(Васіль Уладзіміравіч Быкаў; name also spelled: Bykov; Vasil' Bykaw)Fiction Writer
Note: Cyrillic Belarusian and any other special character sets on this page are in Unicode (UTF-8) font encoding.
Also see Vera Rich's article, "Vasil Bykaŭ: Belarusian Writer and Patriot", from the "End Note" to RFE/RL Newsline (July 9, 2003).
Born on June 19, 1924 in the village of Buchky (Bychki), Ushachy district (Viciebsk Province), Sp. Bykaŭ is one of Belarus' (& the world's) greatest writers, and certainly one of the best known.
He studied in the Arts Academy in Viciebsk, interrupted by WWII (the Soviet Union's "Great Patriotic War"). 1941: As a 17-year-old, he volunteered to join the Soviet Army serving on the front until the last day of the war (when he was not quite 21). He fought in the Soviet Army in the Second and Third Ukrainian fronts on the territory of Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Yugoslavia, and Austria, and was wounded twice.He has received many international prizes, including the Soviet & Belarusian: "Order of the Red Labor Banner" (1974), "People's Writer," BSSR (1980), "Hero of Soviet Labor" (1984), "Order of the Patriotic War of the 1st Degree (1985), "Order of the Friendship Between Peoples" (1994), Russia's "Order of Friendship" (Nov. 13, 1997), Italy's "San-Valentino International Golden Prize" (1998), & Russia's top independent literary prize, Triumph (1999), etc.
Although the list of nominee's is kept confidential, rumor has it that Sp. Bykaŭ was considered for the Nobel Prize in Literature in the 1990's.
As of 1989, his book-length works have been translated into dozens of languages, totalling over 150 works for a total of approximately 14 million copies.
From About the Author, in Pack of Wolves (1981; p. 181):
"A Belorussian prose writer, Vasil Bykov was born of peasant stock in 1924. He studied in an art academy and then in 1941 he volunteered to join the army serving on the front until the last day of the war."
"The war theme became the main topic of each of Vasil Bykov's twelve books. Many other European countries and Japan have published translations of his work. In his own country he has been awarded the medal for 'Laureate of the Government of the USSR,' and a number of his novels have been made into movies and plays. . . ."
He has been nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature, and he continues to receive literary prizes from many countries--other than his own.
Since late 1998, Sp. Bykaŭ has resided in Finland. After the break up of the Soviet Union, Sp. Bykaŭ was prominent in the pro-democracy and human rights movement in Belarus. Prior to moving to Finland, he had been essentially ignored by the current government of Belarus. (His pro-democracy statements have not endeared him to the current regime ruling Belarus. See collection of news articles about Vasil' Bykaŭ on this Web site.)
From his entry in the Historical Dictionary of Belarus (Zaprudnik, 1998; pp. 70-71):
"Belarus' most renowned novelist and a forceful spokesman on behalf of democratic reforms and national independence since the proclamation of the country's sovereignty in July, 1990. With the increased authoritarianism of President Lukashenka, Bykaŭ became a moral voice of the democratic opposition. One of his recent awards for civic courage was a medal 'For Excellence' from the government of Italy. His latest book of stories, Stiana, (The Wall), was blocked by the authorities from being published by a state publishing house."
"Bykaŭ's literary works--novellas, short stories, and screenplays--are cast mostly in World War II settings and deal with human suffering and moral dilemmas. Bykau's system of values is deeply humanistic, transcending ideological constraints and national loyalties. The writer's consistent application of moral criteria in his works brought him into conflict with the Soviet authorities and caused him many difficulties and brought discrimination against him and his family, especially between 1965 and 1970. Bykaŭ's 1965 novella, Miortvym nie balic' (The Dead Feel No Pain), was severely criticized for having exposed the insensitivity of Stalinist political surveillance and disregard for the value of human life."
"Bykaŭ's literary style is realistic, marked by physical details and psychological insights as well as by a touch of lyricism. Courage and cowardice, loyalty and treason are the moral fabric of the writer's stories. Novellas by Bykaŭ have been translated into more than a hundred languages, serving as a reminder of the horrible carnage that was World War II. . . . Bykau's name has often been mentioned among the Nobel Prize nominees."
The following print and online sources were used to compile the preceding biographical sketch. Please contact me if you are aware of any errors or omissions in this summary. (Thanks in advance!)
- Charter 97 was one of the most important sources. Examples of their many articles include:
- http://www.charter97.org/eng/news/2003/06/24/bykau
- http://www.charter97.org/eng/news/2003/06/24/nks
- http://www.charter97.org/eng/news/2003/06/24/mn
- http://www.charter97.org/e/index.phtml?sid=0&did=05&eid=03&aid=2001&nid=04
- Belarusian Literature in the 1950s and 1960s, pages 205-230 (plus many other pages), by Arnold B. McMillin; Germany; (1999).
- BelaPAN -- indirectly. This Belarus-specific news service is a primary source (similar to the much larger Reuters or AP news services), and is used by most retail news sources reporting about Belarus.
- RFE/RL's Central European Report and Belarusian Service Report. (JM; AM)
- Reuters, for example, http://reuters.com/ "Acclaimed and Hounded, Belarus Writer Bykov Dies" (Mon June 23, 2003 02:43 PM ET), By Andrei Makhovsky
- From the entry for Vasil Bykaŭ in the Historical Dictionary of Belarus (Zaprudnik, 1998; pp. 70-71):
- From About the Author, in Pack of Wolves (1981; p. 181):
This section is still being developed. . . .