Masiej Siadnioŭ
Masiej Siadnioŭ (also Majsiej Siadnioŭ; Belarusian: Масей (Майсей) Сяднёў; 1 September 1915 (according to other sources 1913) — 5 February 2001) was a Belarusian poet and novelist.
Masiej Siadnioŭ | |
|---|---|
| Native name | Масей Сяднёў |
| Born | September 1, 1915 Mokraje, Russian Empire (nowadays - Belarus) |
| Died | February 5, 2001 (aged 85) the USA |
| Occupation | poet and novelist |
| Language | Belarusian |
| Notable works | І той дзень надыйшоў : Раман [And that day came: Novel], 1987 |
Early years
Siadnioŭ was born into a poor farming family in the village of Mokraje, Mahilioŭ governorate of the Russian Empire (now Kaściukovičy district in Mahilioŭ region of Belarus).[1][2][3]
One of his teachers at secondary school (who was an acquaintance of famous Belarusian poet Jakub Kolas) encouraged Siadnioŭ's interest in literature.[1][3]
After school Siadnioŭ went on to study at the Mścislaŭ Pedagogical College (1930–31) and in 1933 entered the Minsk Higher Pedagogical Institute.[1][3]
Gulag and escape
In the last year of his studies in October 1936, he was arrested on charges of participation in the "National Democratic" movement. According to the verdict, he was allegedly a member of an "anti-Soviet, counter-revolutionary organisation" while at the Mścislaŭ Institute. He was sent to a Gulag prison camp in the Kolyma region of the Russian Far East.[1][2]
After 5 years in the Gulag, Siadnioŭ was brought to Minsk for retrial, however the invasion of Belarus by the Nazis allowed him to escape and he returned to farming in his native village.[1][2][3]
Life in exile
Fearing re-arrest, he fled the advancing Soviet troops in 1943 and ultimately settled in the United States where he would spend the rest of his life.[1][3]
From 1967 to 1983, Siadnioŭ worked for Radio Liberty, heading its Belarusian edition.[2]
Exoneration and death
Siadnioŭ was exonerated from all charges by the Supreme Court of Belarus in 1992.[1]
He died in the United States on 5 February 2001 and was buried in the Belarusian cemetery of South River, New Jersey.[1][2]
Bibliography
- Ля ціхай брамы : Вершы [At the Quiet Gate: Poems], 1955;
- Ачышчэньне агнём : вершы [Purification by fire: poems], 1985;
- Раман Корзюк : Раман [Raman Karziuk: Novel], 1985;
- І той дзень надыйшоў : Раман [And that day came: Novel], 1987;
- А часу больш,чым вечнасць : Вершы ([And more time than eternity: Poems], 1989;
- Патушаныя зоры : вершы, раман [Extinguished Stars: Poems, Novel], 1992;
- Масеева кніга : Успаміны,старонкі дзенніка,эсэ (Masiej's (Moses') book: Memoirs, diary pages, essays], 1994;
- Выбраныя творы / Масей Сяднёў [Selected works/ Masiej Siadnioŭ], 2014;
- Масей Сяднёў: pro et contra [Masiej Siadnioŭ: pro et contra], 2018.
References
- "Сяднёў Майсей Ларывонавiч" [Siadnioŭ Majsiej Laryvonavič]. catalog.library.mogilev.by (in Belarusian). Retrieved 2022-01-10.
- "Фотарэпартаж з чарнобыльскай вёскі Мокрае, дзе нарадзіўся Майсей Сяднёў" [Photo report from the village of Mokraje contaminated by Chernobyl which is the birthplace of Majsiej Siadnioŭ]. Радыё Свабода (in Belarusian). 2 January 2016. Retrieved 2022-01-10.
- "Масей Сяднёў. Патушаныя зоры" [Masiej Siadnioŭ: Extinguished Stars]. knihi.com (in Belarusian). Retrieved 2022-01-10.