, 1945.
@Budźka Eduard (also spelled Budźka Advardy; Будзька Эдуард), teacher, economist, political leader. Eduard Budźka was born in the town of Budsłaŭ (Vialejka district) on March 22, 1882. Budźka entered the Belarusian national movement at an early age and was one of the pioneers in organizing the Belarusian colony in Riga at the turn of the century. He frequently contributed to the newspaper Naša Niva, often visited the editorial offices in Vilna, and was one of the most successful promoters of this newspaper in the countryside. Budźka lived and studied in St. Petersburg where he founded and edited the Belarusian newspaper, Śvietač, in 1916. He maintained close contacts with Belarusians in Miensk and assisted in organizing the Belarusian administration and Belarusian schools in his native region. Eduard Budźka was among the pioneers who convened the Belarusian political conference in Miensk in March of 1917 and the First All-Belarusian Congress in December of the same year. After the December Congress, he became very actively involved in the organization of Belarusian cooperative enterprises and Belarusian schools. Budźka was the secretary of the Commission for the establishment of the Belarusian State University by the Government of the BDR in Miensk, June 1918. He was the initiator in establishing the first Belarusian Teachers' Seminary in the town of Budsłaŭ in 1918. Budźka moved to Latvia from Poland in the early 1920s and was also involved in the organization of the Belarusian school system, and administered the Belarusian Teachers' Courses in Latvia. He returned to Poland and spent the years prior to World War II there.
During World War II Budźka was active in the Belarusian school system and in numerous educational and economic enterprises. After World War II he emigrated to the United States where he was active from 1950 on in the local Belarusian community. Eduard Budźka died in Chicago August 14, 1958.
During his life he was a very prolific contributor to numerous Belarusian journals and his short reminiscences about the events and the personalities of the Belarusian movement during the first quarter of the century are of especial importance.
References: Źnič, Rome, no. 48, Nov. 1958. pp. 6-7; Biełarus, New York, no. 70, Sept. 30, 1958; Baćkaŭščyna, Munich, no. 430, Nov. 16, 1958.
@Bujnicki Ihnat (also spelled Buinitski; Буйніцкі Ігнат), artist, producer, civic. Ihnat Bujnicki was born in the village of Palevačy, township of Hłybokaje, on August 10(22), 1861. He studied in Hłybokaje, at a land-surveying technical school in Riga, and in a private drama school in Vilna. He began to work as a land surveyor in Belarus but soon gave up his profession and became involved totally in organizing Belarusian theater. His theater was at first of the amateur type; and later on it became a professional enterprise. Bujnicki named his theater The First Belarusian Theatrical Group of Ihnat Bujnicki. In a short period of time Ihnat Bujnicki accomplished a wonder: he became known all over Belarus. Belarusians as well as non-Belarusians knew him in Moscow, Warsaw, St. Petersburg, and other cities, larger and smaller, in both Poland and Russia. The influence of Bujnicki's activities on the development of Belarusian national self-awareness is remarkable.
He not only raised the consciousness of the masses concerning their Belarusian national identity but also became involved in the process of the national revival. After Bujnicki's performances in numerous localities, Belarusian national ortganizations sprang up and became active. The activities of Ihnat Bujnicki, together with the newspaper Naša Niva, the poetry of Alojza Paškievič and of Aleś Harun - these were the catalysis which formed Belarusian political thinking, leading to Belarusian statehood. Ihnat Bujnicki died in the town of Maładečna on September 22, 1917.
References: Niafiod, U. Historyja Biełaruskaha Teatra, Minsk, vol. 1, 1983, p. 447; Enc. Lit. i Mast. Biełarusi, vol. 1, 1984, pp. 510-511.
@Burbis Alaksandar (Бурбіс Аляксандар), widely known civic, cultural and political leader. Burbis was born in Vilna on October 8(20), 1885; he died in Miensk on March 20, 1922. He became involved in the clandestine Belarusian political activities in his late teens, was one of the founders of the Belarusian Socialist Hramada and one of the five members of the Central Committee of that Party (1905). Burbis was active in Vilna and Miensk for the most part, but he was also very popular among peasants and workers all over Belarus. He was imprisoned from 1906 to 1909. After serving his sentence he became once again totally involved in Belarusian political and cultural activities. Burbis became a member of the Belarusian National Committee in March of 1917 and after that was one of the most important personalities involved in the preparation of the First All-Belarusian Congress in December of 1917. In 1918 Burbis joined the leftist factions of the Hramada and remained in Soviet Belarus after the Soviet-Polish war. Burbis devoted all his time to organizing the Belarusian Theater, the Belarusian Red Cross, and other Belarusian institutions and organizations. He became a member of the Communist Party in 1921 and held numerous important administrative positions in Soviet Belarus, representing the Republic in the committee which elaborated the details of the Treaty of Riga.
References: Łuckievič, Anton. Za 25 hadoŭ (1903-1928), Vilna 1928, 51 p.; Bieł. Sav. Enc., vol. 2, 1970, p. 476; E.Budźka remembers Burbis... Bieł. Hazeta, Miensk, no. 18(38), March 22, 1942; Z.Žyłunovič about Burbis... Połymia, Miensk, 2, 1927. pp. 180-195; P.Badunova remembers... Adradžeńnie, Miensk, no. 1, 1922, pp. 272-277.
@Čarapuk-Zmahar Janka (also spelled Charapuk-Zmahar Ianka, Charapuk Ivan; Чарапук-Змагар Янка), political leader, economist. Čarapuk-Zmahar was born in the village of Novy Dvor in the Horadnia region on August 12, 1896. He died in Chicago on November 16, 1957. Janka Čarapuk-Zmahar studied at the High School in Horadnia and at the University of St. Petersburg where he was enrolled in the department of Economics and Law. From his teenage years Čarapuk-Zmahar was a nationally-conscious Belarusian and a regular reader of the newspaper Naša Niva. He became involved in Belarusian activities almost full time after the February Revolution. Čarapuk-Zmahar participated in the organization of the All-Belarusian Congress, December 1917, and entered the diplomatic service of the Belarusian Democratic Republic as early as 1918. He was a special envoy of the Belarusian Government to Germany, the Baltic States, and Czechoslovakia. In 1921 the Belarusian Government gave him the assignment of going to the United States and initiating the organization of Belarusians in America. Janka Čarapuk-Zmahar came to the United States in 1922. His father, Anton Čarapuk had come a few years earlier as a representative of the Belarusian Democratic Republic. The Čarapuks began to organize the Belarusians in Chicago and other states on behalf of the Belarusian Democratic Republic. For over 30 years Janka Čarapuk-Zmahar was active in behalf of the Belarusian Democratic Republic in various international organizations and conferences. He was instrumental in establishing numerous Belarusian-American organizations, some of which continue to be active.
References: Baćkaŭščyna, Munich, nos. 384, 385, December, 1957; Belarusian Institute of Arts and Sciences, New York, Archives.
@Čarviakoŭ Aleś (also spelled: Charviakoŭ Ales', Tscherviakoŭ; Чарвякоў Алесь), teacher, political leader. Aleś Čarviakoŭ was born into a peasant family in the village of Dukarka, district of the township of Puchavičy, Miensk region, on March 8, 1892. He committed suicide in Miensk on June 16, 1938. Aleś Čarviakoŭ graduated from the Teachers' Institute in Vilna intending to pursue a teaching career. However, World War I changed his plans; he was drafted and sent to military school. While stationed in St. Petersburg, Čarviakoŭ joined the Belarusian community and became active in organizing the Belarusian Social Democratic Workers' Party, leaning strongly to the left. Either shortly before the Bolshevik Revolution or soon after it, Čarviakoŭ joined the Communist Party and became totally involved in Party propaganda work among the soldiers and workers. However, he also kept in close contact with Belarusian national organizations and activities. In fact, Mr. Čarviakoŭ and a few other members of their leftist group — viz., the Belarusian Social-Democratic Workers' Party, which was established in September, 1917 — were elected to represent their organization at the All-Belarusian Congress in Miensk, December, 1917. Under the influence of Čarviakoŭ and other Belarusian Bolsheviks, the Bolshevik Party began paying closer attention to the Belarusian movement and Belarusian national affairs. When the Bolsheviks decided to establish some Belarusian organizations, Čarviakoŭ was appointed Commissar of the Belarusian National Commissariat, formed under the direction of the People's Commissariat for Nationalities of the Russian Federation. He was one of the signatories of the declaration establishing the Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1919. After the proclamation of the BSSR (January 1, 1919) Čarviakoŭ became one of the members of the first government and went on to hold a number of very important positions in the Party, the government of Soviet Belarus, and the USSR. Čarviakoŭ was the only Belarusian named a member of the Lithuanian-Belarusian Soviet Republic and, soon after, Commissar for Public Education in this republic (1919). Čarviakoŭ also served on the commission negotiating the Riga Treaty (October, 1920) and numerous other administrative positions. Although a faithful Communist and Party loyalist, Aleś Čarviakoŭ initiated many Belarus-oriented programs and openly advocated a resurgence of Belarusian culture. He encouraged strong national pride from his various positions of authority. Čarviakoŭ was very instrumental during the first few years of the Soviet regime in uniting Belarusian lands along ethnographic principles. As a result of his efforts (and those of other Belarusian Communists), the territory of the Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic considerably increased. Čarviakoŭ authored and edited numerous important works on Belarusian economy, political affairs, and administration. Aleś Čarviakoŭ was a close friend of many Belarusian leaders and activists who were not members of the Communist Party. For this reason and because of his zeal for the Belarusian national cause, he became an early suspect for Party's loyalty and, eventually, a victim of Stalin's purges. Aware of his imminent arrest, Čarviakoŭ committed suicide in his office in Miensk.
References: Baćkaŭščyna, Munich, nos. 25-26(559-560), June 25, 1961; Bieł. Sav. Enc., vol. 11, 1974, pp. 196-187; The Modern Encyclopedia of Russian and Soviet History, vol. 7, 1958, p. 31.
@Ciareščanka Kuźma (also spelled Tsiareshchanka; Цярэшчанка Кузьма), political leader. He was born in the Smalensk region; died in Miensk in spring of 1923. Became active in the Belarusian movement as a member of the Socialist-Revolutionary Party. Actively participated in the organization of the First All-Belarusian Congress. Was elected Chairman of the Miensk National Committee. Was a Minister in the Government of the Belarusian Democratic Republic. In the diplomatic service of the Belarusian Government, he opened Belarusian consulates in the Baltic countries and negotiated in Finland for recognition of the B.D.R.
References: Belarusian Institute of Arts and Sciences, New York, Archives.
@Ćvikievič Alaksandar (also spelled Tsvikevich, Twikewitsch; Цьвікевіч Аляксандар), scholar, historian, political leader. Not much is known about this Belarusian scholar and political leader. From short notes which are available in print, it appears that Alaksandar Ćvikievič obtained his primary and secondary education in the Bieraście region, and then studied at the University of St. Petersburg. During the revolutionary years Ćvikievič advanced to the top leadership in the Belarusian political movement. He was chairman of the conference of the Belarusian Socialist Hramada in Moscow in 1917; he took a very active part in the All-Belarusian Congress in Miensk, December 1917, where he was one of the members of the Resolutions Committee. After the Belarusian Democratic Republic was established, Ćvikievič headed several diplomatic missions to Ukraine, served as one of the delegates of the Belarusian Government at the Peace Conference in Bieraście, January 1918, and held numerous positions within the Government of the Belarusian Democratic Republic including that of Prime Minister from 1923 to 1925. Until 1925 Ćvikievič lived in Western Europe and devoted himself to diplomatic work. However, he began to negotiate with the Soviet Belarusian Government and in the fall of 1925, at the Conference in Berlin, Ćvikievič gave up his mandate from the Belarusian Democratic Republic and left soon after for Soviet Belarus. The Conference in Berlin between the representatives of the Belarusian Democratic Republic and the Belarusian Soviet Republic was undoubtedly the most tragic event in his life. For a few years, while living in Soviet Belarus, Ćvikievič was able to work and lead a normal life. He authored several important works, one of which, called Zapadno-Russizm, Miensk, 1929, is a milestone in Belarusian scholarship.
Ćvikievič was, however, arrested in 1930, spent several years in exile in Russia, was rearrested, and vanished into a Soviet prison. The date of his death is not exactly known, but it is assumed that he was executed in the late 1930s or early 1940s.
References: Masiej Siadnioŭ. Achviary balšavizmu, Biełastok, 1944, pp. 37-40; Byelorussian Times, Flushing, N.Y., no. 7, December 1976.
@Daniluk Fiodar, Rev. (Данілюк Фёдар), religious and military leader. Fiodar Daniluk was born into a peasant family in the village of Surynka near the town of Słonim on August 12, 1887. He died in New York City on July 29, 1960. Daniluk studied in local schools, then attended the Orthodox Seminary in the town of Žyrovičy from which he graduated shortly before World War I. He was ordained to the priesthood much later. During World War I Daniluk was drafted into the Army and sent to military school in the town of Gatchina. As a young officer he served on many fronts and in Rumania became one of the organizers of Belarusian soldiers. He participated in the conference of Belarusian soldiers in Moscow in late 1917. During 1917-1918 he was again at the front lines, stationed in Belarus. Daniluk took a very active part in the organization of the Belarusian Army. He was active in the Belarusian Military Commission in 1919 and took part in military and civilian Belarusian affairs in the Horadnia and Vaŭkavysk regions. As a military officer in the Belarusian units of the Belarusian Democratic Republic, he was delegated to the Słucak region in 1920 to organize training of junior officers there. After the revolutionary years, Fiodar Daniluk turned to the vocation that he had had from the years of his youth: the priesthood. He was ordained in 1921. From then on his life was devoted to the service of the Church, his family, and the Belarusian people. As a consequence of the events of World War II, Father Daniluk came to the United States where he was the founder and first pastor of the Belarusian Autocephalic Orthodox Church in New York City, St. Cyril of Turaŭ.
References: Biełarus, New York, nos. 101-102, 1965; Baćkaŭščyna, Munich, nos. 515-516, Aug. 14; 518, Sept. 4, 1960.
@Doŭnar-Zapolski Mitrafan (also spelled Downar-Zapolski; Доўнар-Запольскі Мітрафан), scholar, historian, educator. Mitrafan Doŭnar-Zapolski was born in the town of Rečyca, in the southeastern corner of Belarus on June (2) 12, 1867. His family was of noble descent, but had become impoverished landowners. Doŭnar-Zapolski received an excellent education: he graduated from the University of Kiev and completed his professorial training at the University of Moscow. He became professor at Moscow University in 1899 and in Kiev in 1901. From the beginning of his scholarly career, Doŭnar-Zapolski focused his research on the history of Belarus. His works on Belarus' past and the economy of the Belarusian lands within the Grand Duchy of Lithuania became classics and are still consulted today. The total number of his articles and books amounts to many dozens. Unlike the peers of his generation, who became totally russified after completing their studies in Russian universities, Doŭnar-Zapolski showed an increased interest in his native country. The scope of his interest in Belarusian topics was enormous and among his major interests was the revival of modern Belarusian statehood. He can be termed the founder of the scholarly principles of Belarusian statehood. Doŭnar-Zapolski became active in the Belarusian political revival during the years 1917-1921. He participated in the activities of the Belarusian Democratic Republic in Kiev, was appointed Chairman of the Commission for the organization of the Belarusian State University by the Government of the BDR in June of 1918, assisted in the establishment of various cultural and educational commissions, and contributed to numerous Belarusian publications. His work on the backgrounds of a Belarusian state was published by the Belarusian Democratic Republic. Doŭnar-Zapolski revealed an enormous interest in the organization of scholarly activities of the Republic of Soviet Belarus and the Belarusian leadership. The intelligentsia invited Professor Doŭnar-Zapolski to teach at the Miensk University in 1925. However, the Soviet government and Party leadership did not approve his coming to Miensk and in 1926 he was asked to leave Belarus. The Soviets and Communists could not tolerate his views on the historical development of Belarus, especially his theories of the absence of class differentiation among the Belarusian people and his views on the Belarusian character of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Professor Doŭnar-Zapolski was one of the earliest victims of Soviet policies in Belarus. However, when he was leaving Miensk, he donated his library of several thousand volumes to the Institute of Belarusian Culture which became the core of the Library of the Academy of Sciences of the BSSR. The role of Professor Doŭnar-Zapolski in the Belarusian political and cultural revival cannot be overestimated.
