Vasil Zacharka
| Vasil Zacharka | |
|---|---|
 |
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| President of the Rada of the Belarusian Democratic Republic in exile | |
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In office March 1928 – March 6, 1943 |
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| Preceded by | Piotra Krečeŭski |
| Succeeded by | Mikoła Abramčyk |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
April 1, 1877 Vaukavysk uyezd, Russian Empire |
| Died | April 14, 1943 (aged 66) Prague, Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia |
| Political party | Belarusian Socialist Assembly |
| Profession | Military officer |
Vasil Zacharka (Belarusian: Васіль Захарка, April 1, 1877, Dabrasielcy near Hrodna – March 14, 1943, Prague) was a Belarusian statesman and the second president of the Belarusian Democratic Republic in exile.
Vasil Zacharka was born in a peasant family near Hrodna. In 1895 he became a certified church school teacher and later worked at school.
In 1898 Zacharka was mobilized to the Russian army and was demobilized in 1902. By that time he already was member of a large Belarusian national organization, the Belarusian Socialist Assembly.
He was again mobilized in 1904 following the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War and served in the military on several administrative posts till 1917.
Vasil Zacharka was an active participant of the Congress of Belarusian West Front Militarymen on October 22, 1917 in Minsk and became secretary of the newly created Central Belarusian Military Council. He was also elected member of the Council of the First All-Belarusian Congress later that year.
After proclamation of the independence on March 25, 1918, Vasil Zacharka held different positions in the government of Belarus.
With the Bolshevik invasion of Belarus in 1919, the government of Belarus had to evacuate to Vilnius and then to Hrodna. Zacharka was among the creators of appeals to the League of Nations, Great Britain, France, USA and other countries by the Belarusian government.
On June 2, 1920 Zacharka was appointed chief of the Belarusian diplomatic mission to Moscow where he held negotiations with the Russian foreign minister Georgy Chicherin. Zacharka tried to convince the Soviets to recognize the independence of Belarus and to liberate Belarusian political prisoners held in Russian jails.
After the Peace of Riga in 1921 the Belarusian government in exile passed resolutions criticizing it and supporting the Slutsk defence action.
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