Career
Under Ya. Karlovich’s influence Ema became interested in the way of life of the Belorussians and their spiritual culture. Her main ethnographic work is “Village Komarovichi in Mozyrskiy District” [“Wisla” magazine. 1891. Vol. 5, book 1, 2]. In this work Elenskaya thoroughly described the lifestyle, work activities and aesthetic views of peasants in Polesye.
She wrote down 11 notebooks of folk songs, compiled 2 handwritten storybooks (62 works), which were collected in Mozyrskiy and Novogrudskiy Districts (iss. 1976, with the title “Belorussian fairy-tale epos”). She also compiled “Songs, sayings and riddles from Komarovichi”. In Parisian magazine “La tradition” (“The tradition”, 1894 – 1895, vol. 8) Elenskaya placed the research work “Folklore of Polesye” and 8 Belorussian folk songs in French translation. She is the author of novels and narratives. Elenskaya carried on enlightener activities in Vilnius District, opened schools and travelling libraries.