Maksim Tank
Maksim Tank Jaŭhien Skurko | |
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Native name | Яўген Скурко |
Born | Jaŭhien Skurko Eugeniusz Skurko 17 September 1912 Piĺkaŭščyna, Russian Empire |
Died | 7 August 1995 Minsk, Belarus | (aged 82)
Resting place | Noviki, Miadziel Raion |
Pen name | Maksim Tank, Aŭhien Bura, A. Granit |
Occupation | Writer, journalist, editor, statesman |
Language | Belarusian |
Citizenship | Poland Soviet Union Belarus |
Period | Late 1920s – 1990s |
Genre | Poetry |
Subject | Belarusian national liberation, social issues |
Years active | more than 60 |
Spouse | Luboŭ Asajevič[1] |
Signature | |
Maksim Tank | |
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Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the Belarusian SSR | |
In office 1963–1971 | |
Member of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR | |
In office 1969–1989 | |
Personal details | |
Political party | Communist Party of the Soviet Union |
Other political affiliations | Communist Party of West Belarus |
Awards | Lenin Prize Stalin Prize Hero of Socialist Labor |
Maksim Tank (Belarusian: Максі́м Танк, Russian: Макси́м Танк, real name Jaŭhien Skurko, Belarusian: Яўге́н Іва́навіч Скурко́; Russian: Евге́ний Ива́нович Скурко́; 17 September 1912 – 7 August 1995) was a Belarusian Soviet poet, journalist and translator.
Childhood and activism in West Belarus
[edit]Jaŭhien Skurko was born into a wealthy[1] peasant family in a khutor about a kilometer away from the village Piĺkaŭščyna (Belarusian: Пількаўшчына), now in Myadzyel District, Minsk Oblast, Belarus. In 1914, his family went to Moscow as refugees from the approaching First World War[2] and lived there till 1922.
Because of the hunger in Russia, the family returned to its home village, which by then became part of the Second Polish Republic.
In 1928, Skurko joined an underground communist youth organization in his school in Radashkovichy. Despite good performance in the school, in 1929 he was expelled together with several other pupils for participating in a protest against closure of Belarusian schools by the Polish authorities. He was also expelled from his following school in Wilno for participation in student protests.
In early 1930s, Jaŭhien Skurko participated in the Belarusian underground communist activism, writing for Belarusian and Polish underground publications. In 1932, he was arrested and placed in the Lukiškės Prison in Wilno.[3]
In late 1932, he illegally crossed the border with the Soviet Union and joined Belarusian underground group in Minsk. He was eventually arrested by the Soviet authorities, interrogated by the NKVD[2] and deported to Poland. After his return, he was an activist of the illegal youth branch of the Communist Party of West Belarus in Wilno and Navahrudak. He was several times arrested and spent a total of two years in prison.
In 1936, Skurko was admitted into the underground Communist Party of West Belarus.
Career in the USSR
[edit]After the annexation of West Belarus by the Soviet Union, Skurko worked as a culture journalist and as an education administrator in Vilejka.[3]
After the beginning of the war, Skurko was evacuated to Saratov and then returned to the Bryansk Front to work as a reporter for several Soviet publications.[3]
In 1945 – 1948, Skurko worked as editor at the satirical magazine Vozhyk. From 1948 to 1966, he was editor in chief of the major Belarusian literature magazine Polymia.[2]
Since the late 1940s, Skurko held various senior positions in the Belarusian Soviet legislative system. In 1947–1971 he was member of the Supreme Soviet of Belarus; of which he was chairman in 1963–1971.[2] In 1969 – 1989 he was member of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR.[3]
After Belarus regained independence, Maksim Tank admitted being supporter of the Belarusian White, Red and White flag and opposed the controversial referendum to change the national symbols of Belarus organized by president Alexander Lukashenko.[1]
Maksim Tank died in Minsk in August 1995.
