Aleksandr Mikhailovich Adamovich ( be, Аляксандр Міхайлавіч Адамовіч, translit=Aliaksandr Michailavič Adamovič, russian: Алекса́ндр Миха́йлович Адамо́вич; 3 September 1927 – 26 January 1994) was a
Soviet
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...
Belarus
Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...
ian writer, screenwriter, literary critic and democratic activist. He wrote in both the
Russian
Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including:
*Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
*Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...
and
Belarusian languages.
Having fought as a
child soldier in the
Belarusian resistance during World War II
The Belarusian resistance during World War II opposed Nazi Germany from 1941 until 1944. Belarus was one of the Soviet republics occupied during Operation Barbarossa. The term Belarusian partisans may refer to Soviet-formed irregular milita ...
, much of Adamovich's work revolved around the
German occupation of Byelorussia during World War II
German invasion of the Soviet Union on 22 June 1941 led to the military occupation of Byelorussia until August 1944 with the Soviet Operation Bagration. The western parts of Byelorussia became part of the Reichskommissariat Ostland in 1941, and ...
and the Belarusian partisan movement. Among his best-known books are ''Khatyn'' and ''The Blockade Book''. Adamovich also wrote multiple screenplays, including that of ''
Come and See
''Come and See'' (russian: Иди и смотри, ''Idi i smotri''; be, Ідзі і глядзі, ''Idzi i hliadzi'') is a 1985 Soviet anti-war film directed by Elem Klimov and starring Aleksei Kravchenko and Olga Mironova. Its screenplay, wr ...
''.
A prominent critic of
Stalinism and the Soviet system, he supported several democratic causes in the former Soviet Union, including
Soviet dissidents, the
Inter-regional Deputies Group, the
Belarusian Popular Front
The Belarusian Popular Front "Revival" (BPF, be, Беларускі Народны Фронт "Адраджэньне", БНФ; ''Biełaruski Narodny Front "Adradžeńnie"'', ''BNF'') was a social and political movement in Belarus in the late 1 ...
and
President of Russia
The president of the Russian Federation ( rus, Президент Российской Федерации, Prezident Rossiyskoy Federatsii) is the head of state of the Russian Federation. The president leads the executive branch of the federal ...
Boris Yeltsin
Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin ( rus, Борис Николаевич Ельцин, p=bɐˈrʲis nʲɪkɐˈla(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ ˈjelʲtsɨn, a=Ru-Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin.ogg; 1 February 1931 – 23 April 2007) was a Soviet and Russian politician wh ...
. He has been highly regarded for his austere yet deeply humane anti-war stance, moral courage, and uncompromising honesty.
Early life and World War II
Aleksandr Mikhailovich Adamovich was born 3 September 1927 in the village of Konyukhi in
Minsk Region
Minsk Region or Minsk Oblast or Minsk Voblasts ( be, Мі́нская во́бласць, ''Minskaja voblasć'' ; russian: Минская о́бласть, ''Minskaya oblast'') is one of the regions of Belarus. Its administrative center is Minsk ...
of what was then the
Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic of the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
. Both his parents were doctors. Shortly after his birth, he moved, along with his parents, to the village of Glusha, in
Bobruysk Region
Bobruysk Region (russian: Бобруйская Область, ''Bobruyskaya Oblast'', be, Бабруйская вобласць, ''Babruysk Voblast''), created on September 20, 1944, was an administrative division of Belarus with its administrat ...
. During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
, Adamovich, aged 15, became a
partisan unit member from 1943.
Adamovich resumed his education following the end of fighting in Belarus in 1944. After the war, he entered the
Belarusian State University
Belarusian State University (BSU) ( be, links=no, Белару́скі дзяржа́ўны ўніверсітэ́т, ; russian: links=no, Белору́сский госуда́рственный университе́т) is a university in Mins ...
where he studied in the
philology
Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined as th ...
department and completed graduate course; he later studied in
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...
at the Higher Courses for Screenwriters and in the
Moscow State University
M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU; russian: Московский государственный университет имени М. В. Ломоносова) is a public research university in Moscow, Russia and the most prestigious ...
