The directory «Plots»

Pestrak (Пестрак) Philip Semenovich
(1903—1978)

Philip Pestrak, a poet and a prose writer, was born into a peasant family in the Brest region. He studied a two-year Community College course. In 1914, at the start of World War I, he moved with his parents to the Samara's Division in Russia. He studied there at school, worked as an accountant's helper in a credit company, and then at a local governmental office. He entered the social and historical department of Samara University. In the fall of 1921 he returned back to Belarus with his parents where he worked at a saw mill and as a forester. Pestrak also spent time serving in the Polish Army. He started working for Belarusian Communists during Polish rule in the 1930s. He spent almost 11 years in prison in Poland until being liberated by the Soviet Army in 1939. He was chosen as a deputy of the People's Council of Western Belarus (1939) and also received various other governmental positions in the Supreme Council of Belarus. Pestrak also worked at the National Academy of Sciences.

His first verses were published in the 1920s under a nickname Bringer of News. He authored several books of poetry. His works talk about the struggles for liberation and praises of the courage of political prisoners (during his Western Belarus time). Many of his novels also show the new order in Belarus after the events of 1939. After the war he mainly worked as a prose writer. His works were edited in a 4 volume edition in 1969-1971 and many of his poems were set to music. He was awarded several orders and medals and given the title of 'Honorary Worker of Culture of Belarus' (1968). In 1964 he was awarded Kolas Literary Prize for his novel Seradzibor.

Belarus, 2003.11.27, Minsk. Philip Pestrak

Belarus, 2003, Philip Pestrak