Background
Konstantsin Verenitsyn (first surname Konstantsin Vasilyev), was born into the family of serfs of a liberal landlord Bondyrev on June 1, 1834 in Ostrovliany village, Vitsebsk region. He was heavily involved in the literary circles of 19th century Belarus.
In 1851 he was given a status of a citizen of small town Gorodok. At this time he chose his own last name - Verenitsyn.
In 1852, as a young man, he entered St. Petersburg Medical Surgical Academy where, at the time, there were a lot of liberal students. After two years he was expelled. He returned back to Belarus and, as a member of the Free Economic Society, he was able to enter Gora Goretsky Farming Institute as a third year student. In 1859 he defended a thesis "Regarding Belarusian Agriculture" and received the title of agronomist (PhD in agronomy). After this he worked as a manager of a manor until he left for St. Petersburg in 1863. In St. Petersburg he served as a clerk in various institutions. 10 years later he returned back home working as a lecturer of geography, natural sciences and history in Molodechno Teachers' Seminary from 1874 till 1879.
In 1880 Veranitsyn permanently settled in St. Petersburg and was leaving it only to visit Belarus. In St. Petersburg he was an official at the Ministry Of Communications. He retired in 1890 and died in 1904.