.
Literary activities
Adamovich was a member of the
Union of Soviet Writers
The Union of Soviet Writers, USSR Union of Writers, or Soviet Union of Writers (russian: Союз писателей СССР, translit=Soyuz Sovetstikh Pisatelei) was a creative union of professional writers in the Soviet Union. It was founded ...
from 1957, although he disliked the organisation and considered it to be too strongly supportive of the Soviet government.
In 1962, Adamovich became an educator of Belarusian literature at Moscow State University, but was fired in 1966 for refusing to sign a letter condemning
dissident
A dissident is a person who actively challenges an established political or religious system, doctrine, belief, policy, or institution. In a religious context, the word has been used since the 18th century, and in the political sense since the 20th ...
writers
Andrei Sinyavsky
Andrei Donatovich Sinyavsky (russian: Андре́й Дона́тович Синя́вский; 8 October 1925 – 25 February 1997) was a Russian writer and Soviet dissident known as a defendant in the Sinyavsky–Daniel trial in 1965.
Sinyav ...
and
Yuli Daniel
Yuli Markovich Daniel ( rus, Ю́лий Ма́ркович Даниэ́ль, p=ˈjʉlʲɪj ˈmarkəvʲɪtɕ dənʲɪˈelʲ, a=Yuliy Markovich Daniel'.ru.vorb.oga; 15 November 1925 — 30 December 1988) was a Russian writer and Soviet dissident ...
. In 1976, he was awarded the
Yakub Kolas
Yakub Kolas (also Jakub Kołas, be, Яку́б Ко́лас, – August 13, 1956), real name Kanstantsin Mikhailovich Mitskievich (Канстанці́н Міха́йлавіч Міцке́віч, ) was a Belarusian writer, dramatist, poet a ...
Belarus State Prize in literature for ''Khatyn''.
Most of Adamovich's works were about the
German occupation of Byelorussia during World War II
German invasion of the Soviet Union on 22 June 1941 led to the military occupation of Byelorussia until August 1944 with the Soviet Operation Bagration. The western parts of Byelorussia became part of the Reichskommissariat Ostland in 1941, and ...
, with his most well-regarded works including the
novella ''Khatyn'' and the memoir collection ''I am from the Fiery Village''. For ''I am from the Fiery Village'', Adamovich collaborated with two other Belarusian writers,
Janka Bryl and
Uladzimir Kalesnik, in interviewing three hundred survivors of the German occupation of Belarus.
In 1989, Adamovich became one of the first members of the Belarusian chapter of
PEN International
PEN International (known as International PEN until 2010) is a worldwide association of writers, founded in London in 1921 to promote friendship and intellectual co-operation among writers everywhere. The association has autonomous Internatio ...
(
Vasil Bykaŭ
Vasil Uladzimiravič Bykaŭ (often spelled Vasil Bykov, be, Васі́ль Уладзі́міравіч Бы́каў, russian: Василь Влади́мирович Быков) (19 June 1924 – 22 June 2003) was a prolific Soviet and Belarus ...
was founder and president of the Belarusian PEN). In 1994, following Adamovich's death, the Belarusian PEN Centre created the Ales Adamovich Literary Prize, a literary award to gifted writers and journalists.
Political activities
Adamovich's maternal grandfather, Mitrafan Tychin, in 1930 was arrested and forced into internal exile in the
Yakut Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic
The Yakut Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (russian: Якутская Автономная Советская Социалистическая Республика, ''Yakutskaya Avtonomnaya Sovetskaya Sotsialisticheskaya Respublika''; sah, С ...
, alongside his wife and three children. His experiences with hardship under the rule of
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secretar ...
in the 1930s resulted in Adamovich becoming a prominent critic of
Stalinism and the Soviet political system.
In 1982, Adamovich represented the delegation of the Byelorussian SSR to the
United Nations General Assembly
The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; french: link=no, Assemblée générale, AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as the main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ of the UN. Curr ...