His dedication to his country, uncompromising views about Belarusian statehood, close association with the Belarusian national political and cultural leadership, together with his strong beliefs in the needs of restoring an independent Belarusian state led to his being accused by the Soviets of Belarusian nationalism. Following this accusation, he was expelled from Belarus. He died in exile in 1934. (According to information published in the Belarusian newspaper Biełaruskaje Słova (Belarusian Word), Post Ludwigsburg, West Germany, no. 8(29) Sept.-Oct. 1955, p. 2, Professor Doŭnar-Zapolski died in a Soviet concentration camp in the Narym region about 1935.)
References: The Modern Encyclopedia of Russian and Soviet History, vol. 9, 1978. pp. 241-242; Veda, New York, July 1952, pp. 193-206; Baćkaŭščyna, Munich, nos. 617-618. March 1964; Biełaruskaja Dumka, South River, N.J., no. 6, 1964, pp. 3-7; Bieł. Sav. Enc., vol. 4, 1971, p. 263.
@Dyła Jazep (also spelled Dyla Iazep; Дыла Язэп), writer, political, and cultural leader. Jazep Dyła was born into the family of a postal clerk in the town of Słucak on April 2(14), 1880. He died in the city of Saratov on April 7, 1973. Dyła studied in Słucak and later at the University of Derpt. Because of his revolutionary activities Dyła was expelled from the university. He began to write for various newspapers, including Naša Niva, where he became a regular columnist, contributing to other Belarusian-language newspapers as well. Jazep Dyła was closely associated with the activities of the Belarusian Socialist Hramada and was active on its behalf in various industrial cities of Russia, organizing Belarusian workers. He took part in the conference of the Hramada in Miensk in October of 1917, where he was elected to the Central Committee of that party. Dyła also participated in the organization of the All-Belarusian Congress in December 1917 which he was privileged to open. Dyła was elected to the membership of the Executive Committee of the Council of the Belarusian Democratic Republic. In 1918, when the Belarusian Socialist Hramada split into various factions, Jazep Dyła and some other original members of the Hramada leaned toward the left and entered Bolshevik-supported groups. During this period Jazep Dyła was one of the most active Belarusian politicians working for the establishment of a Soviet Belarusian Republic. Later he held numerous administrative positions in the BSSR and was especially active in the foundation of Belarusian cultural programs. Jazep Dyła was arrested in 1930 and exiled. He was never permitted to return to Belarus. Even when the Republic of Soviet Belarus celebrated its 50th anniversary in 1969, Dyła did not receive an invitation to take part in the celebrations of the stale that he and some of his colleagues had worked to establish.
References: Jazep Dyła. Tvory, Minsk 1981, 350 p.; Anton Łuckievič. Za 25 hadoŭ pracy, Vilna 1928, 51 p.; Biełaruski Zvon, Vilnia, no. 15, Oct. 7, 1921.
@Dziamidaŭ Mikoła (Дзямідаў Мікола), teacher, military man, political leader. Mikola Dziamidaŭ was born on December 10, 1888. He studied in the city of Łomža and later graduated from Śvisłač Teachers' Seminary. Dziamidaŭ was drafted during World War I, sent to a military school from which he graduated and entered upon a military career in the Russian Army. However, during the period of the revolutions, Dziamidaŭ became closely connected with the Belarusian military activists and he himself became active in the organization of Belarusian soldiers. After the proclamation of the Belarusian Democratic Republic, Dziamidaŭ became totally taken up with the organization of the Belarusian Army and worked closely with Kanstantyn Jezavitaŭ. Dziamidaŭ was appointed the Belarusian Commander of the city of Horadnia when the Belarusian Government was located there in the years 1918-1919. Dziamidaŭ was also responsible for all Belarusian military units stationed in and around Horadnia. During 1920 Dziamidaŭ was one of the officers in the units of Gen. Bułak-Bałachovič. After the revolutionary years Dziamidaŭ lived for a short period in Poland, was expelled, and settled permanently in Latvia. Mikola Dziamidaŭ became one of the most active leaders among Belarusians in Latvia. He organized numerous Belarusian schools, commercial enterprises, and political parties. He assisted in the programs of the Belarusian Section of the Latvian Ministry of Culture. During World War II Dziamidaŭ was in Latvia. He then moved to Germany and came to the United States in the 1950s. He settled in Chicago where he became active in Belarusian-American organizations and in the affairs of the Belarusian Orthodox Church. Mikoła Dziamidaŭ died in Chicago on May 23, 1967.
References: Biełarus, New York, nos. 123-124, 1967; Biełaruski Hołas, Toronto, June 1, 1955; Baćkaŭščyna, Munich, nos. 623-624, 1964.
@Epimach-Šypiła Branisłaŭ (also spelled: Epimach-Shypila; Эпімах-Шыпіла Браніслаў), scholar, civic and political leader. Epimach-Šypiła was born into a family of impoverished nobles on the estate of Budźkaŭščyna, near the town of Lepel, on September 4, 1859. He died on June 6, 1934. Epimach-Šypiła studied at local schools in Belarus, then at the University of St. Petersburg from which he graduated. He remained at the University and became professor there in the Department of Classical Philology. He was an authority on classical philology and mastered over 20 modern languages. His list of scholarly and authoritative publications is very long. However, what is important for Belarusians is the fact that Professor Epimach-Šypiła, after receiving his education and becoming a world-renowned scholar, did not renounce his roots, as did hundreds of other Belarusian-born scholars, but cherished his Belarusianness and remained deeply involved in the Belarusian revival movement. Professor Epimach-Šypiła, teaching at the University of St. Petersburg, then the capital of the Empire, became the organizer of the Belarusian community, of Belarusian students, and the promoter of Belarusian publishing and of various other cultural initiatives. Hundreds of Belarusian students received a helping hand from Professor Epimach-Šypiła (including the Belarusian Bard, Janka Kupała). Many of these students became important cultural and political leaders thanks to Epimach-Šypiła. Professor Epimach-Šypiła was also very active in supporting various political initiatives of Belarusian political parties and always gave his blessing and encouragement for work along the lines of establishing Belarusian identity. Epimach-Šypiła was closely associated with academic and scholarly life in Soviet Belarus from the 1920s on. Unfortunately, for various reasons he could not settle in his native country and lived in St. Petersburg (Leningrad).
References: Biełarus, New York, no. 65, March 25, 1958; Bieł. Sav. Enc., vol. 11, 1974. p. 469; Adam Stankievič. Prof. Epimach-Šypiła... Vilnia, 1935.
@Hadleŭski Vincuk, Rev. (Гадлеўскі Вінцук), an outstanding religious and political leader. He was born in the town of Porazava, near the city of Vaŭkavysk on December 16, 1888. His parents were poor urbanites who owned some land on which they worked. Hadleŭski went to local schools in Porazava and in the town of Śvisłač. In 1908 he entered the Vilna Roman Catholic Seminary from which he graduated in 1911. In 1912 Hadleŭski went to the St. Petersburg Theological Roman Catholic Academy which granted him the degree of "Master of Theology" in 1917. Hadleŭski was ordained to the priesthood in 1914. While studying in St. Petersburg he was heavily involved in Belarusian cultural and political activities. Immediately after the February Revolution, Fr. Hadleŭski went to Miensk and became one of the organizers of the Conference of the Belarusian Political Parties and Groups in March of 1917. He was also one of the leading organizers of the Conference of Belarusian Roman Catholic Clergy in Miensk, May 24-25, 1917. Hadleŭski spent the remainder of the year from May of 1917 travelling to various parts of Belarus organizing, primarily within Roman Catholic communities, delegates to be sent to the All-Belarusian Congress. Hadleŭski actively participated in outlining the program of the Congress. He was one of the main speakers at the Congress on the topic of Belarusian statehood and was elected to the Council of the Congress which later drafted the Constituent Charters. Fr. Hadleŭski was one of the pioneers in establishing a Belarusian Seminary for the Belarusian Roman Catholic Clergy in Miensk in 1918. He served as a member of the Miensk Seminary faculty. Fr. Hadleŭski was a very prolific writer and championed the introduction of the Belarusian language into church services.
After the partition of Belarus, Hadleŭski settled in Western Belarus where he became involved in many Belarusian programs and organizations. In his political views he was an uncompromising Belarusian nationalist leaning toward the right. He founded and edited the newspaper Biełaruski Front (1930s) in which he developed his theories about Belarusian politics and statehood. During the Soviet invasion of 1939, Fr. Hadleŭski moved first to Lithuania and later on to Warsaw and Berlin. From his contacts in Germany he learned that the Soviet-German war was imminent. He worked fervently to bring together Belarusian cadres, which, he thought, would be able to secure a Belarusian administration in the years to come. He believed that the Germans would grant Belarusians at least broad autonomy if not outright independence. He was totally involved in political and administrative work after June of 1941. He became trusted by the Germans, although they retained some reservations about him. Hadleŭski actively supported any Belarusian group that had a program for independence and he was one of the founders of the Belarusian Independent Party, an illegal group during the German occupation of Belarus, 1941-1944. Because of his dealings with Belarusian nationalists and because of his close Roman contacts, German mistrust of Hadleŭski grew and reached the point that they arrested him on the Christmas Eve, 1942 and he vanished. It is presumed that he was shot in Miensk by the Gestapo at the end of 1942.
References: Baćkaŭščyna, Munich, no. 632, August-September 1965; Biełaruskaja Carkva, Chicago, no. 28, 1965, pp. 11-166; Biełaruskija Naviny, Paris, no. 1, 1945; Biełaruskaja Trybuna, New York, nos. 1-2(9-10), January 1952; Biełarus, New York, no. 273, 1980.
@Hładki Jazep (also spelled Hladki Iazep; Гладкі Язэп), teacher, political activist, ethnographer. Jazep Hładki was born into a poor peasant family in the village of Michałkavičy, near the town of Łahojsk on October 4, 1890. He died in New York City on July 28, 1972. Jazep Hładki received his grammar and secondary education in local schools. Then he entered the military service and World War I broke out. Hładki received some medical training and functioned as a paramedic on the Western front. He was decorated for bravery, receiving three high combat awards. Following the February Revolution, Hładki began to organize Belarusian soldiers in various units. He was one of the initial activists who prepared the conference of Belarusian soldiers in Viciebsk as well as organizing the Belarusian Military Council in the XII Army. Jazep Hładki was elected a delegate from the military to the First All-Belarusian Congress in December 1917. He attended the Congress and was arrested by the Soviets when they interrupted the proceedings, but escaped imprisonment. After the revolutionary years, Hładki lived in Soviet Belarus where he undertook the organization of Belarusian schools in his region. He entered the Miensk Pedagogical Institute from which he graduated in 1935. However, life in the Soviet Union was not easy, and he was forced constantly to change his residence in order not to be caught and identified for his past involvement in Belarusian activities. Following the events of World War II, Jazep Hładki was able to leave Soviet Belarus. He first settled in West Germany and then, in the early 1950s, in the United States. Hładki worked all his life in Belarusian schools. He authored some ten textbooks, dictionaries, and lexicographical works for students and general readers and scholars. Several of his lexicographical publications constitute important contributions to Belarusian philology.
References: Biełarus, New York, no. 185, September 1972; Belarusian Institute of Arts and Sciences, New York, Archives.
@Hryb Tamaš (also spelled Hryb Tamash; Грыб Тамаш), historian and political leader. Tamaš Hryb was born into a poor peasant family in the village of Palany, near the town of Śvianciany, March 7, 1895. He completed his elementary education in the local schools, then went to study in St. Petersburg. Hryb served in the Navy, then became a student at the Psycho-Neurological Institute and was absorbed into Belarusian political life. His scholarly mentor was Professor Epimach-Šypiła, a well-known and respected Belarusian scholar in the Russian capital. Belarusian organizational work became Hryb's full-time occupation after the February Revolution. He organized soldiers and workers all over the western region of Russia. Hryb was at the same time an important political columnist, popularizing Belarusian ideas in the West. He contributed to numerous journals and newspapers, and was one of the first to formulate the needs of statehood in the programs of Belarusian political parties. Hryb worked very hard to convene the first conference of Belarusian Parties and Groups in March 1917, and advocated the immediate need to consolidate the Belarusian political movement. Tamaš Hryb was one of the organizers of the First All-Belarusian Congress, December 1917, and was elected one of the secretaries of that Congress. It was Tamaš Hryb who proposed and moved the resolution which established the Executive Council of the Congress (Rada Kanhresu). He became a member of that Council. Hryb was one of the coauthors of the Constituent Charters which, according to the wishes of the Congress, proclaimed the Belarusian Democratic Republic with subsequent declaration of its independence on March 25, 1918. Tamaš Hryb was elected to the First People's Secretariat by whose authority the policies of the Belarusian Democratic Republic were outlined. Hryb was one of the founders of the Belarusian Socialist Revolutionary Party, 1918. (The others were P.Badunova and J.Mamońka). Tamaš Hryb also pursued diplomatic activities: he attended numerous international conferences and attended the Third All-Russian Convention of Soviets, Moscow, January 1918, at which he protested against the betrayal of democratic norms by the ploys and policies of the Bolshevik Party. After 1921, Tamaš Hryb settled in Prague where he received a Ph.D. in Philosophy from the Charles University. He founded and edited numerous journals, including the magazine Iskry Skaryny, Prague — a powerful anti-Communist publication in which Hryb analyzed the problems of the Belarusian National Movement and the impossibility of cooperating with the Soviets. Tamaš Hryb founded and expanded the Belarusian collection at the Czechoslovak National Library and was also one of the co-founders, and a long-time director of the Belarusian Archives in Prague. Tamaš Hryb died in Prague on January 21, 1938 and was cremated on January 25, 1938.
References: Kałośsie, Vilna, no. 1(14), 1938, pp. 52-57; Belarusian Institute of Arts and Sciences, New York, Archives.
@Ihnatoŭski Ŭsievaład (also spelled Ignatovski; Ігнатоўскі Ўсевалад), historian, scholar, and political leader. Ihnatoŭski, the son of a teacher, was born in the village of Tokary, Bieraście region, on April 19, 1881. After finishing local schools, he studied history and philology at St. Petersburg University, but was expelled from the university for revolutionary activities. He graduated from Derpt University in 1911. Arrested again, he spent some time in various prisons and in exile. Became a teacher at the Miensk Teachers' Institute in 1914. Ihnatoŭski established close ties with the Belarusian activists and became actively involved in the Belarusian movement during the war years. He belonged to the leftist group of the Belarusian Socialist Party, and was one of the proponents and "fathers" of the Belarusian SSR. Ihnatoŭski joined the Communist Party in 1920 and held numerous important party and government posts in Soviet Belarus. He became professor at the University of Miensk in 1921. In 1924 he became the chairman of the Institute of Belarusian Culture and President of the Belarusian Academy of Sciences in 1929. Ihnatoŭski authored numerous historical works, among them A Short Outline of the History of Belarus (1919), which became the standard textbook for nearly a decade in Soviet Belarus.
When the Soviets began their campaign against the so-called Belarusian National Democrats in 1929, Ihnatoŭski came under strong attack for his convictions and efforts to maintain the independent development of Belarusian research and keep his close ties with the Belarusian national leadership of the revolutionary years. The price he paid for this was constant persecution. In fact, the Soviets wanted to arrest Ihnatoŭski and call him as a star witness against the National Democrats. He could not sustain the campaign mounted against him and committed suicide on February 4, 1931.
References: The Modern Encyclopedia of Russian and Soviet History, vol. 14, 1979, pp. 134-135; Bieł. Sav. Enc., vol. 5, 1972, pp. 44; Baćkaŭščyna, Munich, nos. 562, 566. July 9, July 30, 1961; Kryvicki Śvietač, Munich, nos. 6-7, April-May 1946, pp. 7-13; Połymia, Miensk, no. 5, 1988, pp. 171-186.
