{"id":951386,"date":"2008-04-09T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2008-04-09T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/archives.gov.by\/en\/?page_id=951386"},"modified":"2021-08-30T21:24:43","modified_gmt":"2021-08-30T18:24:43","slug":"yanka-kupala-personality-and-work","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/archives.gov.by\/en\/welcome-to-the-archives-of-belarus-website\/subject-guides-to-archival-records\/famous-people\/yanka-kupala-personality-and-work","title":{"rendered":"Yanka Kupala: personality and work"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Archival documents online<\/a><\/p>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\n

Overview<\/h2>\r\n\r\n

\"Yanka <\/p>\r\n\r\n

Yanka KUPALA, the classic writer of Belarusian and world literature, one of the founders\r\nof modern Belarusian literature and literary Belarusian language, People’s Poet of\r\nBelarus, the spiritual and moral leader of national rebirth in Belarus. A poet,\r\nplaywright, publicist, translator, and public figure. <\/p>\r\n\r\n

The real name of Yanka Kupala, as registered at birth, is Ivan Daminikavich Lutsevich.\r\nHe was born on 7 July 1882 (new style) on the farmstead of Viazynka, Minsk district, Minsk\r\nprovince (now the village of Viazynka, Maladzechna district, Minsk region). His parents,\r\nDaminik Anufryevich and Bianigna Ivanauna, came from a minor gentry background, with the\r\ndistinctions of the gentry class but close to the villagers in their economic status and\r\nmode of living. The Senate of the Russian Empire did not confirm the noble origin of the\r\nLutsevich family. Though Ivan was recorded as nobleman when baptised at the Catholic\r\nchurch of Radashkovichi, later however, according to official documents, he belonged to\r\nthe lower-middle class. The economic status of the Lutsevichs sharply deteriorated in the\r\n1870s when the family was transferred from the farmstead of Piaski (also called\r\nLazaraushchyna or Lutsevichi; now in Uzda district, Minsk region), where they had been\r\nliving since the 17th century. (Until then, the Lutsevichs, though they had no perpetual\r\nland as a gentry paying money rent, but they had a manor on terms of free use.)\r\nAfterwards, Daminik Lutsevich was obliged to hold land on lease. The family had many\r\nchildren, and they often moved from place to place. Ivan, the eldest son in the house, was\r\nhis father’s main helper. <\/p>\r\n\r\n

Since childhood the future poet had been interested in Belarusian folklore. He began\r\nreading rather early, craved for knowledge, yet his parents had no means to give him a\r\ncomplete, systematic education. The boy actively learned many things by himself. Between\r\n1888 and 1890 he was taught by travelling tutors, studied at the people’s school in Senno,\r\nand then at the private preliminary school in Minsk. Only at the age of sixteen he was\r\nable to finish a complete course (two classes in one year) at the people’s school in\r\nBialaruchi. <\/p>\r\n\r\n

Between 1895 and 1904 the family lived on the farmstead of Selishcha (now in Lagoisk\r\ndistrict, Minsk region). The acquaintance with Z. Chakhovich, the owner of the\r\nneighbouring estate, a participant in the Uprising of Kalinouski, deeply affected the\r\nyoung man’s worldview. Ivan often used his rich library, which also contained illegal\r\nliterature, mainly about the people’s revolt of 1863. This acquaintance stimulated the\r\ndevelopment of national self-awareness in the young man and awakened his interest in the\r\nBelarusian past. <\/p>\r\n\r\n

During six years (1902-1908) in order to support the family after his father’s death in\r\n1902, Ivan had not only to work on his homestead but was also looking for jobs in other\r\nplaces. He used to be a home tutor, a steward at the landlord’s manor, a manual labourer,\r\nand for three years he had been working as an assistant brewer. This was the period of his\r\nfirst literary attempts. <\/p>\r\n\r\n

