Fabijan Šantyr
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Fabijan Šantyr (also spelled Fabiyan Shantyr, ; 4 February 1887 - 29 May 1920) was a
Belarusian Belarusian may refer to: * Something of, or related to Belarus * Belarusians, people from Belarus, or of Belarusian descent * A citizen of Belarus, see Demographics of Belarus * Belarusian language * Belarusian culture * Belarusian cuisine * Byelor ...
poet, writer and public figure who has been regarded as “the first victim of he Bolsheviks">Bolsheviks.html" ;"title="he Bolsheviks">he Bolsheviksin...Belarusian politics and literature”.Арлоў, Уладзімер (2020).
ІМЁНЫ СВАБОДЫ (Бібліятэка Свабоды. ХХІ стагодзьдзе.)
' [''Uładzimir Arłou. The Names of Freedom (The Library of Freedom. ХХІ century.)''] (PDF) (in Belarusian) (4-е выд., дап. ed.). Радыё Свабодная Эўропа / Радыё Свабода - Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. pp. 120–121.


Early years

Šantyr was born into the family of an artist in Slutsk, Slucak and lost his mother at a young age. In his youth he worked as a decorator and was engaged in self-education. "I grew up in an atmosphere of complete independence and never accepted any conditions that in one way or another would limit the will of the individual," he wrote in one of his letters. He was imprisoned in Slucak between 1905-07 for participation in the  events of the
1905 Revolution The Russian Revolution of 1905, also known as the First Russian Revolution, was a revolution in the Russian Empire which began on 22 January 1905 and led to the establishment of a constitutional monarchy under the Russian Constitution of 1906, t ...
.


Involvement in the Belarusian independence movement

Šantyr started writing in 1909 and his works were published in the Belarusian newspapers “
Naša Niva ''Nasha Niva'' (, lit. "Our field") is one of the oldest Belarusian weekly newspapers, founded in 1906 and re-established in 1991. ''Nasha Niva'' became a cultural symbol, due to the newspaper's importance as a publisher of Belarusian literature ...
" and Dzianica. In 1914 he was mobilised into the Russian Imperial Army and served as a supervisor of a field hospital in Babrujsk.  From Babrujsk he travelled to
Minsk Minsk (, ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach (Berezina), Svislach and the now subterranean Nyamiha, Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the administra ...
to take part in the activities of Belarusian cultural and political organisations and became one of the leaders of the left wing of the
Belarusian Socialist Assembly The Belarusian Socialist Assembly, BSA (, BSH) was a revolutionary party in the Belarusian territory of the Russian Empire. It was established in 1902 as the Belarusian Revolutionary Party, renamed in 1903.''Belarus: A Denationalized Nation'', by ...
“Hramada”. In December 1917 he took part in the
First All-Belarusian Congress The First All-Belarusian Congress () was a congress of Belarusian political organisations and groups held in Minsk in December 1917. The congress gathered 1872 delegates from all regions of Belarus and was violently dispersed by the Bolshevik mil ...
where he made a "passionate“ pro-independence speech: "''When we are told to forget our homeland,  I do not understand this. Assimilation is slavery. Why did you come here? You were brought here by the national feeling. The national revival will never die.''"


With the

Bolsheviks The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, were a radical Faction (political), faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with the Mensheviks at the 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, ...

In 1918 Šantyr was faced with a choice: to stay in the Belarusian independence movement or to support the Bolsheviks. In the end, his long-held far-left views prevailed and he chose the second option. He worked for the Bolsheviks in several administrative positions in Slutsk, Slucak and
Smolensk Smolensk is a city and the administrative center of Smolensk Oblast, Russia, located on the Dnieper River, west-southwest of Moscow. First mentioned in 863, it is one of the oldest cities in Russia. It has been a regional capital for most of ...
and, after the proclamation of the
Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic The Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (BSSR, Byelorussian SSR or Byelorussia; ; ), also known as Soviet Belarus or simply Belarus, was a republic of the Soviet Union (USSR). It existed between 1920 and 1922 as an independent state, and ...
in 1919, became the Commissioner for National Affairs of the Republic’s Provisional Government. He participated in the publication of the communist newspaper "Soviet Belarus". In 1920 he resigned in protest against the partition of Belarus by the Bolsheviks and Poland and re-enlisted in the Red Army to “liberate the Motherland from the occupation by the White Poles”. However, in April of the same year he was arrested by the Red Army’s counterintelligence and accused of "talking to military specialists" and possible espionage.


Death

On 26 April 1920, Šantyr was sentenced to death and executed three days later in
Novozybkov Novozybkov (; ) is a historical town in Bryansk Oblast, Russia with a population, in 2021, of 38,680. The city is home to a branch of the Bryansk State University. History It was founded in 1701 and was granted town status in 1809. Novozybkov ...
. He was posthumously exonerated in independent Belarus in 1992 and is regarded as “the first victim of Bolshevik terror in Belarusian politics and literature”.


Publications with Šantyr’s works

*
Патрэбнасць нацыянальнага жыцця для беларусаў і самаадзначэння народа
he Necessity of the national life for Belarusian people and self-determination of the nation', Slucak, 1918 In the book Šantyr discussed the history of the Belarusian people and its relationship with its neighbours and questions of national revival and self-determination. In particular he wrote that “only the Belarusian government on the native Belarusian land will provide the people with a normal civilised life". * ''Зажынкі ažynki' Zažynki is an ancient ritual associated with the beginning of the harvest. Published in 1918 by a decision of Soviet Belarus’ government as "the first collection of works by Belarusian singers and writers who came from the family of the working people." * ''У час барацьбы t the time of struggle',  Krynica. 1988, № 11.


See also


Fabijan Šantyr: "The national revival will never die"
- a blog post on the website of the Belarusian library in London.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Šantyr, Fabijan 1887 births 1920 deaths Belarusian independence movement Belarusian Socialist Assembly politicians People from Minsk region Belarusian male poets Soviet rehabilitations Male poets from the Russian Empire