@Ivanoŭski Vacłaŭ (also spelled Iwanowski Vatslaŭ; Іваноўскі Вацлаў), engineer, scholar, political leader. Ivanoŭski was born near the town of Lida in 1880. His parents were both well-educated, his father an engineer and his mother a natural scientist. Ivanoŭski graduated from the gymnasium in St. Petersburg where he received excellent training in mathematics and the sciences as well as becoming fluent in West European languages. He studied for a few semesters in Western Europe. He received a degree in Chemical Engineering from the Imperial Technological Institute in St. Petersburg. After graduation he was invited to stay at the Institute. He did so, becoming an assistant professor and then professor at the Institute. He also was awarded a Ph.D. degree. However, his high academic position and his involvement in scientific research did not hinder him from being one of the pioneers in the Belarusian political movement. Visiting Belarusian territory, he became very closely associated with the Łuckievič brothers (Ivan and Anton). Together with the Łuckievič brothers and A.Ułasaŭ, Ivanoŭski was the founder of the Belarusian Socialist Hramada. He collaborated with the newspaper Naša Niva. In St. Petersburg he was the founder of the publishing enterprise Zahlanie sonca i ŭ naša vakonca, which played a major role in establishing modern Belarusian publishing. During the years he lived in St. Petersburg, Ivanoŭski assisted greatly in organizing Belarusian students and in formulating ideas about the future of the Belarusian lands. After the February Revolution, Ivanoŭski devoted all his time to organizing the political conference of Belarusian organizations and the All-Belarusian Congress. He was one of the first to be arrested by the Bolsheviks in 1918. He escaped imprisonment and returned to political activities. He held numerous important positions in the administration of the Belarusian Democratic Republic.
After the revolutionary years, Ivanoŭski lived in Warsaw, where he taught at the University. While he never discontinued his Belarusian involvements, career considerations had to take precedence. However, Vacłaŭ Ivanoŭski was deeply engaged in Belarusian politics at the outbreak of the Soviet-German war in 1941. He was appointed to numerous important administrative positions by the Germans, continuing, at the same time, his contacts with the independent Belarusian political activists and the Polish underground. His last position of influence was that of the Mayor of the city of Miensk. He was assassinated under mysterious circumstances in Miensk on December 7, 1943.
References: Hołas Vioski, Miensk, no. 50, Dec. 17, 1943; Novy Šlach, Miensk-Riga, no. 2(38), Jan. 1944, p. 12; Biełaruskaja Dumka, South River, N.J., nos. 27-28, 1983, pp. 11-16; Biełarus, New York, nos. 89, 1964; 286, 1981; 325, 327, 1985.
@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.
@Jakubiecki (Jakuboŭski) Andrej (also spelled Iakubetski; Якубецкі Андрэй), teacher and a military man. He was born in the village of Suchmiani, near Horadnia, on October 5, 1892. Studied in local schools and then in the Śvisłač Teachers' Seminary from which he graduated in 1912. During the war he served in the army and graduated from the Alexandrine Military College in Moscow in 1915. As an officer, he saw action on numerous fronts. In 1918 while in Horadnia, he began serving the Government of the Belarusian Democratic Republic as an officer and later as a civilian administrator. Since he was from the Horadnia region, Jakubiecki was elected chairman of the Belarusian Peasant Council of the Horadnia region in 1918.
In 1919 he became a member of the Belarusian Military Commission, working closely with Aleś Harun; and in 1920 he took part in the Słucak Front.
After World War I, Jakubiecki stayed in Poland but was arrested by the Poles in 1921 and imprisoned. In 1922 he was expelled from Poland and sent directly to Lithuania. He emigrated from Lithuania to Latvia and taught in numerous Belarusian schools there. Jakubiecki was still active in Belarusian administration during World War II but vanished after the war.
References: Novy Šlach, Miensk-Riga, no. 4(40), February 1944, p. 14.
@Jaremič Fabijan (also spelled Jaremicz Fabian, Jeremich, Yeremicz; Ярэміч Фабіян), technologist, political leader. Fabijan Jaremič was born in the village of Dułaŭcy, near the town of Vaŭkavysk on January 20, 1891. The family was poor and everyone in the family had to work from an early age. When Jaremič was still a youngster, his mother died and Fabijan had to leave home to go to the city of Horadnia to find work. He worked in many places as an apprentice and studied at a technical vocational school, specializing in telephone services. Later he continued his studies in St. Petersburg where he graduated from the Electrotechnical Institute. In St. Petersburg he came into close working contact with Belarusian activists and joined the Belarusian political movement. These associations led him to spend considerable time in organizing Belarusian workers. In 1917 Jaremič was in Miensk participating in the preparation for the All-Belarusian Congress. He also played an active role in the proceedings of the Congress.
After the revolutionary years, Fabijan Jaremič settled in Vilna where he served as a chief of a telephone-telegraph station. From the very beginning of his stay in Vilna Jaremič became a leading and influential member of the Belarusian community. He ran for the Polish Sejm and was elected three times. In the Polish Sejm Jaremič served as chairman of the Belarusian Representatives' Club. Jaremič made numerous speeches on the floor of the Sejm and took part in several international conferences, defending the human and civil rights of the Belarusians. He edited the newspaper Sialanskaja Dola. Because of his Belarusian activities and his vocal protests against Polish policies in Belarus, Fabijan Jaremič, although a member of the Polish Sejm, underwent regular, periodic harrassment by the Polish authorities.
During World War II Jaremič participated in Belarusian life and paid for his efforts with ten years of imprisonment by the Soviets. After spending a decade in jails and labor camps, he was permitted to return to Vilna, where he died soon after his return, on June 26, 1958.
References: Źnič, Rome, no. 48, 1958, pp. 4-5; Baćkaŭščyna, Munich, August 3, 1958; Biełaruski Kalandar, Vilna, 1923, p. 34.
@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.
@Jezavitaŭ Kanstantyn (also spelled Ezavitaŭ; Езавітаў Канстантын), teacher, scholar, military and political leader. Jezavitaŭ was born in the city of Dźvinsk on November 17(5), 1893. He studied in Dźvinsk and graduated from the Viciebsk Teachers' Institute. Jezavitaŭ then completed the Pavlovsk Military College in St. Petersburg in 1916. Became involved in the Belarusian movement shortly before World War I. After the February Revolution, he began to organize Belarusian soldiers of Piatigorsk Regiment in preparation for the conference of Belarusian soldiers of the Northern Front which took place in Viciebsk in the Fall of 1917. Jezavitaŭ was elected to membership in the Belarusian Military Council. He participated in numerous conferences in various cities of north-east Belarus, organizing the delegates to the All-Belarusian Congress. He also coordinated the activities of the military Belarusian groups. Jezavitaŭ took an active part in the proceedings of the Congress and was arrested by the Bolsheviks. Jezavitaŭ became the Belarusian Commander of the city of Miensk when the Belarusian administration took power on February 19, 1918. He was elected to the First People's Secretariat which became the first Belarusian Government in February of 1918. From 1918 to 1920 Jezavitaŭ served the Belarusian Democratic Republic in various capacities. After the revolutionary years, Jezavitaŭ settled in Dźvinsk, Latvia, where he organized a Belarusian school system and founded numerous Belarusian organizations. Jezavitaŭ and his close friends accomplished a great deal in Latvia. The Belarusian community in Latvia was one of the best organized of those outside the BSSR. At the same time Jezavitaŭ was a very prolific writer who authored dozens of articles and major works in many languages about Belarus and Belarusians. Some of his works are still valid down to today, e.g., his collection of documents on Polish-Belarusian relations (Biełarusy i Palaki, 1919).
Kanstantyn Jezavitaŭ was much involved in Belarusian political activities during World War II. He was appointed Commander of the Belarusian Armed Forces, 1944-1945. Jezavitaŭ was captured by the Soviets in the Berlin area in 1945, tried in Soviet Belarus, and executed, presumably in 1946.
References: Novy Šlach, Miensk-Riga, no. 22(34), November 1944, p. 14; Ranica, Berlin, no. 9/229, January 31, 1945; Belarusian Institute of Arts and Sciences, New York, Archives.
@Kahaniec Karuś (also spelled Kahanets Karuś; Каганец Карусь), the pseudonym of an important Belarusian writer, Kazimir Kastravicki. Kastravicki was born in the city of Tobolsk, Russia, on February 10, 1868, the son of a man exiled following the Uprising of 1863 in Belarus. As a young boy, Kazimir was brought back to Belarus, where he grew up. Later he studied art in Moscow and became very much interested in Belarusian ethnography and literature. He began to write prose fables, verse, and plays before the establishment of the newspaper Naša Niva and was already a well-established author when the Belarusian political revival began. Kastravicki joined the revolutionary movement and in the last decade of the 19th century began to promote the ideas of the Belarusian revolutionary movement. He was one of the founders of the Belarusian Socialist Hramada. Because of his Belarusian revolutionary activities, he was imprisoned for a couple of years. During the war years and especially after the February Revolution Kastravicki was one of the foremost activists in organizing the Belarusian political movement. He was elected to the Belarusian National Committee in March of 1917 after which all his energy went into preparations for the All-Belarusian Congress in Miensk in December of 1917. Karuś Kahaniec was one of the most prominent activists in working out the programs of the Congress. Unfortunately, however, his health deteriorated very rapidly and he died near the town of Kojdanaŭ on May 20, 1918.
References: A.B.McMillin, The Journal of Byelorussian Studies, London, vol. 5(1), 1981, pp. 47-50; M.Haretski. Historyja Bieł. Litaratury, Vilna, 1921, pp. 134-138; Bieł. Sav. Enc., vol. 5, 1972, p. 206; Złučeńnie, Dubno, no. 9, September 1938, pp. 12-13; Połymia, Miensk, no. 3, 1988, pp. 138-151.
@Kachanovič Michał (other spellings Kakhanovich, Kochanovicz; Кахановіч Міхал), teacher, political leader. Kachanovič was born into a peasant family in the Navahradak region in 1882. He graduated from the historical-philological department of Kharkov University. Kachanovič became a teacher and taught in various schools of Vilna. During World War I he moved to the city of Mahileŭ and became the backbone of the Belarusian political movement there. Kachanovič organized a Belarusian Council and Committee in the city of Mahileŭ, was able to form a sizable group of teachers, workers, and peasants in the city and the region of Mahileŭ, who supported the idea of Belarusian independence, and worked to prepare the All-Belarusian Congress. Kachanovič played a very prominent role in the proceedings of the Congress and later in the organization of the Belarusian administration. In 1918 he moved back to Vilna and, together with Ivan Łuckievič, organized the Belarusian High School, serving as its first director for three years. Kachanovič was a member of numerous boards of Belarusian organizations, including the Belarusian Scholarly Society. He was elected to the Polish Congress. In the middle 1920s he was lured to Soviet Belarus and vanished.
References: Novy Šlach, Miensk-Riga, no. 2(38), January 1944, p. 8; Biełaruski Kalandar, Vilna, 1923, p. 31.
@Karski Jaŭchim (also spelled: Karsky; Карскі Яўхім), scholar, linguist, ethnographer. Karski was born in the village of Lasa, Horadnia province, on December 20, 1860 (01.01.1861). He died in Leningrad on April 29, 1931. Karski studied in local schools and then graduated from Nezin Institute. After graduation from the lingustic-philological program, Karski taught in several schools in Vilna and then went to Warsaw, where he became professor at Warsaw University in 1894 and rector of that university in 1905. From 1917 on Karski was a professor at St. Petersburg University and also editor of several scholarly publications. Jaŭchim Karski is known to the academic world for over 700 scholarly works in Slavistics. A great many of these works are on Belarusian topics: linguistics, ethnography, and literature. Karski merits the title of "the father of Belarusian linguistics." He pioneered the scholarly analysis of the development of the Belarusian language as an independent Slavic language originating prior to the 14th century. The major work of his life, Biełarusy, three monumental volumes in seven issues, (1903-1921), is entirely devoted to Belarusian linguistics, literature, the development of Belarusian printing, and other aspects of Belarusian culture. No other Slavic nation has a work comparable to Karski's Biełarusy. In fact, several chapters of this work and the bibliography remain an important reference source even today. The secondary literature and analyses of Karski's contributions to Slavonic studies number thousands upon thousands of pages. Unquestionably Jaŭchim Karski is the most outstanding among Belarusian scholars of world stature. But what is important to underscore is that Jaŭchim Karski also contributed to the development of the Belarusian national movement and the formation of the Belarusian political nation. His scholarly publications helped Belarusians to identify and situate their position in the historical development of Eastern Europe and the importance of the Belarusian language in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Karski's authoritative map of the distribution of the Belarusian language (1903, 1904) is in fact the ethnographic map of Belarus and, as such, it was used by the Government of the Belarusian Democratic Republic to define the borders of the Belarusian state. Jaŭchim Karski was a close friend of other Belarusian scholars such as Epimach-Šypiła, Doŭnar-Zapolski, and Branisłaŭ Taraškievič. He also corresponded with Janka Kupala and other Belarusian writers. Jaŭchim Karski took part in the proceedings of the All-Belarusian Congress in December of 1917. At that Congress Karski presented a plan for organizing the Belarusian University in Miensk. (The proposed statute for this university was published in the national newspaper, Volnaja Biełaruś, no. 35, 1918). In 1918 the Government of the BDR appointed Jaŭchim Karski head of the Education Commission together with Vacłaŭ Ivanoŭski and Branisłaŭ Taraškievič.
During the revolutionary years Jaŭchim Karski vigorously reacted to the events affecting Belarusian national interests, publishing valubale articles on Skaryna and Belarusian education, as well as expressing himself strongly against the Treaty of Bieraście. Karski's association with the Belarusian political movement was logical: he was an honest scholar rather than a political activist, dedicated to Belarus and, through his deep involvement in Belarusian research, supported the idea of a separate independent Belarusian state. He did not welcome Bolshevik rule at all.
His original scholarly work virtually stopped with the beginning of the Bolshevik era. The Bolsheviks did not trust Karski because of his close ties with the Belarusian movement. On the other hand, his role as rector of Warsaw University, a position usually entrusted to a "reliable" Russian, made him somewhat distrusted by Belarusian political activists in Soviet Belarus. Somehow he did not find much coopeartion with the Belarusian activities during the 1920s. It is true, however, that Jaŭchim Karski lectured extensively on Belarusian topics to young Belarusian teachers and activists who began to organize in Miensk during the early 1920s and he donated his extensive library to the Belarusian State University, then in formation.
References: Baćkaŭščyna, Munich, no. 542, 1961; Enc. Lit. i Mastactva Biełarusi, Miensk, vol. 2, 1985, pp. 696-697.
@Kraskoŭski Ivan (Краскоўскі Іван), political leader. He was born in south-western Belarus in 1882. Kraskoŭski studied at Warsaw University and held many administrative posts in Belarus and Ukraine. During World War I he was a representative of the All-Russian Union of Cities in Galicia. He was closely associated with the Socialist Revolutionary Movement and joined the Party of Ukrainian Socialist Revolutionaries. During the revolutionary period he became involved with the Belarusian movement. Kraskoŭski took an active part in the Congress of Nations, Kiev, September 21-28, 1917 where he was a member of the Belarusian delgation and was elected to the presidium of the Congress. He was one of the editors of the Congress resolution in which autonomy for Belarus was requested from the Provisional Government. In January 1918 Kraskoŭski became a deputy minister of the Ukrainian People's Republic under Prime Minister V.Vynnychenko. Later he held numerous leadership posts in the Ukrainian and Belarusian governments. Kraskoŭski took part in numerous diplomatic missions for the Belarusian Democratic Republic. He was an important contributor to various Belarusian and Ukrainian periodicals on political topics.
In the 1920s Kraskoŭski moved first to Latvia, then to Belarus and became involved in numerous cultural and economic projects, while teaching at the Belarusian State University in Miensk. He was arrested in the early 1930s and his fate is unknown.
References: Ukr. Zahalna Enc., L'viv, vol. 2, 193?, p. 377; Encyclopedia of Ukraine, Toronto, vol. 2, 1988, p. 658; Ukrains'kyi Istoryk, New York, nos. 3-4, 1977, pp. 14-25.
@Kraŭcoŭ Makar (also spelled Kraŭtsoŭ Makar; Краўцоў Макар), writer, teacher, journalist, political leader. His real name was Makar Kościevič. He was born c. 1890. Died in Soviet prison c. 1939. Makar Kościevič was born in the village of Babroŭnia, in the Horadnia province. He received his education in a Teachers' Seminary. He served in the Russian army during World War I and became actively involved in the Belarusian political movement. After the February Revolution he came to Miensk and took an active part in the preparation of the All-Belarusian Congress, and participated in the Słucak Uprising.
He was a prolific writer and contributed to numerous Belarusian newspapers, including the newspaper Biełaruski Zvon, Vilnia, 1921-1922, where he published his memoirs about the All-Belarusian Congress. After the Riga Treaty, he lived in Western Belarus where he taught and wrote. Makar Kraŭcoŭ is best known to the Belarusian people for his verse, My vyjdziem ščylnymi radami [a military hymn] which became the national anthem.
After the Soviet occupation of Western Belarus in 1939, he was imprisoned and vanished into the Soviet jails without a trace.