The novice poet would read a lot, particularly liking the writers close to ordinary\r\npeople and who wrote about their life and work. Of especial interest to him were the works\r\nby N. Nekrasov, A. Koltsov, M. Lermontov, T. Shevchenko, A. Mitskevich, Yu. Slavatski, M.\r\nKanapitskaia, V. Syrakomlia, E. Ozheshko, and more. Later Maksim Gorki made a strong\r\ninfluence on Yanka Kupala. <\/p>\r\n\r\n

The first poems, sentimental and romantic, were written in Polish (1902), but very soon\r\nthe poet realised that his native Belarusian language was the only environment in which he\r\ncould express in the best way his thoughts and aspirations. Writing in Belarusian was a\r\nvery courageous decision at that time. The Belarusian language was banned, and book\r\npublishing in Belarusian was impossible. Ya. Kupala wrote in his autobiography, “In\r\n1904 the Belarusian leaflets and revolutionary brochures in the Belarusian language came\r\ninto my hands. This finally decided me as a Belarusian and that my only mission was to\r\nserve my people with my whole heart and soul”. This awareness also came from the\r\nacquaintance with the 19th-century works of the Belarusian authors F. Bagushevich and V.\r\nDunin-Martsinkevich. <\/p>\r\n\r\n

The earliest among the poet’s well-known works in Belarusian, “My Destiny”\r\n(June 15, 1904) expresses psychological sentiments of an ordinary man, his oppression, and\r\npredestination of the course of his life. On May 15, 1905 the Minsk-based Russian\r\nnewspaper Severo-Zapadny Krai (The North-Western Land) published the poem “A\r\npeasant”, the first printed work of the poet, which touches upon the topics of human\r\ndignity and self-affirmation of the labouring villager. <\/p>\r\n\r\n

From this time the author began using the pseudonym Yanka Kupala instead of his\r\nofficial name, Ivan Lutsevich. The pen-name Kupala refers to the folk festival of summer\r\nsolstice, Kupalle, related to the quest for the magic flower of happiness, which the poet\r\nunderstood as the pursuit of better destiny and bright future. <\/p>\r\n\r\n

On May 11, 1907 Nasha Niva (Our Field) published Kupala’s poem “To the\r\nReaper”, which became his first appearance in the Belarusian-language press.\r\nThereafter his works were regularly published in this newspaper. The main themes of his\r\npoetry of that time were the wretched life of the villager and the beauty of his native\r\nland. Kupala was a Romantic poet, yet he also contributed to the ideas of revolutionary\r\nrenewal, connecting the ideals of national rebirth with the radical revolutionary reforms.\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n

During this time he produced the poems “In Winter”, “To Nobody”,\r\n“A Cripple”, and “The Payment of Love”, based on real facts from the\r\nlife of the Belarusian villager, proving the author’s love for romantic heroes and bright\r\nextraordinary events, as well as the dramatic poem “The Eternal Song”, a hymn of\r\npeasants’ yearning for happiness. <\/p>\r\n\r\n

“The Flute”, Kupala’s first collection of poetry written in 1905-1907, and\r\nthe poem “The Payment of Love” were published in Saint-Petersburg in 1908. These\r\nlyrics express in elegiac form the villager’s perpetual complaints over his hard lot and\r\nthe expectations of the common people and of the poet himself as an exponent of their\r\nthoughts and sentiments. The book included for the first time the poem “And, Say, Who\r\nGoes There?”, which played an important role in the formation of the Belarusian\r\nnation, being an unofficial hymn of Belarus for many years. “The Flute” was\r\ntwice confiscated by the authorities. On the occasion of the book’s appearance in print,\r\nthe Belarusian publicist and literary critic, U. Samoila, wrote about its author,\r\n“The sun of fresh and genuine poetry looked into the window of a dark, poor, yet\r\nlarge house of the Belarusian people! So let he be for Belarus like Shevchenko was for\r\nUkraine!.. ” <\/p>\r\n\r\n

In 1908<\/b> and 1909<\/b> Yanka Kupala lived in Vilna (Vilnius), contributed to\r\nNasha Niva, and worked as librarian in a private library. During this time he produced the\r\npoems “To Pilipauka” and “Why” based around the tragic events from the\r\nlife of the Belarusian villagers. <\/p>\r\n\r\n