.
After the
Chernobyl disaster in 1986, which had significant effects on Belarus, Adamovich actively promoted the disaster's effects among the
Soviet ruling elite.
From 1989 to 1991, Adamovich was a member of the
Congress of People's Deputies of the Soviet Union
The Congress of People's Deputies of the Soviet Union (russian: Съезд народных депутатов СССР, ''Sʺezd narodnykh deputatov SSSR'') was the highest body of state authority of the Soviet Union from 1989 to 1991.
Backg ...
, from the anti-communist
Inter-regional Deputies Group.
Adamovich was also a significant supporter of the
Belarusian Popular Front
The Belarusian Popular Front "Revival" (BPF, be, Беларускі Народны Фронт "Адраджэньне", БНФ; ''Biełaruski Narodny Front "Adradžeńnie"'', ''BNF'') was a social and political movement in Belarus in the late 1 ...
, assisting in the group's founding and operations.
Following the
dissolution of the Soviet Union, Adamovich chose to remain in Russia, where he had lived since 1986. In Russia, he continued his anti-communist activism, leading to him becoming co-chair of the
Memorial organisation. In October 1993, amidst the
1993 Russian constitutional crisis
The 1993 Russian constitutional crisis, also known as the 1993 October Coup, Black October, the Shooting of the White House or Ukaz 1400, was a political stand-off and a constitutional crisis between the Russian president Boris Yeltsin and t ...
, Adamovich was a signatory of the
Letter of Forty-Two, indicating his support for Yeltsin remaining in office.
Death and legacy
Adamovich died on 26 January 1994, at the age of 66, shortly after testifying for a property dispute involving two former literary organisations. According to his wife, the cause of death was a heart attack. Adamovich was remembered by Russian government news agency
TASS
The Russian News Agency TASS (russian: Информацио́нное аге́нтство Росси́и ТАСС, translit=Informatsionnoye agentstvo Rossii, or Information agency of Russia), abbreviated TASS (russian: ТАСС, label=none) ...
as a "prominent public activist who devoted much of his strength and energy to the strengthening of democracy in Russia".
In accordance with his will, he was buried in Glusha, next to his parents.
Adamovich has been posthumously regarded as among Belarus's greatest writers, and his works have received translation into over 20 languages.
Svetlana Alexievich
Svetlana Alexandrovna Alexievich (born 31 May 1948) is a Belarusian investigative journalist, essayist and oral historian who writes in Russian. She was awarded the 2015 Nobel Prize in Literature "for her polyphonic writings, a monument to suf ...
, the Belarusian winner of the
Nobel Prize in Literature 2015, names Adamovich as her "main teacher, who helped her to find a path of her own".
Honours and awards
*
Order of the Patriotic War
The Order of the Patriotic War (russian: Орден Отечественной войны, Orden Otechestvennoy voiny) is a Soviet military decoration that was awarded to all soldiers in the Soviet armed forces, security troops, and to partisa ...
2nd class
*
Order of the Red Banner of Labour
The Order of the Red Banner of Labour (russian: Орден Трудового Красного Знамени, translit=Orden Trudovogo Krasnogo Znameni) was an order of the Soviet Union established to honour great deeds and services to th ...
*
Order of the Badge of Honour
The Order of the Badge of Honour (russian: орден «Знак Почёта», orden "Znak Pochyota") was a civilian award of the Soviet Union.
It was established on 25 November 1935, and was conferred on citizens of the USSR for outstanding ...
*
Medal "To a Partisan of the Patriotic War" 2nd class
*
In 1997 Ales Adamovich was recognized (posthumously) with the "Honor and Dignity of Talent" award (“За честь и достоинство таланта”). Recipients of this noble award include
Dmitry Likhachov,
Viktor Astafyev
Viktor Petrovich Astafyev also spelled Astafiev or Astaf'ev (russian: Ви́ктор Петро́вич Аста́фьев; 1 May 1924 – 29 November 2001), was a Soviet and Russian writer, playwright and screenwriter. He was recognized with th ...
