Ivan Ivanavič Luckievič (; ; ; 9 June 1881 – 20 August 1919) was a leading figure of the Belarusian independence movement in the early 20th century, publicist and archaeologist. He was a brother of Anton Luckievič.

Early life

Luckievič was born in

Šiauliai Šiauliai ( ; ) is a city in northern Lithuania, the List of cities in Lithuania, country's fourth largest city and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, sixth largest city in the Baltic States, with a population of 112 581 in 202 ...

, in the

Kovno Governorate Kovno Governorate was an administrative-territorial unit (''guberniya'') of the Russian Empire, with its capital in Kovno (Kaunas). It was formed on 18 December 1842 by Tsar Nicholas I of Russia, Nicholas I from the western part of Vilna Govern ...

of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

(now in

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

) into the family of a petty nobleman who at the time worked as a railway official.Lizaveta Kasmach
The Road to the First Belarusian State: Nation-Building in the Context of the First World War and Revolution
University of Alberta, 2016, p. 18 In 1890 he began his studies at the Liepāja Gymnasium followed by the Minsk Gymnasium from 1897 to 1902. This was followed by studies at the Faculty of Law of St. Petersburg University and the Moscow Archaeological Institute.

Involvement in revolutionary activities

In 1903 Luckievič became one of the founders of the Belarusian Revolutionary Assembly (later 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 ...

). He was briefly imprisoned for his political activities and in 1904 moved to the Austro-Hungarian Empire to continue studies at the University of Vienna. In 1905 Luckievič returned to Minsk to take an active part in the events of the Russian Revolution of 1905. Under threat of arrest, he left for Vilnius in early 1906.

Leading figure of the Belarusian independence movement

At that time Vilnius was becoming "the most important centre for Belarusian intellectual activism" and Luckievič took an active part in the Belarusian cultural revival and independence movement. He was instrumental in the setting up of the publishing house "Nasha Khata" ("Our House") and the Belarusian Publishing Society and the publication of the first Belarusian newspapers " Nasha Dolya" ("Our Destiny"), "

Nasha 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 ...

" ("Our Cornfield") and " Homan" (the "Babble"). He also initiated a Belarusian club where amateur drama was performed and the Belarusian Gymnasium of Vilnia, where he taught local lore and Belarusian studies.

Illness and death

In the late 1910s, Luckievič contracted tuberculosis. In 1919 he went to a Polish resort in

Zakopane Zakopane (Gorals#Language, Podhale Goral: ''Zokopane'') is a town in the south of Poland, in the southern part of the Podhale region at the foot of the Tatra Mountains. From 1975 to 1998, it was part of Nowy Sącz Voivodeship; since 1999, it has ...

where he succumbed to the disease on 20 August. In 1991 his ashes were brought from Poland and reburied in the Rasos cemetery in

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

Memory

After Ivan Lucievič's death, his collections of archeology, ethnography and old books were organised in 1921 into the Vilnius Belarusian Museum, which took his name.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Luckievic, Ivan 1881 births 1919 deaths People from Šiauliai People from Shavelsky Uyezd Belarusian nobility Belarusian Socialist Assembly politicians Members of the Rada of the Belarusian Democratic Republic Members of the Council of Lithuania Belarusian independence movement Burials at Rasos Cemetery