In the years 1909-1913<\/b> Kupala studied the theory and history of literature at\r\nthe Cherniaev General Education Courses in Saint-Petersburg, where he made acquaintance\r\nwith the best representatives of Russian intelligentsia and revolutionary youth, was a\r\nmember of the Belarusian Scholarly Literary Circle, a cultural educational organisation of\r\nBelarusian students at St. Petersburg University. In 1910 Kupala’s works became known to\r\nMaxim Gorky, who showed great interest and genuine admiration for them. In summer 1912, a\r\nmemorable meeting of Yanka Kupala and Yakub Kolas happened; until then they were little\r\nacquainted with each other, yet they well knew each other’s literary works. This\r\nacquaintance gradually turned into friendship between the two great men of letters. <\/p>\r\n\r\n

In 1910-1913 Kupala produced the romantic poems “The Gravemound”,\r\n“Bandarouna” and “The Lion’s Grave”, based on folklore, and the\r\ndramatic poems “A Dream on the Mound” and “During the Halt”, in which\r\nhe showed himself as an exponent of national romanticism. These works are permeated with\r\ndeep philosophical thoughts about the past and present of the poet’s native land. <\/p>\r\n\r\n

The second book of poetry “The Minstrel”, revealing the poet’s romantic\r\nattitude and his suffering over the fate of his native land, was published in the autumn\r\nof 1910. The third book “On Paths of Life” was published in 1913. In addition to\r\nworks of clear patriotic and civil orientation this included the masterpieces of Kupala’s\r\nphilosophical, landscape and intimate lyrics. In these books Kupala calls for struggle\r\nagainst social and national oppression. <\/p>\r\n\r\n

Besides, Kupala began working as a playwright. His first endeavours in this field were\r\nrather successful and laid the beginning for the Belarusian national comedy and drama. The\r\ncomedy “Paulinka” and the theatre farce “Prymaki” ridicule the vulgar\r\nroutine life of the lower ranking nobility. The characters of Paulinka and her beloved\r\nboy, Yakim, represent new ideas appearing in the village life. The drama “The Ravaged\r\nNest” shows the hard destiny of the landless peasantry after the Reform of 1861 and\r\ntheir pursuits of better future. <\/p>\r\n\r\n

Kupala also showed himself as a translator. Before 1913 he translated from Russian into\r\nBelarusian works by I. Krylov, A. Koltsov, and N. Nekrasov; from Ukrainian, T. Shevchenko;\r\nfrom Polish, A. Mitskevich, M. Kanapnicka, W. Syrakomlia, and the plays “The Village\r\nGirl” and “Courtings” by V. Dunin-Martsinkevich. Thanks to Kupala’s works\r\nof Petersburg period, Belarusian literature began penetrating into European cultural\r\nspace. The urgent problems of the day were shown in them with deep philosophical\r\nunderstanding, on high artistic level, and with regard to national cultural\r\ncharacteristics. <\/p>\r\n\r\n

Between October 1913 and August 1915<\/b> Kupala again lived in Vilna, worked at the\r\nBelarusian Publishing Association, and contributed to Nasha Niva; as an editor of this\r\nnewspaper he was subjected to legal prosecution by the tsar’s authorities. He participated\r\nin the arrangement of literary meetings with the Russian, Lithuanian and Polish writers;\r\nmaintained friendly relations with the Lithuanian cultural figures: the poet L. Gira, the\r\ncomposer S. Shymkus, the painter and composer V. Churlenis. In 1914 he met the Russian\r\npoet V. Briusov, whom he regarded as his teacher and who later translated some of his\r\nverse into Russian. <\/p>\r\n\r\n

