Frantsishak Bogushevich was a Belarusian poet, writer, translator and lawyer. He is considered to be one of the initiators of modern Belarusian literature.
Background
Frantsishak Bogushevich was born on March 21,1840 in a small farm estate Śvirany near Vilnius (at that time Vilna uezd of the Vilna Governorate, Russian Empire). His father was one of the country’s numerous petty aristocrats. A coat of arms and a family tree – that was about all that made the Bogushevich family different from common peasants.
Education
By the start of the uprising of 1863-1864, Frantsishak Bogushevich had already graduated from Vilnia gymnasium in 1861 and enrolled into St. Petersburg University where he studied physics and mathematics. However, two years later he was expelled after participation in the students’ protests. Later, in order to escape repressions after the uprising had been crushed, he went into hiding and, eventually, moved to Ukraine. There Bogushevich managed to enrol into the famous Law Lyceum in the town of Nežyn (1865-1868).
Career
In 1863, Bogushevich was expelled from the St. Petersburg University after participation in the students’ protests. He returned home and worked as a school teacher in the village of Dociški. He embraced the 1863-1864 uprising with excitement. The young teacher immediately joined the ranks of the insurgents.
However, the uprising did not succeed to defeat the prevailing forces of the Empire. In one of the skirmishes Frantsishak Bogushevich was wounded. In order to escape repressions after the uprising had been crushed, he went into hiding and, eventually, moved to Ukraine. There Bogushevich managed to enrol into the famous Law Lyceum in the town of Nežyn. After graduation he spent some time working in Ukrainian and Russian courts. In 1868-1884, he worked at the Chernigov Governorate Court as an investigator. After amnesty had been granted to former insurgents, he was finally able to return to Vilnia with his family. There he worked as a lawyer and wrote clauses to the magazines “Kraj” and “Wіslа” in Polish. Bogushevich made his priority to help peasants and the city’s poor during their trials. There, in Vilnia, Bogushevich also felt the urge to write. He published two books of verses “Dudka Bielaruskaja” (‘Belarusian Pipe’) and “Smyk Bielaruski” (‘Belarusian Violin Bow’). He wrote them in the Belarusian language – the very same way people of the Vilnia region spoke. It is also noteworthy that Bogushevich used Lacinka, the Latin Belarusian alphabet. At that time, it was prohibited to publish books in Belarusian language in the Russian Empire. That is why both books were printed in Krakow (under the rule of the Habsburg Empire) and Posnan (under the Prussian rule).
The titles of the books by Bogushevich, “Dudka Bielaruskaja” (‘Belarusian Pipe’) and “Smyk Bielaruski” (‘Belarusian Violin Bow’) were deeply metaphoric. “There is a violin bow; someone might get a violin; we have got a “Pipe” already. Perhaps, we would manage to make some music!” he wrote. What began like a solo performance, soon turned into a big orchestra when other writers followed the steps of Frantsishak Bogushevich. By doing so, they shaped Belarusian literary language as well as the people’s mentality and national idea.
Politics
Bogushevich embraced the 1863-1864 uprising with excitement. The young teacher immediately joined the ranks of the insurgents.
Views
In his verses, Bogushevich addressed mostly rural population. He described typical Belarusians as downtrodden peasants: “Our fellow man is stupid as a crow”. As realistic as they were, these verses could hardly provide creative inspiration for the nation. Bogushevich shunned aristocracy and despised urban life.
Quotations:
The preface to Bogushevich’s book “Dudka Bielaruskaja” became a manifesto of the whole future generation of intellectuals, who aspired to Belarusian cultural and national independence. Bogushevich wrote: “My dear brothers, children of our motherly land! By offering you my work, I must speak to you a bit about our lot, about the ancient language of our fathers, which is being labelled as the “peasants’ tongue; however, its real name is the “Belarusian language”. I used to think this way myself – that our language is merely peasants’ tongue. However - God bless the people who taught me to read and write – I have been to many places since then, have seen a lot, read a lot: I realised that our language is just as decent and noble as French, German, or any other.”
“I don’t like the city (called “gorod” in Russian). For it is too crowded and there’s too much stench.”