References: Novy Šlach, Miensk-Riga, 2(38), January 1944, p. 9; Anton Adamovich. Opposition to Sovietization..., New York, 1958, pp. 44-45, 190.
@Krečeŭski Piotra (other spelling: Krecheŭski Peter; Крэчэўскі Пётра), administrator, political leader, historian. Krečeŭski was born near the town of Kobryn, Bieraście region, into the family of a village-church deacon on August 7, 1879. He died in Prague on March 8, 1928.
Piotra Krečeŭski studied at the Orthodox Theological Seminary in Vilna from which he graduated in 1902. He however did not want to pursue the career of a priest and became a teacher instead. He worked as a teacher for several years in order to repay the cost of his study in the seminary. A teaching career turned out not to be to his liking either and he went into bank administration. At the beginning of that career he was under suspicion by the police because of his close ties with various political groups. His bank position gave him excellent opportunities to establish contacts with numerous Belarusians who were employed in the tsarist administration. Krečeŭski was drafted into the Russian army during the war. His administrative experience and his knowledge of the bureaucratic apparatus favored his rapid advancement in the army as well as making it possible for him to travel among the military units stationed in Belarus. Making their acquaintance, he came to know well the Belarusians who were in service. After the February Revolution, Krečeŭski was able to profit from his acquaintances within the military and assisted greatly in establishing an organization of Belarusian soldiers. At the All-Belarusian Congress, at which he was a delegate from the Barysaŭ businessmen's association, Krečeŭski was elected to the Council of the Belarusian Democratic Republic. In February of 1918 he became a member of the first Belarusian Government with the function of state comptroller. Krečeŭski was one of the pioneers who formulated and declared Belarus to be an independent republic. In May of 1918 Krečeŭski became the Secretary of Commerce of the Republic. On October 11, 1918 he was elected Secretary of the Council of the Belarusian Democratic Republic. On December 13, 1919 Piotra Krečeŭski was elected President of the Council of the Belarusian Democratic Republic. As the Government of the Belarusian Democratic Republic headed into emigration, Krečeŭski carried out his functions in Kaunas, then in Berlin, finally settling in Prague. His immediate tasks were to establish working contacts with the representatives of the Belarusian Democratic Republic in various countries, which Krečeŭski did very efficiently. Krečeŭski's activities in Prague were very diverse. He initiated numerous memoranda along diplomatic lines to various Western European countries informing them about the political situation in Soviet Belarus as well as the difficult position of Belarusians in Poland. Next on the agenda were Belarusian affairs. Piotra Krečeŭski convened a Belarusian political conference in Prague in September of 1921, at which Belarusian topics were elaborated. Most importantly, all Belarusian organizations and parties outside of Soviet Belarus unanimously recognized the representation of the Belarusian Democratic Republic as their political symbol and rallying point.
Krečeŭski's political activities in Prague were diverse. He undertook and was successful in obtaining scholarships for Belarusian students from the Czechoslovak Government. He was also one of the pioneers who started the Belarusian Archives in Prague and obtained the financial support for maintaining these Archives. In fact, the Belarusian Archives in Prague were the first of their kind, holding some of the most important documents on modern Belarusian history. As was said elsewhere, these Archives vanished from Prague when the Soviets occupied Czechoslovakia in 1945. In the midst of all his administrative and political activities, Krečeŭski managed to participate in numerous scholarly conferences and authored several articles on topics of Belarusian culture. He also edited an important political-scholarly almanac Zamiežnaja Biełaruś (Prague, 1926).
The most important characteristic of Piotra Krečeŭski, with lasting significance for the Belarusian political emigration, is the fact that he organized the Office of the Belarusian Democratic Republic in Exile, he elaborated the Symbolism of that Office, and he withstood the intrigues, the pressures, and blandishments of the Bolsheviks to liquidate the Office of the Belarusian Democratic Republic, i.e., to abandon the Symbol of Belarusian Independence and Statehood and return to Soviet Belarus. Piotra Krečeŭski and his closest collaborators deserve the fullest credit for this; his courageous stand alone puts Piotra Krečeŭski in the ranks of major Belarusian political leaders.
References: Chryścijanskaja Dumka, Vilnia, March 20, 1938, p. 3; Baćkaŭščyna, Munich, March 15, 1953; Zamiežnaja Biełaruś, Prague, 1926, p. 152; Biełaruskaja Trybuna, Chicago, no. 2, 1928; Biełaruskaja Hazeta, Miensk, no. 62(180), August 18, 1943; Byelorussian Times, Flushing, N.Y., Oct. 1975; Jan. 1978.
@Kušel (Kušal) Francišak (also spelled Kushel, Kushal Franc; Кушэль, Кушаль Францішак), military commander, political leader, historian. Francišak Kušel was born in the village of Piaršai, near the town of Vałožyn, into a peasant family on February 16, 1895. He died in Rochester, N.Y. on May 25, 1968. Kušel studied in the local grammar school and later in the secondary school in the town of Ivianiec. In 1915 Kušel was drafted and sent to Military College in Poltava, Ukraine. Then he spent several years at the front and was decorated with combat orders. After the February Revolution, Kušel came to Miensk and became involved in the Belarusian movement with which he was familiar from his early years when he helped to distribute the newspaper Naša Niva in his village. During the Polish occupation of Eastern Belarus (1919-1920), Kušel was one of the members of the Belarusian Military Commission, working closely with Aleś Harun (Prušynski). Kušel elaborated on the theoretical aspects and structure of the Belarusian Army. After the partition of Belarus in 1921, Kušel settled in Western Belarus and entered the military service. For most of the time Kušel served on Polish territory and had numerous commanding posts. Kušel was taken prisoner of war by the Soviets during the Polish-Soviet conflict of 1939. He was for a short time imprisoned in Moscow with Gen. Anders and by some miracle he escaped the fate of the Polish officers in Katyn. During World War II Kušel was one of the first organizers and commanders of the Belarusian Military Units which eventually formed the nucleus of the Belarusian Army.
After the war Kušel organized the Association of Belarusian Veterans, a world-wide organization. He emigrated to the United States in 1950 and assisted in the organization of Belarusians in this country. From 1952 to 1954 he served as chairman of the Belarusian-American Association. Francišak Kušel was a highly erudite military historian and contributed numerous important works to the history of the Belarusian military and the military history of Belarusian lands in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
References: The New York Times, New York, May 27, 1968, 47:1; Daily News, New York, May 27, 1968; Democrat Chronicle, Rochester, N.Y., May 29, 1968; Biełarus, New York, no. 134, 1968.
@Łastoŭski Vacłaŭ (also spelled Lastowski Vatslaŭ, Viachaslaŭ; Ластоўскі Вацлаў), scholar, writer, ethnographer, political leader. Łastoŭski was born in the settlement of Kaleśniki, near the town of Dzisna, into a family of impoverished petty gentry, on October 20, 1882. Formally Łastoŭski had only primary and middle-level school education, but due to his self-discipline and self-education, as well as his own personal ambition, he became an accomplished scholar.
Łastoŭski's involvement with the Belarusian national movement dates to the years of Naša Niva, i.e., to the first decade of the twentieth century. He contributed numerous articles on a variety of subjects to the newspaper. His articles, as a rule, contained strong national themes and were uncompromisingly Belarusian. During this period, Łastoŭski established and developed numerous aspects of Belarusian history and the future trends of Belarusian political thought. Łastoŭski authored the first concise text on Belarusian history in 1910; this was an historic accomplishment for the Belarusian nation. At the same time Łastoŭski wrote numerous literary works and established himself as an important literary man and critic. During World War I Łastoŭski resided in Vilna, edited the newspaper Homan, and was involved in numerous Belarusian organizations. He also took part in international conferences representing the Belarusian people, in Sweden and Switzerland. Łastoŭski belonged to the elite of the Belarusian political leadership who formulated and carried out the ideas of Belarusian statehood. At the beginning of 1918 Łastoŭski established an organization called "Liaison of the Non-division and Independence of Belarus," which exerted influence in the formulation of the outlines of Belarusian Independence. Together with Ivan Łuckievič, Łastoŭski negotiated a degree of autonomy with the Lithuanians after the Government of the Belarusian Democratic Republic was heading into exile. From December 1919 to the spring of 1923 Łastoŭski served as the Chairman of the Council of the Belarusian Democratic Republic. Łastoŭski and A.Ćvikievič formed the Belarusian delegation which attended the Genoa Conference in 1922. He resigned from the chairmanship of the Council in 1923 and began to cooperate closely with the Lithuanian Government. Łastoŭski began publishing an important scholarly periodical, Kryvič, 1923-1926, and in 1926 he published a monumental work on the history of the Belarusian book and book-publishing and printing, Historyja Biełaruskaj (Kryŭskaj) Knihi. The factual data from this work are valid to the present and the book forms an important bibliographical reference tool. The Soviets lured Łastoŭski to Soviet Belarus in 1927, appointing him director of the State Museum in Miensk. Subsequently, he became the Permanent Secretary of the Belarusian Academy of Sciences of the BSSR. Łastoŭski wrote numerous works on Belarusian ethnography, lexicology, and history and contributed considerably to the development of Belarusian scholarship. Unfortunately, in 1930 Vacłaŭ Łastoŭski was imprisoned as a National Democrat, was exiled to Russia, reincarcerated once again, and then vanished into a Soviet prison. The place and date of his death are unknown, although the Belarusian Soviet Encyclopedia gives the year of his death as 1938. The fate of Vacłaŭ Łastoŭski is very tragic for the Belarusians: the major personality in the Belarusian cultural and political revival, an extremely gifted and able scholar and leader, who accomplished so much for the Belarusian movement — destroyed by the Soviets.
References: Bieł. Sav. Enc., vol. 6, 1972, p. 267; Ant.Adamovich. Opposition to Sovietization in Belorussian Literature, New York, 1958, pp. 190-191; Arnold B. McMillin. A History of Byelorussian Literature, Giessen, 1977, pp. 135-137+; The Journal of Byelorussian Studies, London, vol. 5(3-4), 1984, pp. 14-27; Biełarus, New York, nos. 134, 140, 1968; 313, 1983; Hołas Vioski, Miensk, no. 42(96), Oct. 22, 1943; Vłast (Vacłaŭ Łastoŭski). Tvory, Munich, Baćkaŭščyna, 1956. 111 p.
@Lavickaja Vanda (married name Losik Vanda; also spelled Lavitskaia; Лявіцкая Ванда), writer, civic activist, administrator, political leader. She is the daughter of the Belarusian writer Jadvihin Š. Vanda Lavickaja was born in the town of Radaškavičy, near Maładečna, on September 13 (25) 1895. Studied in Radaškavičy and in Miensk. Became involved in the activities of the Belarusian Socialist Hramada. Contributed to numerous journals and newspapers. She was on the editorial board of the magazines Sacha and Łučynka which were published in Miensk. During the revolutionary period Vanda Lavickaja worked mostly in the Committee for Assistance to the Victims of the War and was involved in organizing of the First All-Belarusian Congress. She was elected to membership-at-large of the Central Council of Belarusian Parties and Organizations which, in fact, was responsible for the preparation of the All-Belarusian Congress. Vanda Lavickaja married Jazep Losik and suffered all the tortures that were directed against her husband during the 1930s and later decades. She died on December 8, 1969.
References: Enc. Lit. i Mast. Biełarusi, vol. 3, 1986, p. 321; Byelorussian Youth, Brooklyn, N.Y., no. 8, 1960, pp. 7-10.
@Losik Jazep (also spelled Liosik Iazep; Лёсік Язэп), scholar, publicist, writer, political leader. Jazep Losik was born in the village of Mikałajeŭščyna, Miensk region, on November 6, 1884. He died in a Soviet prison in 1940. Jazep Losik graduated from the Maładečna Teachers' Seminary. In his teenage years he entered the revolutionary movement and became a promoter of the idea of a Belarusian Socialist Party. He was an organizer of the Belarusian Teachers' Union in 1906-1907. Because of his revolutionary activities, Losik was arrested and exiled to Siberia for life. However, he kept close contact with the Belarusian movement in his homeland and was a prolific contributor to the newspaper Naša Niva from his place of exile. In Siberia Losik met another Belarusian political exile, Aleś Harun (Alaksandar Prušynski) and the two outstanding Belarusian patriots became close friends. Both returned to Belarus only after the February Revolution. After returning to Miensk in 1917, Jazep Losik soon became the spiritual leader of the Belarusian national intelligentsia and the political leader of the movement. He founded and edited the newspaper Volnaja Biełaruś, the first issue of which appeared May 28, 1917. This newspaper, more than anything else at that time, contributed to the development and the crystallization of the idea of Belarusian statehood and Belarusian Independence. Jazep Losik also participated actively in the formation of Belarusian groups around the country, preparing them for the forthcoming All Belarusian Congress. He master-minded the proceedings of the Congress and the activities of the Belarusian political parties following the events of December 1917. Losik assumed numerous posts in the Belarusian Democratic Republic and from 1918 to late 1919 he was the chairman of the Council of the Belarusian Democratic Republic. He also accomplished the establishment of the Belarusian Social-Democratic Party in 1918 and pioneered a new magazine, Biełaruś. When the Soviets advanced in 1920, Losik did not go into exile, but remained in Soviet Belarus. He became active in the educational and cultural life of the republic, remaining an authoritative leader for the new wave of the Belarusian intelligentsia in newly-formed Soviet Belarus. He took part in organizing Teachers' Training Course, the Belarusian Terminological Commission, the Belarusian State University, various youth groups and many Belarusian cultural institutions. Losik's name in Soviet Belarus was truly a household word. While active politically and in the cultural field, Losik was also a very prolific writer and author, contributing to numerous journals and newspapers and authoring several textbooks. As a matter of fact, Losik's textbook, entitled A Practical Grammar of the Belarusian Language (1921), became the standard textbook for hundreds of thousands of students throughout the decade of the 1920s. Jazep Losik was elected to the Academy of Sciences of the BSSR. Unfortunately, he was one of the first Belarusian leaders to be arrested in 1930. Losik was exiled to Russia and was rearrested again in 1938. Around 1940, when his wife began to make demarches as to his whereabouts, she was told that Losik died in prison in 1940. The loss of such prominent personality — a dedicated political leader and scholar, who began his career within the Socialist movement to destroy the Prison of Nations, the Russian Empire, and was executed by the heirs of the Empire, the Communists — represents an enormous tragedy for the Belarusian Nation.
References: Biełarus, New York, no. 186, 1972; Bieł. Sav. Enc., vol. 6, 1972, p. 351; Baćkaŭščyna, Munich, nos. 136-137, February 8, 1953; 434, Dec. 14, 1958; Biełaruski Śviet, Grand Rapids, Mich., no. 14(43), 1983, pp. 4-6; A representative selection of references of his writings on the topic of Belarusian independence appeared in the Biełaruski Peryjadyčny Druk, 1917-1927. Minsk, Biełaruskaje Dziaržaŭnaje Vyd-va, 1929. pp. 139-151.
@Łuckievič Anton (also spelled Lutskevich; Луцкевіч Антон), political leader, lawyer, scholar, and literary critic. Anton Łuckievič was born in the town of Šauli, in the province of Kaunas, into the family of a railroad worker, on January 30, 1884. He died in a Soviet prison about 1946. Anton Łuckievič studied in grammar and secondary schools in Miensk, then went to St. Petersburg and Derpt Universities from which he obtained degrees in archaeology, history, and law. From his teenage years Anton Łuckievič devoted his life to the Belarusian cause. Together with his brother Ivan, Anton Łuckievič was the pioneer of most Belarusian programs and initiatives during the first decades of this century. The two brothers founded the Belarusian Revolutionary Hramada. Together with Alaksandar Ułasaŭ, they established the newspaper Naša Niva, the milestone and the foundation of the Belarusian cultural and political revival, the brothers founded a number of other organizations and parties and supported the establishment of several Belarusian printing houses. Later on, in the second decade of the century they established the Belarusian Museum at Vilna, the Belarusian Scholarly Society, and the Belarusian Gymnasium in Vilna. But the backbone of their activities was political work. The brothers, especially Anton, formulated the principles of Belarusian statehood, and in numerous editorials Anton Łuckievič defined the lines along which the Belarusian political movement was to develop. Anton Łuckievič authored hundreds of articles in various languages and a number of books on a variety of aspects of the Belarusian movement. During the years of the February and October Revolutions, Anton's political writings and activities made a tremendous influence upon the establishment of the Belarusian Democratic Republic and provided the theoretical foundation for the proclamation of its independence on March 25, 1918. The crystallization of this idea and its implementation are well analyzed in his monograph devoted to the origins and history of the Belarusian Revolutionary (later Socialist) Hramada, which was published in Vilna in 1928. Anton Łuckievič held several posts in the administrative structure of the Belarusian Democratic Republic, including the position of Prime Minister from June 1918 to December 1919.