The motives of national rebirth and safeguarding the native language became\r\nincreasingly expressive in the literary works of that time. Kupala’s publicistic writings\r\ncalled for better social conditions for the broad masses and touched upon the issues of\r\nnational self-consciousness. In 1913 in the article “Why is Our Song Crying?” he\r\ngave his view on the principles of contemporary Belarusian literature, that is the need\r\nfor national idea, democratism, and orientation to the high artistic level of European\r\nliterature. In the article “And Yet We Live!..” he polemised both with the\r\nPolish nationalists, who thought of Belarus as part of Poland, and with the local\r\nchauvinist Black Hundreds, who treated the country as a “true Russian land”, and\r\nshowed the achievements of the Belarusian national rebirth and cultural movement. In his\r\narticle “Do We Have the Right to Reject Our Native Language?” Kupala referred to\r\nhis native language as the people’s highest value. At this same time the masterpieces of\r\nhis love lyrics and a cycle of his anti-war poetry “The Songs of War”, echoing\r\nthe beginning of the First World War, appeared in print. <\/p>\r\n\r\n

In summer 1915, with the German troops approaching, Nasha Niva ceased publication and\r\nKupala left Vilna. <\/p>\r\n\r\n

From September 1915<\/b> Kupala lived in Moscow, where he studied history and\r\nphilosophy at the Shanevski People’s University. In January 1916 he married Uladzislava\r\nFrantsauna Stankevich. Soon afterwards he enlisted in the army; he served as a seniour\r\nworker in a roadmaking squad of the Warsaw Road Communications District in Minsk, Polatsk\r\nand Smolensk. Throughout the year of 1918 Kupala lived in Smolensk. From July he was a\r\nsupply agent at the Food Committee of Western Region and traveled extensively around the\r\nSmolensk, Orel and Kursk provinces. In autumn 1918 he applied to the department of art\r\nhistory at the Smolensk Branch of Moscow Archaeological Institute. The life conditions and\r\nthe war did not stimulate the creative process. From the mid-1915, and for over three\r\nyears Kupala wrote no poetry. <\/p>\r\n\r\n

The Revolution of 1917 and the Civil War, 1918-1920, gave birth to the motives\r\ncondemning violence, anti-humanism, and class hatred. At the end of October 1918<\/b>\r\nafter a long literary silence Kupala wrote the poems “For My Native Land”,\r\n“On the Road”, “The Song”, “To My People”, and “To the\r\nRally!”, revealing his disillusionment in the Revolution and concern for the\r\nBelarusian people, calling on them to unite and to decide their fate themselves. <\/p>\r\n\r\n

From January 1919<\/b> Kupala permanently lived in Minsk; for a time he worked as a\r\nlibrarian at the institution of the People’s Commissariat of Education. He continued to\r\nstay in Minsk during the Polish occupation (August 1919 – July 1920), and in early 1920 he\r\nendured a severe disease. After the Red Army came, he was an editor at various Belarusian\r\npublications, an assistant head at the literary publishing department of the People’s\r\nCommissariat of Education, and contributed to the magazine Volny Stsiag (Free Banner). <\/p>\r\n\r\n

In 1919-1920 Kupala wrote many publicistic works. In the article “The Cause of\r\nBelarusian Independence in the Past Year”, etc. he provided insight into the ways of\r\nthe Belarusian people to national self-determination, promoting national revolution as an\r\nideal that could make possible for each people to become master of their own fate, as\r\nopposed to social revolution. Kupala’s vision was marked by democratism, anti-violence,\r\nand assertion of humanistic spiritual values. At this time he also wrote some of his poems\r\nand translated “The Word about Igor’s Regiment” and the workers’ hymn “The\r\nInternationale”. <\/p>\r\n\r\n

