KULESHOV, Arkadiy was born in 1914 in Samatseevichi, Mogilev Oblast. He was born into a family of village teachers on January 24, 1914. His parents loved to sing (his father even sang in the Moscow opera for some time). During the war his father was taken to the concentration camps but managed to survive.
Kuleshov studied in Mstislavl Primary-School Teachers' Training College.
After that he entered literary department of Belarusian Higher Pedagogical Institute, 1933.
During WWII he worked at a "front" newspaper, in the Belarusian resistance H.Q. After war he worked at Belarusfilm as a head of script department, and wrote several scripts.
His first verses were done in Russian at the age of 6. In 1926 his first poems were published in a local newspaper. His first book, The Blossoming of the Earth appeared in 1930, when he was 16. He constantly worked on his style, turning to folklore and the classics of Belarusian literature and authored many wonderful poems and ballads. He was the first to meditate on the feelings of a man coming home from a space flight and his later poetry has vivid philosophical tendencies. He translated many works from Russian and Ukrainian classics. His translations are considered some of the best in Belarusian literature. He also wrote critical reviews. Many of his poems became well-known songs.
1933-1940 literature adviser, office of ‘‘Molodoy avtor” (Young Author), Belarusian Union of Writers. Trans lated into Belarusian Pushkin’s “Eugene Onegin’* (Young Author), Belarusian Union of Writers. Transl.
Into Belarusian Pushkin’s “Eugene Onegin” and several works by Lermontov and Mayakovsky. Chairman, Belarusian Committee the Defense of Peace. Deputy, Belarusian Supreme Soviet of 1959 convocation.
Since 1933 on edition staff, Belarusian newspapers and Minsk Radio Committee. During World War II worked on frontline newspapers. After war for some time Editor, “Litaratura i mastatstva” (Literature and Art).
Was a member of Belarusian Association of Proletarian Writers. Great Patriotic War veteran. On June 24, 1941 he left destroyed with bombing, enveloped in fire Minsk. Went on foot to Orsha and then got to Kalinin and joind Red Army there. Finished military and political school near Novgorod and was assigned to the army newspaper "Znamya Sovetov".
Deputy of Supreme Soviet of 2-8 convocation (1947-1978).
Member, Communist Party, since 1941.