After the events of 1917-1920, Anton Łuckievič lived in Western Belarus, in Vilna, and remained active in numerous Belarusian political parties and organizations, at the same time developing and enlarging the Belarusian Museum in Vilna, which grew into an important scholarly institution. Anton Łuckievič was captured by the Soviets when they invaded Belarusian territory in 1939. He vanished into the Soviet prison network. The Belarusian nation lost a great man. Anton Łuckievič and his brother, Ivan, merit the title of "Pioneers of the Belarusian political and cultural revival."
References: Bieł. Sav. Enc., vol. 6, 1972, p. 441; Biełarus, New York, no. 315, January 1984; Problemy Vostochnoi Evropy, New York, nos. 9-10, 1984, pp. 271-272; Biełaruski Śviet, Grand Rapids, Mich., no. 12(41), 1982, pp. 4-5; Anton Łuckievič. Za 25 hadoŭ pracy. Vilnia, 1928, 51 p.
@Łuckievič Ivan (also spelled Lutskevich; Луцкевіч Іван), archaeologist, ethnographer, and political leader. Ivan Łuckievič was born into the family of a railroad worker in the town of Šauli, Kaunas province, on May 28, 1881. He died in Vilna on August 20, 1919. Ivan Łuckievič graduated from Miensk High School, then from Moscow and St. Petersburg Universities. He, together with his younger brother, Anton, are the founders of the modern Belarusian political movement. They conceived the idea and organized the Belarusian Revolutionary (Socialist) Hramada, the first political party in modern Belarusian history with a specific political program. Together with Alaksandar Ułasaŭ, they established the newspaper Naša Niva, which played a decisive role in the Belarusian political and cultural revival. The Łuckievič brothers were the first to formulate the principles of Belarusian statehood, and the first to establish a Belarusian Scholarly Society and the Belarusian Museum anywhere in the world. There is virtually no facet of the Belarusian movement for national statehood and the revival of ethnic consciousness in which the Łuckievič brothers did not make a signal contribution and have a lasting impact. However, the brothers were different in some important ways: while Anton Łuckievič was more outspoken and visible as a journalist, literary critic, and political activist, Ivan Łuckievič was more of a pragmatist, remaining in the background, securing the financial base for many Belarusian programs. Both brothers, however, earned the title of pioneers in the formation of the modern Belarusian state and in the revival of the modern Belarusian nation.
References: Bieł. Sav. Enc., vol. 6, 1972, p. 444; Anton Adamovich. Iak dukh zmahan'nia Belarusi, New York, 1983, 28 p.; Baćkaŭščyna, Munich, nos. 212-213, Aug. 15, 1954; 304, 305, May 27, June 3, 1956; Zhizn' natsional'nostei, Moscow, no. 22(79), July 11, 1920.
@Mamońka Jazep (Мамонька Язэп), military man, teacher. Biographical data are scarce. Was active in the Socialist Hramada and held numerous important positions in the Government of the Belarusian Democratic Republic.
Was one of the founders, together with Badunova and Hryb, of the Party of Belarusian Socialist revolutionaries in 1918. Emigrated to Prague, but chose to return to Soviet Belarus in the 1920s, where he was never allowed his freedom; and was immediately executed.
References: Belarusian Institute of Arts and Sciences, New York, Archives.
@Miadziołka Paŭlina (married Hryb; Мядзёлка Паўліна), teacher, political leader. Miadziołka was born in the town of Budsłaŭ on 31 August (12 September) 1893; she died February 13, 1974. Miadziołka received an excellent education; she graduated from the General-Educational Courses in St. Petersburg in 1914. During her studies and especially after graduation she became involved in the Belarusian movement. She moved back and forth to Belarus and had a wide circle of connections throughout Belarus. Together with Advardy Budźka, Aleś Burbis, and other Belarusian leaders, she initiated many cultural and political projects. However, most of her talent went to the theater where she became famous as an accomplished artist and especially achieved recognition after successfully performing the role of Paŭlinka in Kupała's play Paŭlinka. This fame followed her all her life. While travelling with the Belarusian theater she distributed quantities of socialist political literature and participated in mass political rallies. She participated in selecting the delegates to the First All-Belarusian Congress. Assumed active role in the administration of the BDR when they moved to Horadnia. After World War I she settled in Latvia where she was one of the top leaders in organizing Belarusians in Latvia and particularly in the Belarusian school network. She was tried by the Latvian government for her Belarusian political activities and forced to leave to Soviet Belarus in 1925. Miadziołka was persecuted by the Soviets but was able to return to Belarus after World War II where she lived until her death.
References: Ezavitaŭ, K. Belaruskae Tavarystva..., Riga, 1926, pp. 20-24; Polymia, Minsk, nos. 5-7, 1959, pp. 16-171; 130-146; 147-166; Maładość, Minsk, no. 4, 1971, pp. 130-137; Enc. Litaratury i Mastactva Belarusi, Minsk, vil. 3, 1986, p. 716.
@Mickievič Michaś (also spelled Mitskevich Michal; Міцкевіч Міхась), the youngest brother of Jakub Kołas; was born in in the settlement Albuć, near Mikałajeŭščyna on July 13, 1897. There the family of Jakub Kołas lived from 1891 to 1902. Michaś Mickievič graduated from the Niaśviž Teachers' Seminary in 1917. While a student in the seminary he was actively involved in the Belarusian movement. Mickievič was in Miensk in 1917 and took part in the preparations for the All-Belarusian Congress to which he was also a delegate. After the partition of Belarus in 1921, Michaś Mickievič lived in the settlement of Smolna. He dedicated his life to teaching: he taught in Belarus, and from 1944 on he lived in Western Europe; and later on in the United States where he also organized many Belarusian schools. Michaś Mickievič authored numerous textbooks for various levels of classes. He was also very involved in the activities of the Belarusian Orthodox Autocephalic Church and was an officer in several Belarusian parishes. Michaś Mickievič resides presently in New York.
References: Belarusian-American Association, N. Y. Chapter, Archives.
@Niekraševič Ściapan (also spelled Nekrashevich Stsiapan; Некрашэвіч Сьцяпан), teacher, scholar, and political leader. Niekraševič was born in the village of Daniłaŭka, Śvietłahorsk region, on May 8, 1883; he died on December 20, 1937. Niekraševič graduated from the Vilna Teachers' Institute in 1913. During World War I he served in the Russian Army and became involved in the organization of Belarusian soldiers on the Rumanian Front. Niekraševič initiated and conducted a conference of Belarusian soldiers in the city of Odessa in 1917. He began publication of a bulletin for the Belarusians in Odessa and in southern Ukraine. He shared the political principles of the Belarusian Democratic Republic and accepted an invitation to represent the Belarusian Government in the south of Ukraine. In Odessa he conducted negotiations with representatives of the French military on behalf of the Belarusian Democratic Republic. Niekraševič returned to Soviet Belarus around 1920 and became actively involved in establishing Belarusian schools and Belarusian cultural institutions. He was appointed the first Chairman of the Institute of Belarusian Culture, the forerunner of the Academy of Sciences of the Belarusian SSR. In 1929 he became vice president of the Academy. During 1920-1930 he held positions in the top leadership of Soviet Belarus and published numerous scholarly works. Together with Mikoła Bajkoŭ, he compiled a Russian-Belarusian Dictionary, 1925. In 1930 Ściapan Niekraševič was arrested and exiled to the Udmurt ASSR. He never returned to Belarus.
References: The Modern Encyclopedia of Russian and Soviet History, vol. 24, 1981, p. 133; Biełarus, New York, no. 314, 1983; Baćkaŭščyna, Munich, no. 581, November 19, 1961; BSSR Karotkaja Encyklapedyja, vol. 5, 1981, p. 445.
@Ciotka (Цётка), poet, teacher, political leader. The pseudonym of Alojza Paškievič (also spelled Aloiza Pashkevich). She was born on the Pieščyn estate, Ščučyna township, Vilna province, on July 15, 1876. Paškievič graduated from a private girls' school in Vilna and studied at the Courses of Higher Education, the Lesgaft Courses, in St. Petersburg and the Universities of Cracow and L'vov. Even prior to the Revolution of 1905 she was closely involved in the revolutionary movement: she organized clandestine meetings, women's groups, and distributed proclamations. From the beginning of her revolutionary involvement, Ciotka was a devoted promoter of Belarusian culture and Belarusian political ideas. As soon as the ban on the Belarusian language was lifted, following the 1905 Revolution, Ciotka gave all her energy to setting up a nation-wide network of Belarusian education and publishing. She became a steady contributor to the newspaper Naša Niva, translated several primers, and compiled and wrote several of her own. Through education and books, Ciotka wanted to raise a new generation of nationally-aware Belarusians. In 1914 Ciotka started a magazine for young people, Łučynka, the first of its kind for Belarusians. Ciotka was known at the same time as a talented and successful revolutionary poet. Many of her revolutionary verses were distributed as leaflets in tens of thousands of copies. She also wrote prose and published several memoir-type works. The theme of social and national oppression were dominant in her literary works. She called people to be freedom fighters, she aroused patriotic feelings in the masses, and gave them the notion of national self-esteem and independence.
Ciotka died prematurely of an illness on February 2, 1916. She did not live to see the development of the Belarusian movement, but she belongs to the group of those who prepared the ground for this movement and, as a poet and Belarusian leader, she belongs to the vanguard of the Belarusian national and political elite responsible for subsequent events.
References: Bieł. Sav. Enc., vol. 11, 1974, pp. 108-109; Baćkaŭščyna, Munich, no. 634, March 1966; Byelorussian Youth, Brooklyn, N.Y., 24, 1966, p. 5; Biełaruski Śviet, Grand Rapids, Mich., no. 9(28), 1981, pp. 4-6.
@Harun Aleś (Гарун Алесь), poet, journalist, political leader. The pseudonym of Alaksandar Prušynski (also spelled Prushynski). Prušynski was born in Miensk on March 11, 1887. His father was a manual worker who earned little and his large family lived in relative poverty. From an early age Alaksandar demonstrated high intelligence. At the age of five he could read Polish and Russian. He soon finished parochial school in 1897 and entered a trade school in Miensk. At the age of 15 in 1902 he graduated as a joiner. His first job brought him into contact with clandestine revolutionary activists and he became involved in the socialist movement. Prušynski was arrested for his revolutionary activities and placed in solitary confinement. This was the turning point in his life; from then on Prušynski began to write poetry. He was first imprisoned in Miensk, then transferred to a prison in Vilna. In 1908 Prušynski-Harun was sentenced to hard labor in Siberia, but the sentence was reduced to exile in the Irkutsk region. For six years he worked as a joiner in Kirensk (Siberia), then in the gold mines of the river Lena region, Badajbo mines. From Siberia Prušynski contributed to Naša Niva and began collecting his poems. In Siberia he met and befriended another exiled Belarusian patriot and leader, Jazep Losik. As Harun remembered later, it was in Siberia that he prepared for publication his collection of poetry entitled Matčyn Dar (A Mother's Gift) which was published originally by the Belarusian Democratic Republic in 1918. After the February Revolution, Prušynski returned to Miensk in September 1917, unfortunately in broken health. The state of his health, however, did not deter him from pursuing Belarusian work. He became actively engaged in the organization of the All-Belarusian Congress of 1917, addressing himself primarily to the working people and the peasants and assisting in the selection of numerous delegates to the Congress from various localities. Harun became the chairman of the political committee of the Supreme Belarusian Council which was responsible for the program of the Congress. At the Congress, Harun was elected vice-president of the proceedings. Meanwhile, he contributed to various Belarusian journals and newspapers under different pen-names. He was one of the founders of the Belarusian Social Democratic party in the Spring of 1918. He was the editor of the Belarusian daily Biełaruski Šlach. During the Polish occupation of Miensk, 1919-1920, Harun was active in Belarusian political and military affairs and he greeted Piłsudski (in Belarusian) when Piłsudski visited Miensk on September 19, 1919. It is noteworthy that Piłsudski's reply to Harun's greetings was also in Belarusian. Aleś Harun retreated with the Polish Army and died in Cracow on July 28, 1920. A tombstone was recently installed on his grave by his compatriots. His works were once published in Soviet Belarus — in 1929. Since then (up to March 1988) he has been banned in the BSSR.
References: Arnold B. McMillin. A History of Byelorussian Literature, Giessen, 1977, pp. 161-174; Ant.Adamovich. Aleś Harun. Matčyn Dar, 1962, pp. 7-53; Ed. Budźka remembers... Harun. Biełaruskaja Hazeta, Miensk, no. 17(37), March 16, 1942; Bieł. Sav. Enc., vol. 3, 1971, p. 368; Biełaruski Ściah, Kaunas, no. 1, April 1922, pp. 19-21; Hołas Vioski, Miensk, March 13, 1942; Biełarus, New York, no. 350, 1988.
@Rahula Vasil (Рагуля Васіль), teacher, social worker, political leader. Vasil Rahula was born on July 16, 1879 in the village of Acukievičy, near the town of Navahradak into a peasant family. He died in New York on June 16, 1955. Vasil Rahula studied in local schools and then went to the Maładečna Teachers' Seminary from which he graduated in 1898. He also graduated from Vilna Pedagogical Institute in 1906. He taught in a number of schools throughout Western Belarus and finally accepted a teaching position in Miensk. He served in the Army during World War I.
Although he was not directly involved in the administrative activities of preparing for the All-Belarusian Congress — (he was just a delegate to the Congress) — Rahula's work as a teacher among the rural masses contributed to the general awakening of Belarusian national consciousness in the countryside. Hundreds of Belarusian teachers such as Vasil Rahula were the propagators of Belarusian political ideas among the masses of the Belarusian people.
After the Revolution, Vasil Rahula lived in Western Belarus, was elected to the Polish Senate, and represented the people in an excellent manner. When the Soviets came to Western Belarus in 1939, Vasil Rahula was imprisoned but with the outbreak of the Soviet-German War in 1941, he managed to escape. After the World War II, Rahula lived in West Germany, Belgium and, in 1954, he came to the United States.
References: Vasil Rahula. Uspaminy, New York, 1957, 127 p.; The New York Times, New York, June 19, 1955, 93:1; Biełarus, New York, nos. 52, June 30, 1955; 350, August 1958; Biełaruskaje Słova, Ludwigsburg, West Germany, no. 28, July-August 1955.
@Rak-Michajłoŭski Symon (also spelled Rak-Mikhailoŭski Symon; Рак-Міхайлоўскі Сымон), teacher, political leader. Rak-Michajłoŭski was born into a peasant family in the village of Maksimaŭka, Radaškavičy township, on April 2 (14), 1885. He died (or was killed by a firing squad) in a Soviet prison in 1937. Rak-Michajłoŭski graduated from the Maładečna Teachers' Seminary in Belarus and Feodosia Teachers' Institute (1912) in Ukraine. His political activities among Belarusian peasants date back to the period of the first Russian Revolution in 1905, when Rak-Michajłoŭski was elected by the peasants of his region to be their lobbying delegate in the State Duma. After graduation, he taught in various schools in Belarus. He was called up for military duty during the war. Rak-Michajłoŭski began to organize Belarusian soldiers into landsman circles immediately after the February Revolution. In subsequent months, he systematically visited virtually all the military fronts, assisting in organizing the Belarusian troops. Rak-Michajłoŭski was the pioneer and the leader in establishing a central Belarusian military organization. He accomplished this in the fall of 1917 by forming the Belarusian Central Military Council of which he was elected chairman. He was also very involved in preparing the First All-Belarusian Congress in 1917 and became a member of the Belarusian Government. Active among the military, Rak-Michajłoŭski also began an intensive campaign for establishing Belarusian schools. He organized the first Belarusian Teachers' Training courses in Miensk, 1918-1919, a Teachers' Seminary in the township of Baruny, and later, Teachers' Courses in Vilnia, 1921. While working in different capacities in the Government of the Belarusian Democratic Republic, he also edited a Belarusian-language daily, Biełaruskaje Słova in Horadnia. Rak-Michajłoŭski did not want to go into exile after the Treaty of Riga, but remained in Poland. He became a teacher in the Belarusian High School in Vilnia. In 1922 Symon Rak-Michajłoŭski was elected to the Polish Sejm, working actively with a number of Belarusian organizations but devoting most of his time to the Society of Belarusian Schools (Tavarystva Biełaruskaj Školy, TBŠ). Soon, however, Symon Rak-Michajłoŭski was arrested by the Poles and sentenced to a prison term of 12 years. In 1931 he was exchanged with the Soviets for another political prisoner, thus finding himself in Soviet Belarus. He settled in Miensk and became director of the Belarusian State Museum. This was not destined to last too long. Rak-Michajłoŭski was arrested in 1933 and sentenced to prison and labor camps, but in 1937 he was killed by the Soviets in an unknown locality.
