Background
Nil Hilevich was born inthe village of Slabada, the Lahoysk district of the Minsk Region.
Gilevich
Nil Hilevich was born inthe village of Slabada, the Lahoysk district of the Minsk Region.
He graduated from Belarusian State University in 1956.
Being a professor of the chair of Belarusian literature at Belarusian State University, he has spent many of his years teaching.
Nil Hilevich’s poetry is rich as it embraces a wide range of genres: lyrics, ballads, poems, humour and satire, novels in verses. His verses are tuneful; many of them are set to music, and are notable for their patriotic feelings. Though, in general, social and personal, bright and sad, serious and humorous feelings are combined in his poetry, since the poet perceives life in its variety and harmony. After a number of years, feelings of dramatism, trouble and anxiety, and satirically harsh estimations in Nil Hilevich’s poetry have strengthened.
His creative work is closely connected with the Belarusian people, their life, habits and traditional culture. Strong love for his Motherland, loyalty to moral principles of the ancestors, and patriotic intercession for everything that makes up the dignity of the nation, first of all – the Belarusian language, are the main motifs of his creative work.
The famous researcher of Belarusian culture and honorary scientist of Belarus, Nil Hilevich wrote a number
of books on the folk art and style of life of the Belarusians, where he revealed the subtle perception of the world by his people. Nil Hilevich did a lot for systematizing and editing the Belarusian folk songs and for their wide
popularization. He called his first collection of poems Pesnyu byarytse z saboyu (Take the Song with You). These words reveal the following: respect your people’s soul and heed the voice of your people.
The poetic talent of Nil Hilevich manifested itself well in literary translations. He studies and translates Bulgarian poetry, compiled several anthologies of Bulgarian poetry, and has also translated from Slovenian, Russian, Ukrainian, Polish, Serbo-Croatian, Lusatian , and other Slavonic languages. He has been awarded the Cyril and
Mephodius Order (1 Degree) from Bulgaria, and the Yugoslavian Star Order from Yugoslavia, the Y.Kupala State Prize for his book of poetry U dobray zgodze (Living in One Accord, 1980) and for his translations as well as the Khristo
Botev International Prize from Bulgaria.