As part of the Kupala Days, the «Zonal State Archive in Molodechno» presented a poster exhibition «Pavlina Myadelka – the muse in the work of Yanka Kupala»

Published: July 11, 2024

In the Kupala Memorial Reserve «Vyazynka» (Minsk region, Molodechno district) traditional Kupala days were held, dedicated to the birthday of the Belarusian poet, translator, publicist and playwright Yanka Kupala. This weekend, lovers of his work were gathered by the republican festival of poetry, songs and folk crafts «For a hell of a thought about Belarus..».. And at the Zonal State Archive in Molodechno, as part of the literary week, they presented an exhibition of documents dedicated to the singer’s muse, Pavlina Myadelko.

Some talk about Pavlina as the first performer of the main role in the play «Paulinka», others – as about the singer’s beloved, muse (a poem, plays, and many poems are dedicated to her). But the girl herself is an interesting person: teacher, actress, writer, honored cultural figure of the Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic. I personally knew many political and cultural figures of Belarus: poetess Larisa Geniyush, composer Konstantin Galkovsky, Belarusian theater figure Ignat Buinitsky, poetess and political figure Tyotka, writer Zmitrak Byadulya, poet and literary critic Maxim Bogdanovich, writer Ales Adamovich, Belarusian historian Nikolai Ulashchik, poetess Kostancia Builo, writer Maxim Goretsky and many other famous people.

In the documents of the zonal state archive in Molodechno there is some information about the Myadelko family. Thus, in the documents of the Polish period there is information about her parents and brother, who lived in 1921 in the town of Glubokoe, Glubokoe commune, Disna povet, Vilna voivodeship; in documents of the Soviet period (household books of the village of Budslav, former Krivichi district, Molodechno region) for the post-war period – information about the residence of her and her mother. The personal file of Pavlina herself is also kept. It consists of only 9 sheets, but each one is very valuable: a job referral, a personal sheet, an application, an autobiography and two certificates. One of them is dated May 11, 1936, signed by the people’s poet of the BSSR Yanka Kupala. In this document, when mentioning the name Pavlina, he corrects its spelling to Paulina. There is a mark on the document: «Signature of the people’s poet Yanka Kupala of the SSP BSSR Svedchyts».

The last years of her life were spent in her native village.

There, on February 13, 1974, she died and was buried in the cemetery in ag. Budslav, Myadel district, Minsk region. The name of Pavlina Vikentievna Myadelko will forever remain in the memory of her fellow countrymen: the State Educational Institution «Budslavskaya Secondary School», as well as streets, are named after her in Budslav and Minsk.