References: Biełaruski Kalandar, Vilnia, 1923, p. 23; Biełarus, New York, no. 3(49), 1954; BSSR Karotkaja Enc., vol. 5, 1981, p. 509.
@Ružaniec-Ružancoŭ Alaksandar (also spelled: Ruzhanets-Ruzhantsoŭ; Ружанец-Ружанцоў Аляксандар), historian, military man, bibliographer. Ružaniec-Ružancoŭ was born in the city of Viaźma, Smalensk region, on August 12, 1893. He died in Danville, Illinois, on July 26, 1966.
Alaksandar Ružaniec-Ružancoŭ was an educated man with wide interests. He began his education in the city of Viaźma and continued it at the University of Moscow, where he graduated as a historian. Subsequently, he attended and graduated from the Alekseyevskoye Military School in Moscow. During World War I, he served in the army and in 1917 began to work with the Belarusian movement. His association with the movement was mostly along military lines: by 1919 he served as a commander of the Belarusian military unit in the Lithuanian Army and fought against the invading Red Army. From 1918 to 1921 Ružaniec-Ružancoŭ established and edited a number of Belarusian military journals. For a short period of time he served in the Belarusian administration in Horadnia region. Between the wars Ružaniec-Ružancoŭ lived in Lithuania and was actively associated with the Belarusian political leadership. During World War II he was active in the Belarusian Army. After World War II he lived in West Germany, then settled in the United States. He headed the Lithuanian Bibliographic Service in Exile. Ružaniec-Ružancoŭ contributed many bibliographical analyses within the framework of the Belarusian Institute of Arts and Sciences.
References: Baćkaŭščyna, Munich, no. 610, September 1, 1963; Encyclopedia Lituanica, Boston, Mass., vol. 4, 1975, pp. 567-568.
@Sabaleŭski Jury (also spelled Sobolewski; Сабалеўскі Юры), land surveyor, administrator, political leader. Sabaleŭski was born into the family of a railroad worker in the town of Stoŭpcy on April 24, 1889. He died in West Germany on December 26, 1957. Sabaleŭski studied in the town of Stoŭpcy and graduated from the Technical School in Kaunas. He began his professional career in Belarus as a land surveyor and had close contact with Belarusian peasants all over Belarus. He contributed numerous reports to the newspaper Naša Niva, reflecting the everyday life of the Belarusian countryside. Sabaleŭski was drafted during World War I and served on various fronts. After the February Revolution Sabaleŭski organized the Belarusian military and went to his native region to assist in organizing the Belarusian administration and the delegation to the All-Belarusian Congress, 1917. After the establishment of the Polish state, he lived in Western Belarus. He was elected to the Polish Sejm and served from 1922 to 1928. Sabaleŭski disagreed strongly with the Polish policies in Belarus, but was also a vocal critic of the activities of the Belarusian Hramada for its soft stand against Soviet influence. He was against any negotiations with the Soviet government. For a short period of time he emigrated from Poland to Germany, but soon returned to Poland. Sabaleŭski was arrested by the Soviets in 1939 and it was only the German-Soviet conflict in 1941 which saved Sabaleŭski from a long term in Siberia. Sabaleŭski was very active during World War II in organizing the Belarusian Self-Assistance Organization (Biełaruskaja Narodnaja Samapomač) and was the second Vice-president of the Belarusian Central Council. After the war Sabaleŭski lived in West Germany, then emigrated to the United States, and returned to West Germany in the mid-fifties. He wrote numerous articles on political topics, but became less active during the post-World War II years.
References: Biełaruski Kalandar, Vilna, 1923, p. 33; Novy Šlach, Miensk-Riga, no. 5(41), March 1944, p. 4; Biełaruskaje Słova, South River, N.J., no. 2(39), 1958.
@Sanhajła-Stankievič Emmanuil (Сангайла-Станкевіч Эмануіл), civic and political leader. Was one of the organizers of the first Belarusian political conference in Miensk, March 1917 and the All-Belarusian Congress, December 1917. Sanhajła was secretary of the military-diplomatic missions of the Belarusian Democratic Republic to Latvia and Estonia in 1919-1920. Sanhajła lived in Riga from 1920 into the 1940s and was the head of the Belarusian Cultural Society in Riga. During World War II he was active in the organization of Belarusian military units and was in the military department of the Belarusian Central Council in Berlin, 1944-1945. He died as a result of a bombing raid on Berlin, March 12, 1945.
References: Ranica, Berlin, March 18, 1945.
@Sierada Ivan (Серада Іван), doctor of veterinary medicine, scholar, political leader. Biographical data are scarce, despite the fact that Sierada was a rather prominent leader during the revolutionary period. In the rank of Colonel in the Russian Army, Dr. Ivan Sierada stood very tall among the Belarusian activists in 1917-1918. In fact he was associated with the Belarusian Movement long before the revolution. It was his organizational skills and his moral authority that were the factors which led to his being elected Chairman of the First All-Belarusian Congress in December of 1917. He also served as chairman of the Council elected at that Congress which carried out the mandate of the Congress, viz., the establishment of the Belarusian State. Dr. Ivan Sierada was elected the first President of the Council of the Belarusian Democratic Republic on March 25, 1918. During 1918-1919 he served in many capacities within the Government of the BDR as well as serving for a very short period as the Chairman of the People's Secretariat. He identified himself as a Social Democrat and chose not to emigrate with the Government of the BDR but to remain in Soviet Belarus. He occupied several important administrative positions in Soviet Belarus and was on the faculty of the Hory-Horki Agricultural Academy. Arrested as a National Democrat in the 1930s, Sierada vanished in the Soviet prison system.
References: Belarusian Institute of Arts and Sciences, New York, Archives.
@Skirmunt Raman (Скірмунт Раман), administrator, political leader, member of the State Duma. Raman Skirmunt was born into a family of a small landowner on the estate of Parečča, Pinsk region in 1868. He entered the political arena as a representative of "the North-Western region" in business circles and was elected to the first session of the State Duma in 1906. He belonged to the Autonomist faction. He also kept in close contact with leaders of the Belarusian political renaissance.
After the February Revolution he became involved in Belarusian politics. He was elected Chairman of the Belarusian National Committee in March of 1917. Skirmunt also headed the club called the Belarusian Representatives of the City of Miensk, which consisted of influential homeowners, land owners, and clergy. It was a powerful group in the life of Miensk. Raman Skirmunt established political contacts with many Russian politicians as well as with political groups in Poland and Germany following the All-Belarusian Congress. He was a member of the Council of the Belarusian Democratic Republic. Skirmunt chaired the pro-German faction in the Council and was in general a strong proponent of closer ties with Germany.
In July of 1918 Skirmunt chaired the Government of the Belarusian Democratic Republic for a short time.
After the western part of Belarus became a part of the Polish state, Skirmunt showed no interest in pursuing a political career with the Belarusians. However, he maintained his ties with many Belarusian leaders. He died during the years of World War II.
References: Bieł. Sav. Enc., vol. 9, 1973, p. 555; Belarusian Institute of Arts and Sciences, New York, Archives.
@Smolič Arkadź (also spelled Smolich Arkadzi; Смоліч Аркадзь), teacher, scholar, political leader. Arkadź Smolič was born into the family of a village priest in 1893. He studied agriculture and economy and, while still a student, entered Belarusian political life. Smolič became especially active during World War I and was one of the leading figures in preparing and convening the first conference of Belarusian political parties and organizations in Miensk in March, 1917. Smolič was elected to the Belarusian National Committee at that conference. He was an active socialist leader and in May 1917 he became the editor-in-chief of the newspaper Hramada, the organ of the Belarusian Socialist Hramada. Smolič authored numerous political articles advancing the principles of a Belarusian Federated Republic. Arkadź Smolič actively participated in the First All-Belarusian Congress (December 1917) and also became one of the members of the First People's Secretariat of the Belarusian Democratic Republic, which was, in fact, the first Belarusian Government. After the revolutionary years Arkadź Smolič lived for a short while in Vilnia and then moved to Miensk. His activities in Soviet Belarus were numerous. He served in many scholarly institutions and initiated many important research projects. However, one of the most important accomplishments of this scholar and leader was authoring the first textbook on Belarusian geography which became a standard textbook for thousands of students in the BSSR as well as in Western Belarus for the decade of the 1920s. Arkadź Smolič was arrested in Miensk in 1930 and vanished in Soviet imprisonment.
References: Jaŭchim Kipel, New York, Radio Liberty, 22.X.1964, script memoirs no. Bel. 5299; Byelorussian Youth, Brooklyn, N.Y., no. 8, 1960, p. 7-10.
@Stankievič Adam, Rev. (also spelled: Stankiewicz, Stankevich; Станкевіч Адам), religious and political leader, scholar, historian. Adam Stankievič was born into a peasant family in the village of Arlaniaty, in the Ašmiana region, on December 24, 1891. He studied by himself while performing his duties as a shepherd. Then he studied in the parochial school in the township of Baruny, and later on, in the towns of Halšany and Ašmiana. As a youngster, he became a correspondent of the newspaper Naša Niva. Adam Stankievič graduated from the Catholic Theological Seminary in Vilnia and then from the Catholic Academy in St. Petersburg. While in St. Petersburg, he became one of the leaders of the Belarusian students and one of the founders of a political party, the Belarusian Christian Democracy. After the February Revolution, he came to Miensk where he became extremely active in Belarusian activities. He assisted in organizing the first Belarusian political conference in March of 1917 and the conference of the Belarusian Roman Catholic Clergy in May of the same year. He was one of the most outstanding activists during the entire period of Belarusian political activities of 1917-1920.
In Western Belarus, Rev. Adam Stankievič was one of the most active and respected political and religious leaders among the Belarusians. He was elected to the Polish Sejm, he edited the Belarusian newspaper Chryścijanskaja Dumka, and participated in numerous international conferences on behalf of the Belarusians. Father Stankievič was one of the most prolific Belarusian political and sociological authors. Several of his books, such as Chryścijanstva i Biełaruski Narod, Vilnia, 1940, and Biełaruski Chryścijanski Ruch, Vilnia, 1939, remain the major scholarly works in the field down to the present day. During World War II, Rev. Adam Stankievič remained outside of the Belarusian political movement, rejecting any possibility of collaborating with the Nazi Germans. In many ways he assisted the anti-German resistance and especially the persecuted Jews whom he often harbored in his church. Some time after the Soviets came to Vilnia in 1944, Father Stankievič was imprisoned and exiled. According to some unofficial sources, he died in a Soviet concentration camp in the mid-1950s. However, printed sources — including the Belarusian-American newspaper Biełarus, which provides a photograph of a symbolic tombstone with an inscription — indicate that Adam Stankievič died in a concentration camp in the Irkutsk region in 1949.
References: Božym Šlacham, Paris, nos. 68-69, Oct.-Dec. 1955, pp. 16-20; Biełarus, New York, nos. 125, 1967: 209, 1974; 374, 1988; Jan Šutovič, red.., Ksiondz Adam Stankievič u 25-yja uhodki śviaščenstva i biełaruskaj nacyjanalnaj dziejnaści (10.01.1915-10.01.1940); Belarusian Institute of Arts and Sciences, New York, Archives, Marian Piaciukievič.
@Stankievič Jan (also spelled Stankevich Ian; Станкевіч Ян), scholar, linguist, historian, and political leader. Jan Stankievič was born into a peasant family in the village of Arlaniaty, near the town of Ašmiana, Vilnia province, on November 26, 1891. He studied in local schools and by himself. At the time he began his schooling he discovered few Belarusian publications, books, or even leaflets, which influenced and directed his Belarusianness and determined his political outlook. He contributed to the newspaper Naša Niva and other Belarusian-language publications. He served in the army during World War I and saw combat on the Rumanian front. After the Revolution he returned to Vilnia where he was involved in Belarusian activities. Stankievič, together with the Łuckievič brothers (Ivan and Anton), was one of the members of the delegation which went from Vilnia to Miensk in 1918 to coordinate political activities and to promote the concept and the need to declare the independence of the Belarusian Democratic Republic. Jan Stankievič was a member of numerous branches of the Government of the Belarusian Democratic Republic.
After the partition of Belarus, Jan Stankievič settled in Vilnia. From there he went to Prague to study at the Charles University. He received a Ph.D. degree in philology. After returning to Vilnia he was elected to the Polish Sejm from 1928 to 1930. Jan Stankievič was teaching in the Belarusian High School in Vilnia and at Warsaw and Vilna Universities from 1932 to 1939. However, most of his energy was directed to studies and research in Belarusian linguistics. He wrote hundreds of articles, numerous books, and edited many scholarly publications.
After World War II Jan Stankievič resided in West Germany and from 1949 on, in the United States. Jan Stankievič was a founding member of the Belarusian-American Association and of the Kryvian (Belarusian) Scholarly Society and other Belarusian scholarly and fraternal organizations. Many of Jan Stankievič's lexicographical works and analyses are still valid presently and constitute an important source for further studies. Jan Stankievič died on July 16, 1976 in Hawthorne, N.J.
References: Biełarus, New York, no. 232, 1976; Biełaruski Śviet, Grand Rapids, Mich., no. 17(46), 1985, pp. 4-20; The Home News, New Brunswick, N.J., July 18, 1976.
@Šantyr Fabijan (also spelled Shantyr Fabian; Шантыр Фабіян), writer, journalist, lawyer, political leader. He was born into the family of a bricklayer in the town of Kapyl, near Słucak, in 1887. He was shot by a Soviet firing squad in the Spring of 1920. Šantyr became involved in the revolutionary movement in his school years. He contributed to the newspaper Naša Niva, writing mostly on literary topics. He was imprisoned and spent a few years in jail. During World War I he became active in the Belarusian political movement and was one of the activists who prepared the All-Belarusian Congress. At that time he wrote a brochure entitled The Need for Belarusian National Activities and for Self-determination of the People, 1918. However, during the revolutionary years Šantyr began to cooperate closely with the left wing of the Belarusian socialists and the Bolsheviks. He became a member of numerous pro-Bolshevik oriented groupings. This fact, however, did not prevent Šantyr from being one of the first Belarusian leaders in the newly-established government of Soviet Belarus to protest the dismemberment of the Soviet Republic of Belarus. He left the Soviet Belarusian Government as a sign of protest against the prevailing Soviet policies. He was soon arrested, accused of counter-revolutionary activities, and shot. Fabijan Šantyr was the first Belarusian national victim who began to cooperate with the Bolsheviks, with the hope of achieving positive results; he paid for this attempt with his life.
References: Ant.Adamovič. Opposition to Sovietization... N. Y., 1958, pp. 191-192; BSSR, Karotkaja Enc., vol. 5, 1981, p. 660; Baćkaŭščyna, Munich, no. 433, November 7, 1958.
@Šyła Mikoła (also spelled Shyla; Шыла Мікола), teacher, political leader. Born in the Miensk province. A Belarusian weekly Apošnija Viestki, Braunschweig, West Germany, April 6, 1948 reported: "April 6, on a Saturday, 1948 at the age of 60 died Mikoła Šyła." Then follows a short obituary and in the next issue of the Bulletin a descriptive necrology of a veteran of the Belarusian movement, Mikoła Šyła. Mikoła Šyła was educated as a teacher in Maładečna Teachers' Seminary, where he also joined the Belarusian Socialist Hramada. He taught in numerous schools in Belarus.
He belonged to the generation of the pioneers of the Belarusian political renaissance. One of the founders of the Belarusian Revolutionary (Socialist) Hramada, contributor to Naša Niva, an organizer of the Belarusian masses, and an active leader in organizing the All-Belarusian Congress. Mikoła Šyła was arrested numerous times, as he used to say, "I count till ten, then I lose track of the number of arrests." Alter the partition of Belarus he lived in Western Belarus and was active in several organizations. Then during World War II he became active again and moved westward. Mikoła Šyła left many memoir-articles about the period. In the West the younger generation used to call him the "Belarusian Gandhi."
