Yanka Kupala

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Yanka Kupala (Janka Kupała, Belarusian: Я́нка Купа́ла; July 7 [O.S. June 25] 1882 – June 28, 1942) — penname of Ivan Lutsevich (Ivan Łucevič, Belarusian: Іва́н Даміні́кавіч Луцэ́віч) was a famous Belarusian poet and writer.

[edit] Life

Arguably the most famous Belarusian nationalist, Kupala promoted the dying Belarusian language and attempted to further shield it against russification.

In 1941 he received the Order of Lenin for his collection of poems «Ад сэрца» (Hell of heart, 1940).

With the Occupation of Belarus by Nazi Germany in 1941, because of being very ill he moved to Moscow and then to Tatarstan. But even from there he wrote poems supporting the Belarusian partisans fighting against Nazi Germany.

He died in the year 1942, in Moscow.

Currently there is a museum founded by his wife in Minsk which has many examples of his life’s work. The western city of Hrodna has the Yanka Kupala State University founded in 1978.