Between 1921 and 1930<\/b> Kupala actively participated in the literary, social and\r\ncultural life, in particular in the foundation of the Belarusian State University, the\r\nNational Theatre, and several publishing houses, worked in the commission for establishing\r\nthe Institute of Belarusian Culture. He was elected a full member of this Institute, which\r\nwas reorganized into the Belarusian Academy of Sciences in 1928. He also headed a\r\nliterary-art section of the scientific terminological commission at the People’s\r\nCommissariat of Education. In 1924 and 1925 he was a technical editor at the Belarusian\r\nState Publishing House. On June 10, 1925 the Council of People’s Commissars of the\r\nBelarusian Soviet Socialist Republic (BSSR) awarded Yanka Kupala, the first among\r\nBelarusian writers, the honorific title of the National Poet of Belarus, with a right to a\r\nlifelong pension and relieving him of all the positions in order to build favourable\r\nconditions for his creative work. From 1928 Kupala was a full member of the Belarusian\r\nAcademy of Sciences; and from 1929, of that of Ukraine. <\/p>\r\n\r\n

The book “Heritage”, which included poetry written between October and\r\nDecember 1918, appeared in print in 1922. The book was entitled after the programme\r\nphilosophical-patriotic poem of the same name. All the works are here linked by the\r\nthought about the destiny of the Belarusians at the turning point in history, showing the\r\ntragedy of the revolutionary events that brought new trials to the native land. The poetry\r\nbook “The Unknown”, which included verse written predominantly in 1919-1924,\r\ncame out in 1925. The poem of the same name “The Unknown” deals with national\r\nconstruction in Belarus and the spiritual self-determination of the Belarusian people. The\r\nbook “Fading”, with poetry written mainly before 1915 and in 1918-1919, was\r\npublished in 1930. <\/p>\r\n\r\n

The tragicomedy “Tuteishiya” (The Locals), written in 1922, voices an idea of\r\nBelarusian national independence both from the West and from the East, denouncing\r\nopportunism and national nihilism in a high satirical form. <\/p>\r\n\r\n

Beginning in the second half of the 1920s<\/b> \u041aupala was openly persecuted as one\r\nof the so-called natsdems (national democrats). In May 1930, Zviazda (The Star), the\r\nofficial organ of the Belarus Communist Party, issued an article in which Kupala was\r\ndenounced as “an ideologist of bourgeois national rebirth”. Kupala’s relatives\r\nwere dispossessed of their property as kulaks (better-off peasants), yet they avoided\r\ndeportation to the North. In the summer of the same year Kupala was summoned to the GPU,\r\nor State Political Office, to be interrogated in the concocted case against the Union for\r\nthe Liberation of Belarus, slated for the role of the leader of this mythical\r\norganization. In November, Kupala was again giving evidence at the GPU. During the\r\ninterrogation he showed fortitude and dignity, as was admitted even by the investigators,\r\nand declined the accusations against himself and the others. Persecution by the repressive\r\norgans and the poor psychological condition resulted in his attempting suicide on November\r\n20, 1930. In December 1930 Zviazda published a so-called “letter of repentance”,\r\nwritten, according to many researchers, from dictation, in which the poet was forced to\r\naccept his “mistakes” and “harmful looks”, and in which he promised\r\n“to do his best for the socialist construction”. <\/p>\r\n\r\n

Later Kupala was repeatedly elected a member of the Central Executive Committee of the\r\nBSSR and a delegate to the BSSR Supreme Council and the Minsk Town Council; he was one of\r\nthe editors of the BSSR Constitution text, participated in various committees for\r\ncelebrations and commemoration of the classic authors of Russian and other national\r\nliteratures, participated in many literary conferences and congresses. In May 1934, he was\r\nelected to the Union of Soviet Writers. The impression was created that he actively\r\nparticipated in public life, yet this only served as a mask for the authorities to cover\r\nthe policy of moral terror conducted by the Stalinist regime against Kupala. <\/p>\r\n\r\n

Kupala’s literary activity slowed sharply and it was not until the mid-1930s it again\r\nrevived, with the Liaukouski Cycle. As to the poems “Over the River Oressa”\r\n(1933) and “Barysau” (1934), written in the style of socialist realism, their\r\nartistic value was not adequate to the poet’s creative potential. The collection of poetry\r\n“The Song of Construction”, in which Kupala showed the process of construction\r\nof new forms of life, was published in 1936. “To an Order-Bearing Belarus”, the\r\ncollected works of Soviet period, appeared in print in 1937. Apart from these, in the\r\n1930s Kupala translated Pushkin’s poem “The Bronze Horseman” and a number of\r\npoems and verses by T. Shevchenko. <\/p>\r\n\r\n