,
Chinghiz Aitmatov
Chinghiz Torekulovich Aitmatov (as transliterated from Russian; ky, Чыңгыз Төрөкулович Айтматов, translit=Chynggyz Törökulovich Aytmatov; 12 December 1928 – 10 June 2008) was a Kyrgyz author who wrote mainly in Russia ...
,
Vasil Bykaŭ
Vasil Uladzimiravič Bykaŭ (often spelled Vasil Bykov, be, Васі́ль Уладзі́міравіч Бы́каў, russian: Василь Влади́мирович Быков) (19 June 1924 – 22 June 2003) was a prolific Soviet and Belarus ...
,
Fazil Iskander,
Boris Slutsky,
Bulat Okudzhava
Bulat Shalvovich Okudzhava (russian: link=no, Булат Шалвович Окуджава; ka, ბულატ ოკუჯავა; hy, Բուլատ Օկուջավա; May 9, 1924 – June 12, 1997) was a Soviet and Russian poet, writer, musici ...
.
Selected works
;Novels and stories
* ''Partisans'' (in Russian, "Партизаны"), a novel (1960–63) and a film under same name.
* ''Khatyn'', in Russian, "Хатынская повесть", published in 1972, in Belarusian, "Хатынская аповесць", published in 1976; English translation ''Khatyn'' published by Glagoslav, 2012; originally written in Belarusian.
[Timothy Snyder]
Literary acts of memory
''Times Literary Supplement'', 17 July 2013, p. 10.
* ''I am from the Fiery Village'' ("Я з вогненнай вёскі"), Adamovich, Ales, and Yanka Bryl and Uladzimir Kalesnik, 1977; English translation, Progress Publishers, Moscow, 1980.
* ''Chasteners'' ("Каратели"), 1980.
* ''
The Blockade Book'' ("Блокадная книга"), in collaboration with
Daniil Granin
Daniil Aleksandrovich Granin (russian: Дании́л Алекса́ндрович Гра́нин; 1 January 1919 – 4 July 2017), original family name German (russian: Ге́рман), was a Soviet and Russian author.
Life and career
Granin st ...
, 1977–81, written in Russian and later translated into Belarusian; in English translation: Peak Independent Publishers, Moscow, 2003.
;Criticism
Problems with the New Way of Thinking Ales Adamovich' "sometimes controversial writing has been at the cutting edge of new thinking in the Soviet Union."
;Screenplay
* Voyna pod kryshami, 1967
* ''
Come and See
''Come and See'' (russian: Иди и смотри, ''Idi i smotri''; be, Ідзі і глядзі, ''Idzi i hliadzi'') is a 1985 Soviet anti-war film directed by Elem Klimov and starring Aleksei Kravchenko and Olga Mironova. Its screenplay, wr ...
'', in collaboration with
Elem Klimov
Elem Germanovich Klimov (russian: link=no, Элем Германович Климов; 9 July 1933 – 26 October 2003) was a Soviet and Russian filmmaker. He studied at the Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography, and was married to film dire ...
(''Иди и смотри'', 1985).
* ''
Franz + Polina'', 2006
* Chitaem 'Blokadnuyu knigu', 2009
References
External links
Ales Adamovich biography
*
ttps://web.archive.org/web/20071007213806/http://www.pen-centre.com/eng/premium.html ''The Ales Adamovich Literary Prize'' Belarusian PEN-center
Ales Mikhailovich Adamovich, bio- and bibliography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Adamovich, Ales
1927 births
1994 deaths
20th-century Belarusian writers
20th-century male writers
Belarusian male writers
Belarusian partisans
Belarusian screenwriters
Belarusian State University alumni
BPF Party politicians
Child soldiers in World War II
High Courses for Scriptwriters and Film Directors alumni
Members of the Congress of People's Deputies of the Soviet Union
Moscow State University alumni
People from Kapyl District
Recipients of the Byelorussian SSR State Prize
Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour
Soviet literary historians
Soviet male writers
Soviet partisans
Soviet screenwriters