Branislaw Tarashkyevich

Branislaw Adamavich Tarashkyevich (Belarusian: Бранісла́ў Ада́мавіч Тарашке́віч, Belarusian Latin alphabet: Branisłaŭ Adamavič Taraškievič,[1][2][3] Russian: Бронисла́в Ада́мович Тарашке́вич, Lithuanian: Bronislavas Taraškevičius, Polish: Bronisław Adamowicz Taraszkiewicz; January 20, 1892 – November 29, 1938) was a Belarusian public figure, politician, and linguist.

Branislaw Adamavich Tarashkyevich
Portrait of Branislaw Tarashkyevich
Born(1892-01-20)20 January 1892
Matsyulishki, Vilna Governorate, Russian Empire
(now Lithuania)
Died29 November 1938(1938-11-29) (aged 46)
Moscow, Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Soviet Union
(now Russia)
NationalityRussian Empire, Poland, Soviet Union
Occupationlinguist, politician

He was the creator of the first standardization of the modern Belarusian language in the early 20th century.[4] The standard was later Russified by the Soviet authorities. However, the pre-Russified (classical) version of the standard was and still is actively used by intellectuals and the Belarusian diaspora and is informally referred to as Taraškievica, named after Branislaw Tarashkyevich.

Tarashkyevich was a member of the underground Communist Party of Western Belorussia (KPZB) in Poland and was imprisoned for two years (1928–1930). Also, as a member of the Belarusian Deputy Club (Беларускі пасольскі клуб, Byelaruski pasol’ski klub), he was a deputy to the Polish Parliament (Sejm) in 1922–1927. Among others, he translated Pan Tadeusz into Belarusian, and in 1969 a Belarusian-language high school in Bielsk Podlaski was named after him.

In 1933 he was set free due to a Polish–Soviet prisoner release in exchange for Frantsishak Alyakhnovich, a Belarusian journalist and playwright imprisoned in a GULAG, and lived in Soviet exile since then.

He was shot at the Kommunarka execution range outside Moscow due to Great Purges in 1938[5] and was posthumously rehabilitated in 1957.

References
  1. Zaprudnik, Jan (1993). Belarus: at a crossroads in history. Westview Press. pp. 86, 87, 93. ISBN 9780813313399.
  2. Anglo-Byelorussian Society (1969). "The Journal of Byelorussian Studies". 2 (1–2). Anglo-Belarusian Society: 105, 106. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  3. Fisiak, Jacek (1980). Historical Morphology. Walter de Gruyter. pp. 122, 124. ISBN 9783110823127.
  4. Branislau Adamavich Tarashkievich
  5. Headsman (November 29, 2012). "1938: Branislaw Tarashkyevich, Belarusian linguist". ExecutedToday.com. Retrieved May 5, 2020.


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