The Bulletin says "It only seems recently that Belarusians sang 'As long as Šyła, Hryb, Mamońka live, you will live also.'" Then it continues: "First Hryb passed away, Mamońka died in a Soviet concentration camp; now Šyła has passed away too. He tested tsarist, Bolshevik, and Polish prisons."
References: Apošnija Viestki, Braunschweig, no. 30, April 9, 1948; no. 29, April 6, 1948; Za jednaść, Saulgau, no. 1, April 15, 1948.
@Taraškievič Branisłaŭ (also spelled Tarashkevich Bronislaw; Тарашкевіч Браніслаў), scholar, linguist, historian, political leader. Branisłaŭ Taraškievič was born in the village of Čarnuliški, Vilnia province, on January 20, 1892. He went to grammar school in the village of Łavaryški, and graduated from a gymnasium in Vilnia. Taraškievič established close contact with the Belarusian leadership and activists who were centered around the newspaper Naša Niva. From Vilnia Taraškievič went to St. Petersburg where he enrolled at the University and remained there from 1911 to 1916. His professional interests lay in Belarusian language and literature. His talent was noticed by the famous Russian linguist and scholar, Aleksei Shakhmatov. Under the guidance of Professor Shakhmatov, Branisłaŭ Taraškievič began to write a Belarusian Grammar. His Grammar, published in Vilnia in 1918, marks an important milestone in Belarusian linguistics. After graduating, Taraškievič was appointed to the faculty of the University of St. Petersburg. However, his Belarusian political interests won out and he left St. Petersburg to go to Miensk. Taraškievič entered totally into Belarusian activities: he was one of the organizers of the Belarusian National Committee and was an important administrator in the convening of the All-Belarusian Congress in 1917. Branisłaŭ Taraškievič held numerous important administrative and diplomatic posts in the Government of the Belarusian Democratic Republic. After the partition of Belarus in 1921, Branisłaŭ Taraškievič remained in Western Belarus where he was elected to the Polish Sejm. Taraškievič became one of the most important Belarusian political leaders in Western Belarus. He became the head of the most powerful and numerous Belarusian political party — the Belarusian Peasants' and Workers' Hramada. Unfortunately, through Soviet intrigues and Polish shortsightedness, this organization was crushed by the Polish Government, its leaders were imprisoned or fled the country. Taraškievič was arrested, tried, and sentenced to 12 years in prison. In 1933 Taraškievič was exchanged for another Belarusian political prisoner in the Soviet Union - Francišak Alachnovič. For a few years Taraškievič worked in Moscow in various capacities connected with the International Communist movement, but in 1938 he was arrested and executed in 1941. However, various Soviet Belarusian reference tools give different dates of his death: thus according to Bieł. Sav. Enc., vol. 10, 1974, pp. 235-236 his dates are - Jan. 8(20), 1892 - September 22, 1941; and according to the BSSR Abridged Enc., vol. 5, 1981, pp. 596-597 the dates are: January 20, 1892 - November 29, 1938. An American reference work states that Taraškievič was arrested on May 7, 1937 and died in prison soon after.
References: Biełarus, New York, nos. 74, 1962; 134, 1968; 178, 1972; Baćkaŭščyna, Munich, no. 588, February 11, 1962; Biełaruski Kalandar, Vilna, 1923, pp. 33-34; The Modern Encyclopedia of Russian and Soviet History, vol. 38, 1984, p. 177.
@Ułasaŭ Alaksandar (Уласаў Аляксандар), economist, journalist, political leader. Little personal data about him is available. He was born near the town of Radaškavičy in the Miensk province in 1874. Ułasaŭ studied in local schools and graduated from the Technical Institute of Riga. He entered the Belarusian political movement at the turn of the century and over the years Ułasaŭ became an important force in this movement through the years of the Revolutions. He and the Łuckievič brothers (Ivan and Anton) were the founders of the first Belarusian political party - the Belarusian Revolutionary (Socialist) Hramada. Together with the Łuckievič brothers he established and began publishing the newspaper Naša Niva and a number of other publications. He initiated numerous Belarusian organizations and brought together a number of young, dedicated, and promising Belarusian leaders. Ułasaŭ was also an accomplished journalist and economic analyst. At a time when emigration to the United States was not a very popular phenomenon among the Belarusian intelligentsia, Ułasaŭ developed authoritative arguments favoring Belarusian emigration to the United States and urged the immigrants there to establish their national organizations. Ułasaŭ was heavily involved in national activities prior to the All-Belarusian Congress, and greatly influenced the establishment of the Belarusian Democratic Republic. After the Treaty of Riga in 1921, he settled in Western Belarus where he was elected to the Polish Senate representing the Belarusian population. He headed numerous national organizations, including the Society of Belarusian Schools (TBŠ) during its most difficult times, i.e., after the Polish pogroms of the Belarusian Hramada.
Ułasaŭ was arrested by the Soviets in 1939, imprisoned in Miensk, and vanished. According to reports received by his family, Ułasaŭ was shot in Miensk around the end of June of 1941.
References: Byelorussian Youth, Brooklyn, N.Y., no. 17, 1963, pp. 8-11; Biełaruski Kalandar, Vilnia, 1923, p. 30; Belarusian Institute of Arts and Sciences, New York, Archives.
@Varonka Jazep (also spelled Voronko Iazep; Варонка Язэп), lawyer, journalist, teacher, political leader. Jazep Varonka was born on April 17, 1891 into the family of a poor peasant who became a smith and later a letter-carrier in the township of Dziatłava, Navahradak region. His father wanted him to get an education and sent him to St. Petersburg. The young Varonka enetered St. Petersburg University and graduated in 1915 with a law degree. Varonka was active in St. Petersburg editing the Russian-language newspapers Voskresnaia Vecherniaia Cazeta and Stolichnye Novosti as well as being on the editorial board of the magazine Zritel'. He also wrote poetry under the pen name Iurii Vegov. Varonka came to Miensk after the February Revolution and dedicated himself entirely to Belarusian affairs. He became the prime mover in organizing the All-Belarusian Congress of 1917 while actively participating in a multitude of Belarusian organizations as well as carrying on diplomatic contacts with government circles in St. Petersburg, Kiev, and other cities. He was elected chairman of the Council of the Belarusian Democratic Republic. Together with Anton Łuckievič who came to Miensk from Vilna in 1918, and a few other Belarusian political leaders, Varonka authored the Constituent Charters of the Belarusian Democratic Republic and advocated proclaimimg Belarus an independent state. Jazep Varonka held several important leadership positions in the Belarusian Government including the chairmanship of the Council and the office of the Prime Minister. He also master-minded several diplomatic moves of the Belarusian Government and contributed his professional expertise to state affairs. In addition, Varonka was an able and thoughtful writer who contributed numerous articles on Belarusian statehood, including the analysis of the Belarusian movement, 1917-1920. Varonka also edited the following Belarusian journals: Belorusskaia Zemlia (Miensk, 1919), Varta (Miensk, 1918). In Horadnia he edited Belaruski Narod (in both Russian and Belarusian, Horadnia 1919), in Kaunas the Belarusian magazine Časopis (1919-1920) and Volnaja Litva (1920?) as well as several other publications in Russian and Ukrainian languages.
When the government of the Belarusian Democratic Republic went into exile, Varonka decided to emigrate to the United States. He came to Chicago in 1923 and soon became an outstanding organizer and leader of the Belarusian community in the United States as well as serving as the representative of the Belarusian Democratic Republic. Varonka initiated numerous political programs, and began publishing the first Belarusian newspaper in the United States, Beloruskaia Tribuna (1926). Varonka started a weekly radio program in Chicago in Belarusian and Russian in the late twenties. He was active in Belarusian affairs through the years of Great Depression and World War II. All these years Varonka uncompromisingly promoted the ideals of an independent Belarusian state. His attitude toward Soviet Belarus softened somewhat in the forties, but he did not by any means become a Soviet patriot. Although he was interested in the activities of Belarusians in Chicago who had arrived after World War II, he was not able to establish effective working relations with them. Jazep Varonka merits the title of the outstanding leader of the Belarusian Democratic Republic, and together with J.Čarapuk-Zmahar they must be considered the pioneers of the Belarusian political movement in the United States. He died in Chicago on June 4, 1952.
References: The New York Times, New York, June 6, 1952, 23:4; Baćkaŭščyna, Munich, no. 108, July 20, 1952; Belarusian Institute of Arts and Sciences, New York, Archives.
@Vieras Zośka (Верас Зоська), scholar, writer, political leader. Zośka Vieras is a pen name; her maiden name was Ludvika Sivickaja; her married name is Vojcik. She was born in Ukraine on September 30, 1892. However, she was brought to Belarus when still a very little girl and she grew up in the city of Horadnia. She is still alive (1988) and resides in Vilna. Ludvika Sivickaja graduated from a private school for girls in the city of Horadnia, then from an agricultural college-level school in Warsaw. She became associated with the Belarusian revival movement while still in school in Horadnia and later on she contributed to the newspaper Naša Niva. Sivickaja, together with other youngsters, was a pioneer in organizing a circle of Belarusian Youth in Horadnia. This circle was one of the most active groups in the country, even venturing into the field of publishing. During the 1910s she was active in various Belarusian groups and became an active leader in the Belarusian Socialist Hramada. Sivickaja took an active part in the Hramada conference in Miensk, October 1917. She also worked in Belarusian charitable groups and took part in organizing Belarusian meetings and conferences. During the revolutionary period, Sivickaja married an outstanding Belarusian leader, Fabijan Šantyr, who was one of the first Belarusians executed by the Soviets in 1920. After the revolution Sivickaja settled in Vilna where she was active in numerous Belarusian endeavors. She was also a prolific political and scholarly writer and authored the first Belarusian-Polish-Russian-Latin botanical dictionary, Vilna, 1924. Writing under the pseudonym Zośka Vieras, Sivickaja contributed extensively to many Belarusian journals.
References: Biełarus, New York, nos. 306-307, 1982; Belarusian Institute of Arts and Sciences, New York, Archives; Litaratura i Mastactva, Minsk, no. 39, Oct. 1, 1982.
@Vitan-Dubiejkaŭski Lavon (also spelled: Dubeikoŭski; Вітан-Дубейкаўскі Лявон), architect, businessman, political leader. Vitan-Dubiejkaŭski was born into a small, impoverished, noble Belarusian family on the estate of Dubiejkava on July 7(20), 1869. He studied in local schools and at the age of 17 went to Warsaw to work and continue his education. Dubiejkaŭski enrolled in a renowned technical school from which he graduated as a builder-architect. He continued his education at the Institute of Civil Engineers in St. Petersburg and received the degree of architectural engineer. Dubiejkaŭski went from St. Petersburg to Paris and pursued his studies at the Ecole Speciale d'Architecture, receiving the additional diploma of architect-artist. He began to specialize in church-building construction and built many Roman Catholic churches on Belarusian territory. However, he designed and built many industrial buildings both in Belarus and in Russia. He worked for many well-known architectural firms and founded his own construction company. While studying in St. Petersburg Dubiejkaŭski came into close contact with the Belarusian Socialist Hramada and befriended many Belarusian activists such as Branisłaŭ Taraškievič, Vacłaŭ Ivanoŭski, and others. After the February Revolution, he came to Miensk and began working with the Belarusian movement. Together with Alaksandar Ułasaŭ, he assisted in organizing numerous Belarusian organizations and enterprises and assisted in carrying out the agenda of the Belarusian political conference in March of 1917. Dubiejkaŭski was elected to the Belarusian National Committee at that conference and took an active part in preparations for the All-Belarusian Congress. He served the Government of the Belarusian Democratic Republic in various capacities. After the revolutionary years, Dubiejkaŭski settled in Western Belarus. He turned to his profession and did very well. He was also of great assistance to Belarusians during the election campaign to the Polish Sejm. Following the elections of 1922, he was involved almost totally in professional work, as an architect and a consulting engineer. However, he helped the Belarusian Society in Warsaw assisting them in organizing and supporting many publication programs in Belarusian. During the decade of the 1930s he was often very ill and on November 6, 1940 he died in Vilnia.
References: Kvietka Vitan. Lavon Vitan-Dubiejkaŭski New York, 1954, 40 p.
@Zacharka Vasil (also spelled Zakharka; Захарка Васіль), teacher, administrator, political leader. Zacharka was born into a poor peasant family in the village of Dabrasielcy near the town of Vaŭkavysk on April 1, 1877. When he was 16 years old, he became an orphan and hard work became his way of life as he brought up his two brothers and a sister. But determination paid off and Vasil Zacharka passed the test enabling him to become a parochial school teacher. Zacharka was drafted in 1898 and remained in the military service until after the 1917 Revolution. During his years of service he kept in contact with the Belarusian Socialist Hramada. Zacharka's advancement in the service was outstanding and during the war he became second in command in army supplies for the North-western front. Zacharka enjoyed even more advancement during the war years. After the February Revolution, he became the moving force in organizing Belarusian soldiers on Belarusian territory. Zacharka's wide connections with the military paid off handsomely and he was able to attract numerous officers from the tsarist army into the Belarusian movement. At the conference of Belarusian soldiers, held in Miensk in November, 1917, Vasil Zacharka was elected secretary of the Belarusian Military Council. As part of his military contingent, Zacharka participated in the All-Belarusian Congress. At the Congress Zacharka was elected to the Executive Council of the Congress. The Bolsheviks arrested and imprisoned Zacharka, but he escaped. While in hiding, Zacharka organized the Belarusian military forces and prepared a coup to overthrow the Bolsheviks. The general situation on the front changed, however, and the Belarusians took over power in Miensk on February 19-20,1918.
Vasil Zacharka became a member of the Committee which drafted the Constituent Charters and from this time on he carried out numerous functions in the Government of the Belarusian Democratic Republic. Vasil Zacharka chaired the Belarusian delegation to Moscow to negotiate with the Bolsheviks for recognition of the Belarusian Democratic Republic in July of 1920. He also negotiated with the Poles and the Lithuanians. When the Government of the Belarusian Democratic Republic went westward, Zacharka left Belarus and settled in Prague. He continued to be active in the affairs of the Belarusian Democratic Republic in Western Europe. When Piotra Krečeŭski died in 1928, Vasil Zacharka became Chairman of the Council of the Belarusian Democratic Republic. During World War II the Germans contacted Zacharka seeking the collaboration of the Belarusian Democratic Republic, but Vasil Zacharka declined any collaboration with them. Zacharka was an influential political columnist and contributed numerous important articles to various Belarusian and non-Belarusian newspapers and journals. Vasil Zacharka died in Prague on March 14, 1943.
References: Biełaruskaja Hazeta, Miensk, no. 24(142), March 28, 1943; Za Volu, Paris, no. 1, March 25, 1951; Baćkaŭščyna, Munich, March 15, 1953.
@Zajac Lavon (Заяц Лявон), administrator, political leader. Biographical data are scarce. It is known, however, that Zajac received a very good education and had wide contacts with the military and the Russian administration. He was actively involved in the preparation of the All-Belarusian Congress and was one of the proponents for declaring Belarusian Independence. Lavon Zajac held numerous important administrative and diplomatic positions in the Government of the Belarusian Democratic Republic. Zajac emigrated from Miensk to Horadnia and went to Berlin and Prague.
Zajac was one of the members of the BDR Government who negotiated with the Bolsheviks in 1925. Following this Berlin Conference, Zajac returned to Soviet Belarus. He was soon arrested as a Belarusian National Democrat and vanished into Soviet imprisonment.
References: Belarusian Institute of Arts and Sciences, New York, Archives.
