BGAMLI holds an exhibition dedicated to 135th anniversary of the birth of Belarusian writer Yanka MAUR

The Belarusian State Archives-Museum of Literature and Art (BGAMLI) has opened an exhibition dedicated to the 135th anniversary of the birth of prominent Belarusian writer, honored figure in culture of Belarus, Yanka MAUR (1883-1971).

Yanka Maur (Ivan Mikhailovich Fyodorov) – one of the founders of Belarusian children’s literature, the classic writer in the genres of adventure, fantasy and science fiction.

The BGAMLI Archive accessioned papers relating to Yanka Maur on 3 July 1984 from his son – a known physicist, academician Fyodor Fyodorov. Today BGAMLI’s personal collection of Yanka Maur holds 165 storage items. These are manuscript copies of his unpublished novel Dzyauchyna-matsi, novellas Shlyakh z tsemry, Apovest buduchykh dzyon, Tysyacha dzyon, plays, stories, sketches, essays, notes, satirical articles, as well as correspondence, records of his service and literary activities, many photographs. Some of these documents are presented at the exhibition stands “His way”, “The light of adventures and fantasy”, “His talent – to children”, “From the grateful readers”, “With his literary colleagues”, “In the circle of his family”, “Yanka Maur and Yakub Kolas”, “Yanka Maur – Esperantist”, “Memory”.

At the opening of the exhibition the BGAMLI director Ganna Zapartyka told about the role of Yanka Maur in the Belarusian literature and about his personal archival collection. Especially interesting for the audience was a meeting with Yanka Maur’s grandchildren Marya Mitskevich and Andrey Fyodorov, who shared their vision of Yanka Maur’s creative heritage, recollected the most memorable episodes from the life of their grandfather and told about the new editions of his works.