Vaclau Ustinavič Lastouski (В. Ю. Ластоўскі) (October 20, 1883 (Julian) - January 23, 1938) (November 1, 1883 (Gregorian) - January 23, 1938) Historian, Writer, & Politician

Photo Credit: Belaruskaya Mova: Entziklapediya, edited by Mikhevich, A. Ya., et. al. (1994); page 287.

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Writer, historian, politician, and ethnographer. Born in the settlement of Kalesniki, Dzisna District, Vilna Province, of petty gentry parents. Educated in the public school only. Having no further education, read widely and became one of the most erudite Belarusian historians and writers.

At the age of 19, Lastouski joined the socialist movement and became a member of the Belarusan Socialist Union. In contact with the newspaper Nasha Niva from the time it began to be published (1906), he worked as its secretary in 1909, and was its editor-in-chief in 1912-13. After first appearing, serialized, in Nasha Niva, Lastouski's Short History of Belarus (Karotkaya Historiya Belarusi)--the very significant, first presentation of Belarus's past from a national perspective--was published in Vilnius in 1910. The book did much to restore consciousness of Belarus' past and heighten national pride. The works of many other Belarusian writers, especially Maksim Bahdanovič, Yanka Kupała, and Alies' Harun were strongly influenced by Lastouski's historical, journalistic, and literary output. [Note: The Short History. . . was re-published in Mensk, in 1992.]

During the years of World War I and revolutions, Lastouski was active as a journalist and politician in the cause of the Belarusan Democratic Republic (BDR) and editor and publisher of several periodicals.

Lastouski had also written under the pseudonym Vlast, and had published a number of entertaining and imaginative tales. His legends and short stories published in Nasha Niva in addition to his other historical and journalistic works were rated highly by critics. In 1916-17 Lastouski edited Homan (translated as Clamor or Alarm) in Vilnius.

Between 1919 and 1923, Lastouski was Prime Minister of the government-in-exile of the Belarusan Democratic Republic (in Kaunus, Lithuania). He began publishing his poems in 1923 in the periodical Kryvič, which he edited (1923-26). [Note: Kryvič refers to one of the three ancient tribes of Belarus (the one in the north), and was used to refer to historical Belarus.] Until 1927, he lived in Lithuania and was involved in exile politics, scholarly work, and publishing.

In 1927, he left Lithuania for Mensk, Soviet Belarus, where he settled permanently, participating in scholarly and academic functions, including as director of the Belarusian State Museum (the Institute of Belarusan Culture) and the Belarusian Academy of Sciences.

Accused of sedition during the period of Stalinist political repression, he was imprisoned as a "National Democrat" in 1930 and exiled for 5 years to Saratov (on the Volga), Russia, where he remained after completing his term. In 1937 he was imprisoned again, and executed there in 1937 [1938] as an "enemy of the people."

The preceding summary was compiled from the following sources. Any terms in bold (in the preceding summary) refer to other entries in the Historical Dictionary of Belarus. The Historical Dictionary of Belarus is an important summary of the history of Belarus.
• Belaruskaya Mova: Entziklapediya, edited by Mikhevich, A. Ya., et. al. (1994); pp. 287-89.

• Historical Dictionary of Belarus, by Jan Zaprudnik (1998), p. 140.

• A History of Byelorussian Literature (Die Literatur der Weissrussen): From its Origins to the Present Day, by Arnold B. McMillin; Giessen, W. Germany, 1977; excerpts from pages 128, 135-37, 149, & 154.

• Opposition to Sovietization in Belorussian Literature, Anthony Adamovich (1958), "Biographical Notes," pp. 190-91.

Other Links

• Examples of Lastouski's Prose work (in Cyrillic Belarusian only):   Вацлаў Ластоўскі. Выбраныя творы
• Web site in Belarusian about Lastouski:   Вацлаў Ю. Ластоўскі   Note: apparently, no longer on the Internet
• Wikipedia Web site in Belarusian about Lastouski:   Вацлаў Юстынавіч Ластоўскі — Вікіпедыя

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