Selected works
[edit]Collections of verses:
- On Stages (Belarusian: На этапах, 1936)
- The Cranberry Colour (Belarusian: Журавінавы цвет, 1937)
- Under the Mast (Belarusian: Пад мачтай, 1938)
- Sharpen the Arms (Belarusian: Вастрыце зброю), Through the Fiery Horizon (Belarusian: Праз вогненны небасхіл, both 1945)
- In Order to Know (Belarusian: Каб ведалі, 1948)
- On the Stone, Iron and Gold (Belarusian: На камні, жалезе і золаце, 1951)
- On the Road (Belarusian: У дарозе, 1954)
- The Lightning Track (Belarusian: След бліскавіцы, 1957)
- My Daily Bread (Belarusian: Мой хлеб надзённы, 1962)
- The Gulp of Water (Belarusian: Глыток вады, 1964)
- Listen, the Spring is Coming (Belarusian: Паслухайце, вясна ідзе, 1990)
- My Arch (Belarusian: Мой каўчэг, 1994)
Poems:
- Narach (Belarusian: Нарач, 1937)
- Yanuk Sialiba (Belarusian: Янук Сяліба, 1942)
Memory
[edit]The Maksim Tank Belarusian State Pedagogical University in Minsk was renamed after Maksim Tank in 1995.
There is a monument to Maksim Tank in Miadziel and a street named after him in Minsk.
Awards
[edit]- People's Poet of Belarus, 1968
- Hero of Socialist Labour, 1974
- Four-time laureate of the Order of Lenin
- Order of the October Revolution
- other Soviet and Polish awards
References
[edit]- ^ a b c Skurko, Andrej (17 September 2012). "Дубы Максіма Танка: пра Яўгена Скурко піша Андрэй Скурко" [The oaks of Maksim Tank: Andrej Skurko writes about Jaŭhien Skurko]. nn.by (in Belarusian). Naša Niva. Retrieved 13 October 2016.
- ^ a b c d "Біяграфія Максіма Танка" [Biography of Maksim Tank]. maksimtank.ru (in Belarusian). Retrieved 13 October 2016.
- ^ a b c d "Жыццёвы i творчы шлях Максiма Танка" [The life and writing of Maksim Tank]. Official website of the Miadziel Regional Executive Committee (in Belarusian). Archived from the original on 12 April 2020. Retrieved 13 October 2016.
External links
[edit]- Танк Максим. warheroes.ru (in Russian)
- Максим Танк (Евгений Иванович Скурко). Belarusian Academy of Science. bas-net.by (in Russian)
- 1912 births
- 1995 deaths
- People from Myadzyel District
- People from Vileysky Uyezd
- Communist Party of Western Belorussia politicians
- Communist Party of Byelorussia politicians
- Eighth convocation members of the Soviet of Nationalities
- Ninth convocation members of the Soviet of Nationalities
- Tenth convocation members of the Soviet of Nationalities
- Eleventh convocation members of the Soviet of Nationalities
- Members of the Supreme Soviet of the Byelorussian SSR (1947–1950)
- Members of the Supreme Soviet of the Byelorussian SSR (1951–1954)
- Members of the Supreme Soviet of the Byelorussian SSR (1955–1959)
- Members of the Supreme Soviet of the Byelorussian SSR (1959–1962)
- Members of the Supreme Soviet of the Byelorussian SSR (1962–1966)
- Members of the Supreme Soviet of the Byelorussian SSR (1967–1970)
- Belarusian male poets
- Belarusian journalists
- Soviet poets
- Soviet male writers
- 20th-century male writers
- 20th-century journalists
- Socialist realism writers
- Soviet emigrants to Poland
- Prisoners and detainees of Poland
- People's Poets of the Byelorussian SSR
- Recipients of the Lenin Prize
- Recipients of the Stalin Prize
- Recipients of the Byelorussian SSR State Prize
- Heroes of Socialist Labour
- Recipients of the Order of Lenin
- Recipients of the Order of the October Revolution
- Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner
- Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour
- Recipients of the Order of Friendship of Peoples
- Officers of the Order of Polonia Restituta
- Recipients of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland