Prominent People of Belarus

Our republic has rich historic and cultural traditions. We can speak about different people who promoted the development of Belorussia culture and art. Among them you can find the names of politicians and public figures, intellectuals and scientists, heroes of wars and labours, sportsmen and artists, musicians and singers. To being with it we can mention the name Efrosiniya Polotskaya who collected the libraries, rewrote books in the 11th century. Among famous man was dr. Fransisk Scorina, the greatest enlighten, humanitarian and scholar of Renaissance period. He was the son of a Polotsk merchant. Scorina entered the University of Krakov when he was 14. there he obtained the degree of doctor in the science of healthing. In 1957 Scorina was in Prague. There he started his printing activity. Within 3 years he published 22 volumes of Bible translated by him into the Belorussian language. Scorina played a very important role in the development of social and cultural life of Slavonic people and stimulated the progress of Belorussian literature and printing. He was a true renaissance man, his intellectual interests embraced theology, literature, languishing, poetry, art, law, medicine, botany and printing. The most important of his achievements was the translation and publication of the Bible in the Belorussian language. Scorina's Belorussian Bible was the second printed in the native Slavonic tongue. It goes without saying that Belorussian literature has made a great contribution to World literature. The names of Y. Kupala and Y. Kolas, M. Bogdanovich and K. Krapiva, Korotkevich are world famous. Our outstanding national writers Y. Kupala and Y.Kolas created a new Belorussian literature and the Belorussian literature language. They are considered to be the classic of Belorussian literature. I'd like to tell you more about Yanka Kupala. He represents one of the peaks of the Belorussian poetry. The most important factor, that influenced Kupala's works were Belorussians legends, Belorussian daily life. His father was an impoverished aristocrat, a tenant farmer. His home was not far from Minsk, an ordinary spot of house, that has been rebuilt in Vyasanka. It contained cover bets and embroidered hand-towels and books since he was almost a self-taught man. His first poem was "A peasant" a program for the whole of his life. His first collection of poem was "A Flute" marked for its truthfulness ring. In the past few years Belorussian literature has made new strides forward. The novels by I. Melizh V. Bryl I. Shamyakin V.Bykov are profound chronicles and they will remain in our memory forever. After this came a new generation of talented poets and prose writers which enriched our literature. They are R. Baradulin, a master of verse Y.Spivakov, B. Sachanka and others. We have plenty of artists who portray the natural beauty of Belarus, its heroic past and its known, less heroic present. The names of Zaitsev, Tsvirka, Volkov, Savitsky, and many others are known far beyond the borders of the republic. We can find talented Belorussian people in all branches of art. The most famous composers are Churkin, Tsikotsky, Bogatyrov, Luchenok,. There are many famous artists in our native country. Such names as Shagal, Volkov are famous not only in our country, but in many countries of the world. Our ballet troop is considered to be one of the best in the world. The most famous of our dancers are Zakharov, Dushkevich, Fadeyeva. Belorussian music is on the upswing. A great many popular songs, operas and symphonies have been created by the well-known composers such as Semenyaka, Glebov. Many prominent names in the history of Belarus of the 20th century are connected with 2 main events, World War 2 and space exploration. All Belarussians fought heroically defending their Motherland. But we are especially proud of the heroes of the last war: Baslonov, Osipova, Gastello, Talalichin, the defenders of Brest Fortress, ect. In the family of cosmonauts there are 2 Belarussians, Kovalenok and Klimuk. At the present time, the time of revaluation of values, its difficult to find heroes, especially among politicians. Time will put everything in its place and give everybody his due. But one is obvious: great times are created by great men. Their names are sure to become history whatever it may be.