In 1937<\/b> Kupala again found himself in the list of repression victims, but the\r\nlocal repressive organs, though they appealed to the higher authorities for his arrest,\r\nreceived no sanction. At the same time simultaneously, in January 1939, Kupala was\r\ndecorated with the Order of Lenin. In October the same year he attended, with the group of\r\nBelarusian writers, the People’s Congress of Western Belarus, which adopted the\r\ndeclaration for the inclusion of Western Belarus into the Belarusian Soviet Socialist\r\nRepublic. In 1941 Kupala was awarded the USSR State (Stalin) Prize of first degree for his\r\nbook “With My Heart”, which included the poem “The Destiny of Taras”,\r\na poetic description of the life of Taras Shevchenko, the prominent Ukrainian poet, and\r\nthe poems glorifying the Soviet life, written in 1937-1939. <\/p>\r\n\r\n

During the Great Patriotic War<\/b> the poet lived in Moscow, and then in the village\r\nof Pechischi near Kazan. In his poetry and publicistic writings of that time he called for\r\nstruggle against the Nazis and expressed confidence in the victory over the enemy. The\r\narticles with the poet’s signature were posted in the newspapers Pravda, Izvestiya,\r\nKrasnaia Zvezda, and the like. Kupala was a presidium member of the Pan-Slavic\r\nAnti-Fascist Committee, and took part in various public actions against the invaders. In\r\nJune 1942 he left for Moscow to participate in the celebration of his 60th birth\r\nanniversary. On 28 June he tragically died in unexplained circumstances, having fallen\r\ninto the staircase opening at the 10th floor of Hotel Moskva. <\/p>\r\n\r\n

In 1962<\/b> the urn with the poet’s ashes was taken to Minsk to be buried at\r\nMilitary Cemetery. <\/p>\r\n\r\n

* * * <\/p>\r\n\r\n

Yanka Kupala’s life was full of trial and hardships. Yet his high virtues of a man,\r\ncitizen and artist–honesty, humanism, love to his people and his native land, allegiance\r\nto the main idea of his life, that is the national, social and spiritual liberation of all\r\npeople, artistically reflected in his works–these remained unchanged and unquestioned in\r\nthe course of time. Kupala ranks among the greatest writers of world literature, who are\r\ndestined to deeply cognise their time, people and history, and express this in a sparkling\r\nmanner peculiar to them alone. <\/p>\r\n\r\n

One cannot but agree with the Belarusian literary critic who told of Kupala’s work in\r\nthe following words, “Kupala’s creative output is a chronicle of life of the\r\nBelarusian people, reflecting their ideology and poetic vision at the turning points in\r\nthe history of the first half of the twentieth century. It is remarkable for deep national\r\ncharacter and artistic originality.” <\/p>\r\n\r\n

Tvardovski’s vision of Yanka Kupala is also very accurate, “A lyric of striking\r\ntalent, the Belarusian bard, who expressively revealed the soul of his country and whose\r\npoetic nature represented the creative power of his people.” <\/p>\r\n\r\n

The sonorous adjectives that are often heard in reference to Kupala as a great people’s\r\npoet, a prophet of national rebirth, and even founder of the nation are proved to be quite\r\nappropriate here. Kupala ranks among those prominent writers whose works, being of\r\nperpetual value, make up the classics of national and world culture. <\/p>\r\n\r\n

* * * <\/p>\r\n\r\n

Kupala’s work and his role in the national rebirth of Belarus have been highly\r\nevaluated by his descendants. <\/p>\r\n\r\n

His literary legacy is studied by a special field in Belarusian literary studies known\r\nas Kupalaznaustva<\/em> (Studies of Yanka Kupala). <\/p>\r\n\r\n

