Mikola Abramchyk (, ) (16 August 1903 – 29 May 1970) was a

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

ian journalist and emigre politician and president of the

Belarusian Democratic Republic The Belarusian People's Republic (BNR; , ), also known as the Belarusian Democratic Republic, was a state proclaimed by the Council of the Belarusian Democratic Republic in its Second Constituent Charter on 9 March 1918 during World War I. The ...

in exile during 1943–1970.

Life

He attended school in Radashkovichy. In 1923, after the civil war in Russia, he emigrated to

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

, lived in

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

, and studied agricultural sciences there. He was a member of the Association of Belarusian Student Organization. In 1930 he went to Paris, where he developed the Belarusian association of workers, ''Chaurus''. He published the magazines ''Biuleten'' and ''Recha''. He worked in the emigration for cultural and political organizations. He was a member of the Belarusian Committee of Self-leadership in Berlin. In 1943, he was removed by the Germans from the Committee in charges of conducting prohibited activities and arrested. After being released, he returned to Paris, where he was chosen the president of the Belarusian Democratic Republic in exile. He showed particular concern about the fate of Belarusian refugees. Throughout the time was under surveillance by the

Gestapo The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, abbreviated Gestapo (), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of F ...

because of his rumoured Jewish background and suspicion of conspiracy to the detriment of the

Third Reich Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a totalitarian dictat ...

. After the war he was involved in international

anticommunist Anti-communism is Political movement, political and Ideology, ideological opposition to communism, communist beliefs, groups, and individuals. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in Russia, and it reached global ...

activities. On 28 November 1947, in Paris, Abramchyk was elected as president of the Rada of the Belarusian Democratic Republic which became a competitor of the Belarusian Central Council led by

Radasłaŭ Astroŭski Radasłaŭ Kazimiravič Astroŭski (25 October 1887 – 17 October 1976) was a Belarusian collaboration with Nazi Germany, Belarusian collaborator with Nazi Germany who served as president of the Belarusian Central Council, a puppet Belarusian ...

. In 1950, in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

he has published the brochure ''I Accuse the Kremlin of the Genocide of My Nation''. In the late 1950s and the 1960s, he chaired the League for the Liberation of the Peoples of the USSR, comprising representatives of the

Armenians Armenians (, ) are an ethnic group indigenous to the Armenian highlands of West Asia.Robert Hewsen, Hewsen, Robert H. "The Geography of Armenia" in ''The Armenian People From Ancient to Modern Times Volume I: The Dynastic Periods: From Antiq ...

Azerbaijanis Azerbaijanis (; , ), Azeris (, ), or Azerbaijani Turks (, ) are a Turkic peoples, Turkic ethnic group living mainly in the Azerbaijan (Iran), Azerbaijan region of northwestern Iran and the Azerbaijan, Republic of Azerbaijan. They are predomin ...

Ukrainians Ukrainians (, ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine. Their native tongue is Ukrainian language, Ukrainian, and the majority adhere to Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodoxy, forming the List of contemporary eth ...

Georgians Georgians, or Kartvelians (; ka, ქართველები, tr, ), are a nation and Peoples of the Caucasus, Caucasian ethnic group native to present-day Georgia (country), Georgia and surrounding areas historically associated with the Ge ...

Belarusians Belarusians ( ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Belarus. They natively speak Belarusian language, Belarusian, an East Slavic language. More than 9 million people proclaim Belarusian ethnicity worldwide. Nearly 7.99&n ...

and North Caucasians. Abramchyk is buried at the

Père Lachaise Cemetery Père Lachaise Cemetery (, , formerly , ) is the largest cemetery in Paris, France, at . With more than 3.5 million visitors annually, it is the most visited necropolis in the world. Buried at Père Lachaise are many famous figures in the ...

(division 59).Як знайсці магілу Міколы і Ніны Абрамчык

References

Mikoła Abramčyk
s profile at the Rada BNR's website. Retrieved on April 29, 2007.
Абрамчык Мікола (Mikola Abramchyk) at slounik.org

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abramczyk, Mikola 1903 births 1970 deaths People from Maladzyechna district People from Vileysky Uyezd 20th-century Belarusian Jews Prime ministers of Belarus Soviet emigrants to Czechoslovakia Belarusian collaborators with Nazi Germany Belarusian anti-communists Jewish collaborators with Nazi Germany French male non-fiction writers Belarusian emigrants to France Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery 20th-century French journalists 20th-century French male writers