Stanislaŭ Šabunieŭski (, 1868–1937) was an architect whose buildings "in many respects determined the modern appearance of

Gomel Gomel (russian: Гомель, ) or Homiel ( be, Гомель, ) is the administrative centre of Gomel Region and the second-largest city in Belarus with 526,872 inhabitants (2015 census). Etymology There are at least six narratives of the ori ...

" and a victim of

Stalin's purges The Great Purge or the Great Terror (russian: Большой террор), also known as the Year of '37 (russian: 37-й год, translit=Tridtsat sedmoi god, label=none) and the Yezhovshchina ('period of Yezhov'), was Soviet General Secreta ...

Early years

Šabunieŭski was born into an impoverished Belarusian noble family in the village of Skarodnaje (now in the Yelʹsk District of Belarus). His father served as a postman, later as an assistant postmaster at the

Babruysk Babruysk, Babrujsk or Bobruisk ( be, Бабруйск , Łacinka: , rus, Бобруйск, Bobrujsk, bɐˈbruɪ̯s̪k, yi, באָברויסק ) is a city in the Mogilev Region of eastern Belarus on the Berezina River. , its population was 209 ...

district post office.Асташкевіч, Ірына (2018-07-10).
Колькі будынкаў у Гомелі пабудаваў зархітэктар Станіслаў Шабунеўскі
" ow many buildings in Gomel were built by the architect Stanislaŭ Šabunieŭski?''www.zviazda.by'' (in Belarusian). Retrieved 2022-10-07 Šabunieŭski graduated from a gymnasium in

Slutsk Slutsk ( officially transliterated as Sluck, be, Слуцк; russian: Слуцк; pl, Słuck, lt, Sluckas, Yiddish/Hebrew: סלוצק ''Slutsk'') is a city in Belarus, located on the Sluch River south of Minsk. As of 2022, its population is ...

, then studied architecture in

St. 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 1897, he came to

and started working in the local construction department of the

Libau–Romny Railway Libau–Romny Railway was a railway company that built a railway line in the Russian Empire in 1871–74 to connect Romny in Ukraine with the port in Libau (Liepāja) in present-day Latvia. To do so it passed through Minsk The objective of the r ...

Architectural career

In the early 20th century, Šabunieŭski became a prolific designer of buildings in the centre of Gomel, alternating between different architectural styles – from classicism to modernism to constructivism. His first building designed in 1898 was a men's classical gymnasium, which combined the motifs of classical architecture and the then modern engineering techniques. Today, the building houses the

Belarusian State University of Transport Belarusian State University of Transport (BelSUT) () is a university and a non-profit public higher education institution in Gomel, Belarus. Founded in 1953, this institution has also branch campuses in Orsha and Brest. Until 1993, it was called B ...

.Асташкевіч, Ірына (2018-12-13). "Архітэктар Станіслаў Шабунеўскі стаў ганаровым грамадзянінам Гомеля?" rchitect Stanislaŭ Šabunieŭski became an honorary citizen of Gomel''www.zviazda.by'' (in Belarusian). Retrieved 2022-10-07Архітэктура Беларусі. Энцыклапедычны даведнік rchitecture of Belarus. Encyclopaedic guide Minsk, 1993, p. 609 (in Belarusian) He went on to design the offices of the Aroł and Vilna commercial banks, Savoy hotel (destroyed during military hostilities in 1919), fire station as well as grand houses for Gomel merchants and prosperous professionals. In 1913, Šabunieŭski designed a district hospital funded by the last owner of the

Gomel Palace , russian: Дворец Румянцевых — Паскевичей) is the main place of historical importance in the city of Gomel, Belarus. The grounds of the residence stretch for 800 meters along the steep right bank of the Sozh River. An ima ...

, Princess . Today the building still functions as a hospital. 1 Советская 28.jpg, Building of the former Aroł commercial bank Гомель. Крестьянская 14. Отделение Виленского коммерческого банка. Фото 02.JPG, Building of the former Vilna commercial bank Комиссарова 27.JPG, Building of the former district hospital

Later life

Šabunieŭski had frictions with the Communist authorities immediately after the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and ad ...

but was able to resume his professional activities under the new government. In the 1920s, he worked as a provincial architect and district engineer. He managed a drainage project in Gomel, the construction of the city's water supply and restored the parts of the

damaged by fire in 1919. In 1937, Šabunieŭski was arrested on trumped-up charges and sentenced to 10 years in the

Gulag The Gulag, an acronym for , , "chief administration of the camps". The original name given to the system of camps controlled by the GPU was the Main Administration of Corrective Labor Camps (, )., name=, group= was the government agency in ...

. He died in the same year at the age of 69 as a forced labourer at the construction of the infamous

White Sea–Baltic Canal The White Sea–Baltic Canal (russian: Беломо́рско-Балти́йский кана́л, , ), often abbreviated to White Sea Canal () is a ship canal in Russia opened on 2 August 1933. It connects the White Sea, in the Arctic Ocean, with ...

. He was posthumously exonerated during Gorbachev's

Perestroika ''Perestroika'' (; russian: links=no, перестройка, p=pʲɪrʲɪˈstrojkə, a=ru-perestroika.ogg) was a political movement for reform within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) during the late 1980s widely associated wit ...

in 1989. In December 2018, Šabunieŭski was named an honorary citizen of Gomel in recognition of his contribution to the city.

Further information

Рэпрэсаваная архітэктура
�, д/ф, рэж. Марыя Булавінская, 2019 г., Беларусь 'Repressed Architecture'', documentary directed by Marya Bulavinskaja, 2019, Belarus(in Belarusian)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sabunieuski, Stanislau 1868 births 1937 deaths Belarusian architects Great Purge victims from Belarus Soviet rehabilitations