Vasil Bykau

Vasil U?adzimiravi? Byka? (Belarusian: ??????? ?????????????? ??????; Russian: ??????? ????????????? ??????) (June 19, 1924 - June 22, 2003) a prolific author of novels and novellas about World War II, is a monumental figure in Belarusian literature and civic thought. The writer's talent and the moral courage that permeates his writings earned him endorsements for the Nobel Prize nomination from, among others, Nobel Prize laureates Joseph Brodsky and Czeslaw Milosz.

Related Topics:
Belarusian - Russian - June 19 - 1924 - June 22 - 2003 - Novels - World War II - Belarusian literature - Nobel Prize - Joseph Brodsky - Czeslaw Milosz

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Vasil Byka? was born in the city of Vitebsk in 1924. In 1941 he was in the Ukraine when Germany attacked the USSR. At first seventeen year old Byka? dug trenches - then he volunteered for the Red Army. For years after the war he continued to serve, returning to the USSR only in the mid-1950s. There he started to work as a journalist for the Grodno Pravda newspaper. In that same decade his first novellas began to come out, of which the most famous are "Sotnika?", "The Obelisk", "To Go and Not Return", and "To Live Till Sunrise".

Related Topics:
Vitebsk - Germany attacked the USSR - Red Army - Grodno - Pravda - Sotnika? - The Obelisk - To Go and Not Return - To Live Till Sunrise

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Byka?'s literary achievement lies in his sternly realistic, albeit touched by lyricism, depictions of World War II battles, typically with a small number of personages. In the ferociousness of encounter they face moral dilemmas both vis-a-vis their enemies and within their own Soviet world burdened by ideological and political constraints. Byka?'s novellas that are available in English translation, such as "The Dead Feel No Pain" (1965), "The Ordeal" (1970), "Wolf Pack" (1975) and "Sign of Misfortune", challenged the official version of the war. This brought upon the writer vicious accusations of "false humanism" from some Red Army generals and the Communist Party press. "Vasil Bykov is a very courageous and uncompromising writer, rather of the Solzhenitsyn stamp," wrote Michael Glenny in Partisan Review in 1972. Byka? was one of the most admired writers in the Soviet Union. In 1980 he was awarded the honorific title of People's Writer of Belarus.

Related Topics:
World War II - Soviet - The Dead Feel No Pain - 1965 - The Ordeal - 1970 - Wolf Pack - 1975 - Sign of Misfortune - Red Army - Communist Party - Michael Glenny - Partisan Review - 1972 - 1980 - Belarus

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Outside of his native country, Vasil Byka? is the most widely read Belarusian writer. During the Soviet period, his works were translated into all major languages of the world. However, most of the translations were done on the basis of Russian rendering.

Related Topics:
Belarusian - Russian

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Byka? wrote all of his works in his native Belarusian language, and translated most of them into Russian by himself. Vasil Byka?'s stature in the life of his country remains enormous. For several years he lived abroad, but he returned to his homeland just a month before his passing. The memory of his turbulent life and uncompromising stance toward the war will only enhance his impact on national life.

Related Topics:
Belarusian language - Russian

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