@Žyłunovič Źmicier (also spelled Zhylunovich Zmicier; Жылуновіч Зьміцер), writer, journalist, political leader. He is better known by his literary pseudonym Ciška Hartny (Цішка Гартны). He was born in the town of Kapyl, Słucak region, on October 13, 1887. He died in Soviet prison on April 11, 1937. Žyłunovič came from a worker's family and he himself became a tanner. He studied in local schools and when he became a worker, joined various revolutionary groups and the Socialist-Revolutionary party. Hard work and self-education made up his life-style. Looking for jobs, he travelled extensively through the major cities of Belarus and eventually came to St. Petersburg. He joined the leadership of the Belarusian Socialist Hramada and took an active part in organizing Belarusian workers. Hartny became a regular contributor to Naša Niva and assisted greatly in its distribution. During World War I, Hartny was active, together with other Belarusian leaders in organizing Belarusians for political declarations. Always of a leftist persuasion, he collaborated with the Belarusian national leadership because he could not expand his constituency by pursuing leftist ideologies. He took an active part in preparing the Belarusian political conference in March of 1917 and became a member of the Belarusian National Committee which was assigned to organize the All-Belarusian Congress. When a split occurred in the Hramada in 1918, he became a member of the Bolshevik Party and from there on his political career was associated with pro-Communist groupings and parties. Žyłunovič is considered to be the most influential member of the Belarusian Communist group during 1918-1919. It was he who convinced the Bolsheviks to establish the Belarusian Soviet Socialist republic. He became the first chairman of the newly-proclaimed Belarusian Soviet Republic in 1919. Žyłunovič was one of the most visible and influential leaders in Soviet Belarus for almost a decade. He initiated numerous Belarusian programs and was instrumental in building the foundation of a Belarusian (i.e., Soviet Belarusian) administration.
Źmicier Žyłunovič was one of the leaders who attempted in the mid-1920s to persuade the leadership of the Belarusian Democratic Republic in Prague to immigrate to Soviet Belarus. He succeeded in luring several of the leaders to return, but he did not succeed in persuading the Council of the Belarusian Democratic Republic to disband itself and recognize the Soviet Belarusian Government. In the final analysis, this mission of Žyłunovič together with Janka Kupała and other Soviet Belarusian leaders must be judged a failure. Hartny's career, often bitter and unpleasant, was terminated in 1937 when he was arrested and imprisoned as an "enemy of the Belarusian people." Eye-witness accounts reveal that his stay in prison was a "living hell" and he committed suicide after losing his mind.
Źmicier Žyłunovič is one of the most tragic personalities in the modern Belarusian movement: a convinced socialist, close to Communist ideas, he was nevertheless totally dedicated to the Belarusian national revival and to the notion of Belarusian statehood as an independent nation.
References: Bieł. Sav. Enc., vol. 3, 1971, pp. 367-368; Ant.Adamovich. Opposition to Sovietization... N.Y. 1958, p. 193; The Modern Encyclopedia of Russian and Soviet History, vol. 12, 1979, pp. 87-88; Nioman, Minsk, no. 2, 1988, pp. 7-106.
@Belarusian Revolutionary Hramada, The (Biełaruskaja Revalucyjnaja Hramada; Беларуская Рэвалюцыйная Грамада), political party established in 1902 by Ivan and Anton Łuckievič (later the Belarusian Socialist Hramada).
@Belarusian Socialist Hramada, The (Biełaruskaja Sacyjalistyčnaja Hramada, BSH; Беларуская Сацыялістычная Грамада, БСГ), political party established in December of 1903. In fact this was the renamed Belarusian Revolutionary Hramada which superseded the activities of the latter. The Central Committee of the BSH consisted of Anton Łuckievič, Ivan Łuckievič, Alaksandar Ułasaŭ, Vacłaŭ Ivanoŭski, and Alaksandar Burbis (1905). The BSH had four conferences: 1st, Dec. 1903; 2nd, Jan. 1906; 3rd, March 25, 1917; 4th, June 4(17), 1917. The leadership of the BSH in June of 1917 consisted of: Viačasłaŭ Adamovič, Radasłaŭ Astroŭski, Pałuta Badunova, Bandarčyk, A.Barysionak, Advardy Budźka, Alaksandar Burbis, K.Dušeŭski, Ihnat Dvarčanin, Tamaš Hryb, Usievaład Ihnatoŭski, Jaŭchim Lasko, V.Luzhin, Jazep Mamońka, M.Mialeška, Mucha, Piatroŭski, Pietraškievič, Alaksandar Prušynski, Symon Rak-Michajłoŭski, Arkadź Smolič, Mikoła Šyła, Branisłaŭ Taraškievič, Fiodar Turuk, Jazep Varonka, Źmicier Žyłunovič.
@Belarusian National Committee, The (Biełaruski Nacyjanalny Kamitet; Беларускі Нацыянальны Камітэт) elected at the First Conference of the Belarusian National Organizations and Political Parties in Miensk, March 25-27, 1917. The Committee included: Raman Skirmunt, chairman; members: Paval Alaksiuk, Babarykin, Advardy Budźka, Alaksandar Burbis, Lavon Dubiejkaŭski, Usievaład Falski, Rev. Vincuk Hadleŭski, Vacłaŭ Ivanoŭski, Michał Kachanovič, Aŭhien Kančar, Karuś Kastravicki (Kahaniec), Ivan Kraskoŭski, Arkadź Smolič, Fabijan Šantyr, Branisłaŭ Taraškievič, Lavon Zajac, Źmicier Žyłunovič.
@Central Council of the Belarusian Parties and Organizations, The (Centralnaja Rada Biełaruskich Partyjaŭ i Arhanizacyjaŭ; Цэнтральная Рада Беларускіх Партыяў і Арганізацыяў). Established at the Second Conference of the Belarusian National Organizations and Political Parties in Miensk, July 8-12, 1917. This council superseded the Belarusian National Committee. The leadership of the Central Council included: Jazep Losik, chairman, members: Pałuta Badunova, Kłaŭdziej Dušeŭski, Jazep Dyła, Usievaład Falski, Uładysłaŭ Hałubok, Fabijan Jaremič, Michał Kachanovič, Vanda Lavickaja, Arkadź Smolič, F.Turčynovič, Jazep Vasilevič.
@Central Belarusian Military Council, The (Centralnaja Biełaruskaja Vajskovaja Rada; Цэнтральная Беларуская Вайсковая Рада). This organization was established at the conference of the Belarusian Military groups which included: the Belarusian Soldiers' Organizations of the Western Front, the Belarusian Military Representatives of the XIIth Army, Belarusian Delegates from the Baltic Fleet, and the Belarusian Military Delegation from the Rumanian Front. The conference was held in Miensk on October 18-25 (New Style: October 31 — November 6), 1917. The leadership of the organization included: Symon Rak-Michajłoŭski, chairman, Kanstantyn Jezavitaŭ, 1st vice-chairman, Tamaš Hryb, 2nd vice-chairman, Vasil Zacharka, treasurer, and members at large: Viačasłaŭ Adamovič, Jeraševič, and Mikoła Šyła.
@Supreme Belarusian Council, The (Vialikaja Biełaruskaja Rada; Вялікая Беларуская Рада), under the chairmanship of Jazep Losik, Viačasłaŭ Adamovič and others. The council was established at the series of conferences which were held in Miensk from October 15 to 27, 1917. The aim of the conferences was to centralize the activities of the Belarusian political groups and parties. This council superseded all previous organizations. The leadership of this new organization included members of the Central Council and the leaders of the Central Belarusian Military Council.
@All-Belarusian Congress, The First (Pieršy Ŭsiebiełaruski Kanhres; Першы Ўсебеларускі Кангрэс) convened at the initiative and through the efforts of the Supreme Belarusian Council in Miensk on December 17-31, 1917. The Congress adopted a series of resolutions among which was one underscoring the right of the Belarusian people for self-determination and the establishment of a democratic form of government in Belarus.
The Congress was presided over by Dr. Ivan Sierada. The Congress, in fact, became the First Belarusian People's Assembly which elected its own representatives, the Council of the First All-Belarusian Congress (Rada Ŭsiebiełaruskaha Kanhresu) consisting of 71 members. The Council, in turn, elected the executive committee which was to serve as the organizing body in the process of establishing a modern constitutional democratic Belarusian state.
@Executive Committee of the Council, The of the First All-Belarusian Congress, December 17-31, 1917 (Vykanaŭčy Orhan Rady 1-ha Ŭsiebiełaruskaha Kanhresu; Выканаўчы Орган Рады 1-га Ўсебеларускага Кангрэсу). The following political leaders were elected to the Executive Committee: Jazep Varonka, chairman and in charge of Foreign Affairs; Symon Rak-Michajłoŭski, Military Affairs; Ivan Sierada, Interior Affairs; Makar Kościevič, Education; Alaksandar Prušynski, Labor; Pałuta Badunova, Social and Welfare; Tamaš Hryb, Agriculture; Lavon Zajac, in charge of Committee Affairs; other members included: Lahun, Jazep Dyła, Alaksandar Burbis, Kiuse-ciuz; representative of the Jewish Community, Gutman; delegate of the Poalei Zion, Dr. Zarubavel; Representative of the Lithuanians, Maculis; Representative of the Poles, Prystor; and Representative of the Russian Community, Zlobin.
@Constituent Charter, The
The First Constituent Charter (Pieršaja Ŭstaŭnaja Hramata; Першая Ўстаўная Грамата) was issued in Miensk by the Executive Committee of the Council of the First All-Belarusian Congress, February 21, 1918. The Executive Committee of the Congress, supplemented by the representatives of the revolutionary democracy of the minorities of Belarus, declared itself to be the Provisional Authority over Belarus.
The Second Constituent Charter, issued March 9, 1918 in Miensk, declared Belarus to be the Belarusian Democratic Republic within its ethnographic boundaries.
The Third Constituent Charter, issued in Miensk during the night of March 24/25, 1918, proclaimed the independence of the Belarusian Democratic Republic.
@People's Secretariat, The
The First People's Secretariat (Narodny Sakrataryjat; Народны Сакратарыят) (the Government of the Belarusian Democratic Republic), established February 19-21, 1918. Jazep Varonka, chairman and Foreign Affairs; I.Makrejeŭ, Interior; Arkadź Smolič, Education; E.Bialevič, Justice; Ivan Sierada, Economic Affairs; V.Redźka, Communication, Transportation; H.Belkind, Finances; Pałuta Badunova, Social and Welfare, Housing; A.Karač, Post and Telegraph; Piotra Krečeŭski, State Control; Tamaš Hryb, Agriculture; Kanstantyn Jezavitaŭ, Military Affairs; P.Zlobin, Russian Affairs; L.Gutman, Jewish Affairs; Lavon Zajac, chief of staff; Vasil Zacharka, Treasurer.
This list is taken from Vasil Zacharka's manuscript "The Major Events in the Belarusian Movement," p. 31. The composition of the First People's Secretariat is given slightly differently in other publications such as Piotra Krečeŭski's Zamiežnaja Biełaruś (1926), p. 53; Jazep Najdziuk's Biełaruś Učora i Siańnia (1944), p. 167; N.S.Stashkevich's Prigovor Revoliutsii... (1985), p. 160; E.Kanchar's Belorusskii Vopros (1919), p. 75; Biełaruski Kalendar, Swajak, na 1919 hod. Wilnia, 1919, pp. 25-26; and in Kryvič, 9(1) 1925, p. 92. However, the differences in these listings are not major, simply the omission of a few names such as V.Zacharka, T.Hryb, A.Smolič, L.Zajac, L.Gutman, H.Belkind. Different authors have, however, omitted different names. The First People's Secretariat functioned until May of 1918.
The Second People's Secretariat (Narodny Sakrataryjat; Народны Сакратарыят) of the BDR: May 1918 - May 1918. The official title of the Secretariat was "The Provisional Council of Five" (Časovaja Rada Piacioch). It consisted of Jazep Varonka, Kanstantyn Jezavitaŭ, Piotra Krečeŭski, Vasil Zacharka, and E.Bialevič.
The Third People's Secretariat, May 1918 - June 1918. Chairman and the Prime Minister, Raman Skirmunt; Secretary of Interior, General Kandratovič, Secretary of the Treasury, Chrzanstoŭski, and members: Radasłaŭ Astroŭski and Pavał Alaksiuk.
The Fourth People's Secretariat, June 1918 - June 1918. Chairman, Ivan Sierada, members: Vasil Zacharka, T.Viernikoŭski, and Lavon Zajac.
The Fifth People's Secretariat, June 1918 - December 13, 1919. At the meeting of October 9-11, 1918 the Provisional Constitution of the Belarusian Democratic Republic was adopted and the title The People's Secretariat was changed to "The Council of Ministers" (Rada Ministraŭ). Its membership included: Chairman and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Anton Łuckievič; Education, Arkadź Smolič; Justice, Alaksandar Ćvikievič; Finances, Vasil Zacharka; Interior, Jazep Varonka; State Comptroller, Lavon Zajac; after a rearrangement the Council was joined by Kuźma Ciareščanka, who replaced Jazep Varonka after his resignation, and A.Ladnoŭ, who became the Minister of Military Affairs.
During this period of time the Soviet Republic of Belarus was also established. The Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic was officially proclaimed in the city of Smalensk on January 1, 1919. The first government of Soviet Belarus as of January 1919 consisted of the following persons — non-Belarusians: A.Miasnikow, R.Pikel, I.Reingold, M.Kolmanovich, A.Andreew, K.Rozental, I.Savitskii, S.Bersan, G.Naidzionkow, S.Ivanov, and V.Iarkin (eleven non-Belarusians) and eight Belarusians: Źmicier Žyłunovič, Aleś Čarviakoŭ, Jazep Dyła, Źmicier Čarnuševič, I.Puzyroŭ, A.Kvačaniuk, Usievaład Falski, and Fabijan Šantyr.
@Council of Ministers, The
The (Sixth) Council of Ministers, December 13, 1919 - August 23, 1923.
The Cabinet of Ministers consisted of the following persons: Chairman of the Council, Vacłaŭ Łastoŭski; Minister of Foreign Affairs, A.Ladnoŭ; Minister of Finances, E.Bialevič; Minister of the Interior, Tamaš Hryb; Minister of Justice, Alaksandar Ćvikievič, the State Comptroller, Lavon Zajac; Secretary of State, Dušeŭski.
The (Seventh) Council of Ministers, August 23, 1923 - October 1925. Chairman of the Council and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Alaksandar Ćvikievič; Education, Jazep Varonka; Finances, Vasil Zacharka; the State Comptroller, Lavon Zajac; Secretary of State, U.Prakulevič.
The (Eighth) Council of Ministers, October 1925 - March 14, 1943. Vasil Zacharka became Chairman of the Council of Ministers, October 1925. He assumed the positions of President of the Council of the Belarusian Democratic Republic and chair of the Council of Ministers in 1928.
The (Ninth) Council of Ministers, March 1943 - March 1946. Mikoła Abramčyk assumed the Presidency and the Chairmanship of both Councils: the Council of the BDR and the Council of Ministers.
The (Tenth) Council of Ministers, March 1946 - June 21, 1948. Mikoła Abramčyk continued to head both Councils: the Council of the BDR and the Council of Ministers.
@Council of the Belarusian Democratic Republic, The (Rada Biełaruskaj Narodnaj Respubliki; Рада Беларускай Народнай Рэспублікі), as the supreme elected body of the Republic, was established at the same time as the Belarusian Democratic Republic itself.
The Council of the Republic was (and continues to be) headed by the President (Prezydent Rady Biełaruskaj Narodnaj Respubliki). The following persons have held the position of President:
Dr. Ivan Sierada, March 1918 - June 1918.
Jazep Losik, June 1918 - December 1919.
Piotra Krečeŭski, December 1919 - March 1928.
Vasil Zacharka, March 1928 - March 1943.
Mikoła Abramčyk, March 1943 - May 1970.
Dr. V.Žuk-Hryškievič, May 1970 - November 1982.
Dr. Jazep Sažyč, November 1982 - the present (1988).
The Sessions of the Council of the Belarusian Democratic Republic (Sesyi Rady BNR), from 1948 to the present (1988):
1st - Spring 1946, Regensburg, W. Germany.
2nd - Fall 1947, Osterhofen, W. Germany.
3rd - June 21, 1948, Osterhofen.
4th - October 9-10, 1949, Rosenheim, W. Germany.
5th - Sept. 23, 1950, New York City.
6th - Oct. 28, Nov. 11, 25, 1951, New York City.
7th - Nov. 29, 1953, New York City.
8th - Sept. 23-Dec. 16, 1957. Jubilee session, six meetings.
9th - May 22-June 26, 1960, New York City.
10th - April 13, 1968, New York City.
11th - May 29, 1971, New York City.
12th - April 21, 1973, Toronto, Canada. Special session.
13th - Nov. 30, 1974, New York City.
14th - Nov. 27, 1976, New York City.
15th - Nov. 25, 1978, New York City.
16th - Nov. 24, 1979, New York City.
17th - Nov. 27, 1982, New York City.
18th - Aug. 30, 1986, Cleveland, Ohio.
19th - May 28, 1988, New York City.
References: A.Kalubovič, Na kryžovaj darozie, Cleveland, 1986, pp. 89-93.