The directory «Plots»

Krapiva (Крапива) Kondrat
(1896—1991)

Playwright, poet, prose writer, scientist and a political figure, was born March 3, 1896 in Minsk region, in a peasant's family. His real name was Kandrat Atrakhovich, his pen-name Krapiva meaning 'stinging nettle' - for the satirical verses Krapiva is mostly known for.

He graduated from Uzda People's Community College. In 1913 he passed an exam to become a teacher and then taught in a village school for one year before being summoned for World War I (he was in action at Romania). As a teacher he was allowed to quit the army in 1918 to teach. In 1920-1923 Kandrat took part in action in the Red Army. In 1924 he taught at a village school and in 1925 moved to Minsk, where he entered the two largest literary unions and graduated from Belarusian State University, majoring in literature and linguistics. Later he took part in the liberation of Western Belarus and in the Finnish War (1939-1940). During World War II Kandrat worked in the "front" newspapers. After war he worked at the Academy of Sciences, presiding over the Institute of Linguistics. He took part in the IUN Session as a Belarus representative. He held a PhD (1953) and was elected Academician of the National Academy of Sciences. He ultimately became the Deputy of the Supreme Council of Belarus.

Krapiva started writing in 1922 as a satirical poet, his particular forte being satirical fables. He authored many humorous books, plays (all of which were staged and many filmed), and several novels. He also wrote many literary reviews and critical articles and was one of the editors of the large Russian-Belarusian Translation Dictionary. His works were published in three, four and five volume editions. He was an accomplished translator and translated into Belarusian many of the works of Russian classics, of W. Shakespeare, of Marx and others. He created a new trend of satire in Belarusian literature and influenced many poets and playwrights.

He was awarded numerous orders and medals. He was also given the title of 'People's Writer of Belarus' (1956), and 'Honorary Worker of Science of Belarus' (1978). Krapiva was awarded thrice the USSR State Prize for Literature - two of them for his plays and the third for his works in dialectology, and also awarded Belarusian State Prize for one of his plays. The Institute of Arts, Ethnography and Folklore bears his name as well as a school in his native town.

Belarus, 1996, Kondrat Krapiva

Belarus, 1996.03.05, Minsk. Kondrat Krapiva