His works were repeatedly issued in single editions. The collections of his works were\r\npublished in 1925-1932 (in six volumes; the first ever collection of volumes in the\r\nhistory of Belarusian literature), 1928-1940 (four volumes), 1952-1954 (six), 1961-1963\r\n(six), 1972-1976 (seven), 1995-2003 (nine). <\/p>\r\n\r\n

Many of Kupala’s verses and poems are included in school curriculum in Belarusian\r\nliterature. In the years 1959-1965 the Kupala Literary Prize was awarded for works of\r\npoetry and drama; and from 1965, the Kupala State Prize of Belarus. <\/p>\r\n\r\n

In Minsk there is the Yanka Kupala State Literature Museum, which has four branches:\r\nthe “Akopy” in Lagoisk district, the “Yakhimaushchyna” in Maladzechna\r\ndistrict, the Kupala Memorial Reserve “Viazynka”, where the traditional Kupala\r\nfestivals of poetry are held each year, and the “Liauki” in Orsha district. <\/p>\r\n\r\n

The poet’s name is attached to the Literary Institute of the Belarusian Academy of\r\nSciences, the National Academic Theatre in Minsk, the University of Grodno, a village in\r\nthe Glusk district, a village in the Pukhavichi district, a number of collective farms,\r\nlibraries, schools and streets in many towns and villages throughout Belarus. <\/p>\r\n\r\n

Yanka Kupala has been extensively portrayed in art. Many sculptural, musical and\r\ncinematographic works, paintings, and poetic pieces are dedicated to the poet. The\r\nmonuments to Kupala are erected in Viazynka, Akopy, Radashkovichi, Liauki, and Minsk. The\r\ncommemorative plaques are attached to the houses in which Kupala lived at different time –\r\nin Liauki (Orsha district), Viazynka and Yakhimaushchyna (Maladzechna district), the\r\nvillages of Sennitsa (Minsk district), Staraia Belitsa (Senno district), Bialaruchi and\r\nKosina (Lagoisk district), in the towns of Marian Gorka, Barysau, Maladzechna, and Kapyl.\r\nA number of paintings dedicated to the poet’s personality and work were assembled in the\r\nalbum “Yanka Kupala in the works of Belarusian artists”. Many art exhibitions\r\nwere dedicated to the poet’s jubilee dates. A commemorative coin was released specifically\r\non his 110th birth anniversary. The composer V. Pomazau produced the vocal symphony\r\n“Yanka Kupala”. The poet’s life and creative work were portrayed in the\r\ndocumentary chronicle “\u0410nd Cried the Cuckoo”, the television films “A Bow\r\nto My People for their Songs”, “Never Have I Died”, and “Mass for\r\nKupala”. <\/p>\r\n\r\n

Kupala’s works have inspired many composers. M. Churkin produced the opera “The\r\nRavaged Nest”. The poem “The Lion’s Grave” laid the ground for the opera\r\n“Masheka” by R. Pukst and the symphony “Poem-Legend” by Ya. Glebau.\r\nBased on subjects from “The Gravemound” and “The Lion’s Grave” Ya.\r\nGlebau also produced the ballets “The Darling” and “The Gravemound”.\r\nI. Luchanok wrote the poem-legend “Gusliar” based on “The Gravemound; G.\r\nGarelava wrote the symphony “Bandarouna”; Yu. Semianiaka, the music comedy\r\n“Paulinka”. The popular vocal instrumental ensemble “Pesniary”\r\nperformed an opera parable “The Song of Fate” with Kupala’s verse. The poet’s\r\nlyrics were also set to music by M. Aladau, M. Antsau, A. Bagatyrou, K. Galkouski, A.\r\nGrynevich, M. Matsison, S. Palonski, A. Pashchanka, R. Pukst, L. Ragouski, A. Sakalouski,\r\nA. Turankou, U. Terauski, Ya. Tsikotski, M. Churkin, L. Yampolski, and more. <\/p>\r\n\r\n

