Classic writer of Belarusian literature Maksim Bahdanovich. To the 120th anniversary of the birthday

About the project

The Classic Writer of Belarusian Literature Maksim Bahdanovich. To the 120th Anniversary of the Birthday Page is a special jubilee rubric at the Archives of Belarus website, an internet resource of the State Archives Service of the Republic of Belarus.

The Page is dedicated to the prominent Belarusian writer, one of the founders of the national fiction literature, an outstanding poet, prose writer, literary historian and critic, essayist, translator, a unique person, whose defining quailities were an original talent, willpower and great love for Belarus.

Aims of the project

The purpose of the project is to show what a great contribution Bahdanovich made into the development of Belarusian literature and the national rebirth in Belarus, to acquaint the general readership with the poet’s life and literary output by creating in the Internet a more complete picture on the subject with the use of primary documentary sources.

Additionally, the project aims to expand knowledge into the history of Belarus and the Belarusian national culture.

The structure of the project 

The Page consists of four sections:

• An overview of Bahdanovich’s life and work.

• Summary information on the first editions of Bahdanovich’s works available from the Belarusian State Archives-Museum of Literature and Art. The page presents four editions with links to the scanned images of book’s cover, title page, preface and contents in the Belarusian version of the website.
  
• A survey of Belarusian and foreign collections containing records on Bahdanovich.
  
• An online exposition of archival records and materials relating to Bahdanovich.
  

In all, on display there are 394 archival sources (digital copies of textual records, photographs, sound recordings, drawings, museum exhibits), which were selected from five state archives in the Republic of Belarus: the Belarusian State Archives-Museum of Literature and Art (291 items), the Belarusian State Archives of Films, Photographs and Sound Recordings (45), the National Archives of the Republic of Belarus (29), the National Historical Archives of  Belarus (25) and the National Historical Archives of Belarus in Hrodna (4). The exposition is organised by 8 topics illustrating various aspects of Bahdanovich’s life and creative work.

The material is structured in two levels:

– List of records, including their title, place and date of creation, type and language, and archive location index.

– Digital copies of the original archival sources (textual records, drawings, photographs, sound recordings) performed in the size most appropriate for the particular case.

The majority of documents (almost two thirds of the total) are textual records (247 items), over a quarter (102) are documentary photographs, and 40 sound records. In addition, there are two drawings and seven museum items (on three photographs). 

Texts of records are mainly in Belarusian (including Latin script) and Russian. There are also three records in Polish and two in Ukrainian. The third part of all records are handwritten copies. Among them are 15 autographs by Bahdanovich in Belarusian, Russian and Ukrainian (including three original exemplars). There are also 29 autographs of 17 other persons – relatives (father, brother Leu, sister N. Kuntsevich, sister-in-law K. Peshkova), literary critics, composers, poets, translators, who were connected to the creative work of Bahdanovich.

The records and materials on display illustrate the different aspects of Bahdanovich’s life and work. These are his family history, personal life, studies, work and public activities. The exposition offers a variety of poetic and prose pieces of all genres in which Bahdanovich worked and the archive material illustrating his creative relationship with the figures in culture and science. In addition, on display there are records relating to the activities of his parents and brothers. A series of records deal with the evaluation of Bahdanovich’s literary output by contemporaries and descendants and a tribute to his memory. 

The exhibited records and materials date from the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries (from the time of the Russian Empire to the present day). These include personal papers – correspondence, reminiscences by relatives and friends, autobiographical materials. There are also official documents issued by the state and party authorities and the Writers’ Union of Belarus, reviews in newspapers and magazines. Among documentary photographs are 19 original prints from the family album of the Bahdanovich family. Among the sound recordings are Bahdanovich’s verse performed by the stage artists and his works set to music.

Project participants

General supervision of the project – V. Biryukova, first deputy director at the Department for Archives and Records Management of the Justice Ministry of the Republic of Belarus.

Coordination for selection of archival materials and advisory assistance – U. Kruk, division head for scholarly use of records and information and R. Zhaunyarkevich, adviser at the scholarly use of records and information division at the Department for Archives and Records Management of the Republic of Belarus.

The project contents and technical design are created by teamwork of the Belarusian Research Center for Electronic Records:
D. Hlazouskaya, A. Salamevich, D. Kryvashei, S. Rybchonak, S. Marasanava, H. Dashkevich, Yu. Zaranka, V. Adamchyk.

A significant contribution to the development of contents on archival collections, records and materials was made by the staff members of the Belarusian State Archives-Museum of Literature and Art: H. Zapartyka, T. Kekeleva and A. Khvaleuka.

In the identification of records and creation of their digital copies also participated:
– Belarusian State Archives of Films, Photographs and Sound Recordings (Т. Rakhmanko, A. Palishchuk, P. Krauchuk, D. Kurnevich),
– National Archives of the Republic of Belarus (М. Starastsenka, І. Yurkova, Т. Mikheyonak),
– National Historical Archives of Belarus (U. Dzyanisau, Т. Navitskaya),
– National Historical Archives of Belarus in Hrodna (І. Rabukhina, H. Semyanchuk).

Notes

The use of the material featured on the page, The Classic Writer of Belarusian Literature Maksim Bahdanovich. To the 120th Anniversary of the Birthday requires a reference to the source of the information: the Archives of Belarus website and the individual archive in which the records are held. For other issues relating to the featured records, please contact the individual archives (their contacts can be found on the Archives and Institutions page on this website).

For your comments and opinions please email: ed@archives.gov.by.

For the full text about the project please see the Belarusian version of this site.