Alaiza Pashkevich (or Ciotka; be, Алаіза Пашкевіч, ''Alaiza Paškievič''; 15 July 1876 – 5 February 1916) was a Belarusian poet and political activist of Belarusian national-democratic rebirth.
[Пашкевіч (Цётка) Алаіза Сцяпанаўна](_blank)
spadchyna.net
. svaboda.org (14 July 2006)
Life and career
Alaiza Pashkievich was born to a wealthy
szlachta
The ''szlachta'' (Polish: endonym, Lithuanian: šlėkta) were the noble estate of the realm in the Kingdom of Poland, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth who, as a class, had the dominating position in the ...
family.
She graduated from
Vilnius
Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional urb ...
Private School V. Prozaravej. After moving to
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
, in 1902, she graduated externally from the Gymnasium Alexandria for girls and joined a school for physical education teachers, Lieshafta AF (1902–04).
Pashkievich was one of the founders of the
Belarusian Socialist Assembly
The Belarusian Socialist Assembly, BSA ( be, Беларуская сацыялістычная грамада, translit=Bielaruskaja sacyjalistyčnaja hramada, BSH) was a revolutionary party in the Belarusian territory of the Russian Empire. It wa ...
. In 1904, she gave up teaching and returned to Vilnius with an awakened class, national and women's consciousness and from that moment on, "the woman question" was an important part of her ideas on social justice.
She organized workers' groups, wrote and promoted anti-government proclamations, and took part in debates and political meetings. Because of her political activism, she was forced to emigrate to Galicia, which was then part of the
Austro-Hungarian Empire
Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...
. She lived in Lviv.
Pashkievich began teaching as a free student at the Faculty of Philosophy at the University of Lviv. In 1906, she published two collections of poems, Хрэст на свабоду and Скрыпка беларуская in
Zhovkva
Zhovkva ( uk, Жовква ; pl, Żółkiew; yi, זאָלקוואַ, translit=Zolkva; russian: Жо́лква, 1951–1992: ''Nesterov'') is a city in Lviv Raion, Lviv Oblast (region) of western Ukraine. Zhovkva hosts the administration of Zho ...
. At the same time she traveled illegally to Vilnius, where she participated in the issuance of the newspaper ''Nasha Dola''. Its first issue included her story ''The bloody claws oath''.
In 1908–09 she lived in
Krakow and studied at the
Jagiellonian University
The Jagiellonian University (Polish: ''Uniwersytet Jagielloński'', UJ) is a public research university in Kraków, Poland. Founded in 1364 by King Casimir III the Great, it is the oldest university in Poland and the 13th oldest university in ...
's
Faculty of humanities. In 1911, she married
Steponas Kairys
Steponas Kairys (; 1879 in Užnevėžiai near Ukmergė – December 16, 1964 in Brooklyn) was a Lithuanian engineer, nationalist, and social democrat. He was among the 20 men to sign the Act of Independence of Lithuania on February 16, 1918.
...
, a Lithuanian engineer and social democracy activist. In the same year, she returned to Belarus and joined national educational activities. She performed with the Bajnicki theater in various parts of Belarus. She was also the founder and first editor of ''Łučynka'', a Belarusian magazine for children and adolescents.
During World War I, Alaiza Pashkievich worked as a Sister of Charity in a military hospital in Vilnius. At the beginning of 1916, she traveled to her parents and helped villagers sick with typhoid. She also fell ill with typhus and died 5 February 1916.
Famous works
* "Belarusian violin" (Скрыпка Беларуская)
* "To you, neighbors" (Вам, суседзі)
* "Summer" (Лета)
* "My thoughts" (Мае думкі)
* "Faith of a Belarusian" (Вера беларуса)
* "Man hasn't changed" (Мужык не зьмяніўся)
* "At the graveyard" (На магіле)
* "On the other side" (На чужой старонцы)
* "Autumn" (Восень)
* "Artist Grajka" (Артыст грайкa)
* "Cross to the freedom" (Хрэст на свабоду)
* "Sea" (Мора)
* "Good news" (Добрыя весці)
* "A rebel" (Бунтаўнік )
* "With the banner" (Пад штандарам)
* "On the New Year's Eve" (Перад Новым годам)
* "Lasy" (Лясы)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pashkevich, Alaiza
1876 births
1916 deaths
People from Shchuchyn District
People from Lidsky Uyezd
Belarusian nobility
Belarusian Socialist Assembly politicians
20th-century Belarusian poets
Belarusian independence activists
Belarusian women activists
Belarusian women poets
Belarusian socialist feminists
20th-century women writers
Deaths from typhus