Kupala’s dramatic pieces were staged in many theatres. His plays “Paulinka”\r\nand “The Ravaged Nest” and the poem “The Lion’s Grave” were made to\r\nfilms. <\/p>\r\n\r\n

Yanka Kupala has won international recognition, as is testified by a broad public\r\nresonance his works received in many countries, being translated into nearly a hundred\r\nlanguages. The poem “And, Say, Who Goes There?” was translated into 82 foreign\r\nlanguages, including the most widespread, such as English, Arabic, Italian, Chinese,\r\nGerman, Russian, French, Hindi, Japanese, and more. <\/p>\r\n\r\n

The commemorative signs in honor of Yanka Kupala outside Belarus speak of his\r\nworld-wide esteem. His monument stands in New York’s Arrow Park; another one is in Moscow.\r\nThe commemorative plaques are placed in Saint-Petersburg, Smolensk, Kislovodsk, the\r\nvillage of Pechischi near Kazan and the village of Sofino in Moscow Region (Russia),\r\nVilnius (Lithuania), the village of Gaspra near Yalta (Ukraine). Kupala’s name is attached\r\nto the steamships in the Dunai and Volga Steamship Companies. His name is also given to\r\nthe school and street in Dushanbe (Tadjikistan), a library in Kharkov, streets in Kiev and\r\nZaporozhie (Ukraine), Tashkent (Uzbekistan), Tbilisi (Georgia), Riga (Latvia), Nizhni\r\nNovgorod (Russia), Bialystok (Poland), and more. In 1932, the poet’s name was attached to\r\nthe library in Port Allegro, Brazil. <\/p>\r\n\r\n

The centenary of the poet was celebrated under the aegis of UNESCO. <\/p>\r\n\r\n

In 1996, the Yanka Kupala International Fund was established. <\/p>\r\n\r\n

In 2007, Belarus celebrated at national level the poet’s 125th birth anniversary. <\/p>\r\n\r\n


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The website “Archives of Belarus” presents a virtual exposition of 116\r\ndocuments on Yanka Kupala, among these are the poet’s autographs, original works, text\r\nrecords, documentary photographs, drawings and plans, and sound recordings. The documents\r\nare organised by six topics illustrating various aspects of Kupala’s life and creative\r\nwork. The materials are in Belarusian, Russian and Polish. <\/p>\r\n\r\n

The source materials were selected from the holdings of the seven Belarusian\r\narchives–the Belarusian State Archives-Museum of Literature and Art, the Belarusian State\r\nArchives of Films, Photographs and Sound Recordings, the National Archives of the Republic\r\nof Belarus, the National Historical Archives of Belarus in Minsk, the Belarusian State\r\nArchives of Scientific Documentation, the State Archives of Minsk Region, the National\r\nHistorical Archives of Belarus in Grodno–and the Kupala State Literary Museum. <\/p>\r\n\r\n

The survey of documents and the article on Kupala’s life and work were prepared by\r\nteamwork of archivists from the Belarusian Research Center for Electronic Records with the\r\nassistance from the Department for Archives and Records Management of the Republic of\r\nBelarus. <\/p>\r\n\r\n

The English page is abridged from the Russian version, which additionally offers\r\nKupala’s first editions with annotations and quotations and the survey of archival\r\ncollections on Kupala in Belarus and abroad. <\/p>\r\n\r\n

The examples of Kupala’s poetry can be found on a separate website Belarusian\r\nLiterature in English translation,<\/a> the project implemented by the Yanka Kupala Central\r\nPublic Library with the support of the National Commission of the Republic of Belarus for\r\nUNESCO. <\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Archival documents online Overview","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":126943,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-951386","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archives.gov.by\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/951386"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archives.gov.by\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archives.gov.by\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archives.gov.by\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archives.gov.by\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=951386"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/archives.gov.by\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/951386\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1003084,"href":"https:\/\/archives.gov.by\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/951386\/revisions\/1003084"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archives.gov.by\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/126943"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archives.gov.by\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=951386"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}