Ivan Melezh (Belarusian: Іван Паўлавіч Мележ; 8 February 1921, Hlinischy, Homiel Voblast — 9 August 1976, Minsk) was a Belarusian writer of fiction and drama.

Biography

He was born to a peasant family. In 1939, he entered the , but was there for only a year when he was drafted into the Red Army and served on the front in the

Odessa Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrativ ...

and

Rostov-on-Don Rostov-on-Don ( rus, Ростов-на-Дону, r=Rostov-na-Donu, p=rɐˈstof nə dɐˈnu) is a port city and the administrative centre of Rostov Oblast and the Southern Federal District of Russia. It lies in the southeastern part of the East Eu ...

areas. He was seriously injured in 1942 and was moved to the rear following his recovery. Initially, he lived in Buguruslan, then studied at Baku State University. He later taught Belarusian literature at Belarusan State University in Minsk. From 1945, he was a member of the Union of Soviet Writers, serving as Secretary after 1966 and Deputy Chairman from 1971 to 1974. From 1967 to 1976, he was a Deputy to the

Supreme Soviet The Supreme Soviet (russian: Верховный Совет, Verkhovny Sovet, Supreme Council) was the common name for the legislative bodies (parliaments) of the Soviet socialist republics (SSR) in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) ...

. He was designated a People's Writer of the Belarusian SSR in 1972 and was awarded numerous prizes, including the Lenin prize for his novels ''People of the Marsh'' (''«Людзі на балоце»'') and ''The Storm's Breath'' (''«Подых навальніцы»''). The central place in Melezh's work is made up by the novels of the ''

Polesye Polesia, Polesie, or Polesye, uk, Полісся (Polissia), pl, Polesie, russian: Полесье (Polesye) is a natural and historical region that starts from the farthest edge of Central Europe and encompasses Eastern Europe, including East ...

Chronicle'' (''«Палеская хроніка»''): ''People of the Marsh'', ''The Storm's Breath'' and ''Snowstorm in December'' (''«Завеі, снежань»''). These novels portray the life in his homeland in the 1920s and 1930s: the establishment of socialism, forced collectivization, and

dekulakization Dekulakization (russian: раскулачивание, ''raskulachivanie''; uk, розкуркулення, ''rozkurkulennia'') was the Soviet campaign of political repressions, including arrests, deportations, or executions of millions of kulak ...

. Melezh attempted to depict the history of this era truthfully, within the constraints imposed by the Soviet regime.

Novels

* «Мінскі напрамак» (''The Minsk Line of Advance'')(1952/1974) * «Палеская хроніка» (''Polesie Chronicles''): ** «Людзі на балоце» (1962) ** «Подых навальніцы» (1966) ** «Завеі, снежань» (1978)

Films based on Melezh's works

* «Дыхание грозы» (1981, directed by ) * «Люди на болоте» (1981, directed by Viktor Turov)

Biography

Novels

Films based on Melezh's works

External links