Yanka Kupala
| Jánka Kupála Я́нка Купа́ла |
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| Born | July 7 [O.S. June 25] 1882 Viazynka, Minsk Governorate, Russian Empire |
| Died | June 28, 1942 (aged 59) Moscow, Soviet Union |
| Occupation | Poet and writer |
| Nationality | Belarusian |
| Period | 1903–1942 |
Jánka Kupála (akas: Yanka Kupala, Janka Kupała, Belarusian: Я́нка Купа́ла; July 7 [O.S. June 25] 1882 – June 28, 1942) – was the pen name of Iván Daminíkavich Lutsévich (Ivan Daminikavič Łucevič, Belarusian: Іва́н Даміні́кавіч Луцэ́віч), a Belarusian poet and writer. Kupala is considered one of the greatest Belarusian-language writers of the 20th century.
Kupala was born on July 7, 1882 in Viazynka, a folwark settlement near Maladzyechna. His family was noble, although both of Kupala's parents were employed as tenant farmers at the folwark. Kupala was thus essentially born into a landless peasant class. Kupala received a traditional Belarusian education, completing his studies in 1898. Following the death of his father in 1902, Kupala worked a variety of short-term jobs, including as a tutor, a shop assistant, and a record keeper.
Kupala's first serious literary attempt was Ziarno, a Polish-language sentimental poem which he completed around 1903–1904 under the pseudonym "K-a." His first Belarusian-language work ("Мая доля") was dated July 15, 1904. Kupala's first published poem, "Мужык" ("Peasant"), was published approximately a year later, appearing in Belarusian in the Russophone Belarusian newspaper Severo-Zapadnyi Krai (Northwestern Krai) on May 11, 1905. A number of subsequent poems by Kupala appeared in the Belarusian-language newspaper Nasha Niva from 1906 to 1907.
Kupala moved to Vilnius in 1908, where he continued with his career as a poet. The same year the first published collection of his poems, Жалейка (The Little Flute) brought on the ire of the czarist government, which ordered the book confiscated as an anti-government publication. The order for Kupala's arrest was revoked in 1909, but a second printing was again confiscated, this time by the local authorities in Vilnius. Kupala ceased working for the Nasha Niva in order to avoid ruining the reputation of the newspaper.
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