Branislaw Tarashkyevich

In this name that follows Eastern Slavic naming customs, the patronymic is Adamavich and the family name is Tarashkyevich.
Branislaw Tarashkyevich
Браніслаў Тарашкевіч
Portrait of Branislaw Tarashkyevich
Born(1892-01-20)20 January 1892
Matsyulishki, Vilna Governorate, Russian Empire
(now Lithuania)
Died29 November 1938(1938-11-29) (aged 46)
Moscow, Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Soviet Union
(now Russia)
NationalityRussian Empire, Poland, Soviet Union
Occupation(s)linguist, politician

Branislaw Adamavich Tarashkyevich[a] (Belarusian: Браніслаў Адамавіч Тарашкевіч; 20 January 1892 – 29 November 1938) was a Belarusian public figure, politician, and linguist.

He first standardized the modern Belarusian language in the early 20th century.[4] The standard was later Russified by the Soviet authorities. However, the pre-Russified (classical) standard version was and still is actively used by intellectuals and the Belarusian diaspora and is informally referred to as Taraškievica, named after Branislaw Tarashkyevich.

Tarashkyevich was a member of the underground Communist Party of Western Belorussia (KPZB) in Poland and was imprisoned for two years (1928–1930). Also, as a member of the Belarusian Deputy Club (Беларускі пасольскі клуб, Byelaruski pasol’ski klub), he was a deputy to the Polish Parliament (Sejm) in 1922–1927. Among others, he translated Pan Tadeusz into Belarusian, and in 1969 a Belarusian-language high school in Bielsk Podlaski was named after him.

In 1933 he was set free due to a Polish-Soviet prisoner release in exchange for Frantsishak Alyakhnovich, a Belarusian journalist and playwright imprisoned in a Gulag, and lived in Soviet exile since then.

He was shot at the Kommunarka shooting ground outside Moscow in 1938 during the Great Purge[5] and was posthumously rehabilitated in 1957.

Notes

  1. ^ Belarusian: Браніслаў Адамавіч Тарашкевіч, romanized: Branislaŭ Adamavič Taraškievič,[1][2][3] Russian: Бронислав Адамович Тарашкевич, romanized: Bronislav Adamovich Tarashkevich, Lithuanian: Bronislavas Taraškevičius, Polish: Bronisław Adamowicz Taraszkiewicz

References

  1. ^ Zaprudnik, Jan (1993). Belarus: at a crossroads in history. Westview Press. pp. 86, 87, 93. ISBN 9780813313399.
  2. ^ "The Journal of Byelorussian Studies". 2 (1–2). Anglo-Belarusian Society. 1969: 105, 106. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  3. ^ Fisiak, Jacek (1980). Historical Morphology. Walter de Gruyter. pp. 122, 124. ISBN 9783110823127.
  4. ^ "ABM -- Philologist/Political Leader: Branislau Tarashkievich (1892 - 1938)". Dec 18, 2000. Archived from the original on 2000-12-18. Retrieved Aug 3, 2022.
  5. ^ Headsman (November 29, 2012). "1938: Branislaw Tarashkyevich, Belarusian linguist". /www.executedtoday.com. Retrieved May 5, 2020.


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