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Stepan NekrashevichBelarusian linguist and public figure
Date of Birth: 08.05.1883
Country:  Belarus |
Content:
Biography of Stepan Nekrashevich
Stepan Nekrashevich was a Belarusian linguist and public figure, known for his contributions to the field of language studies and his involvement in the establishment of the Institute of Belarusian Culture, now the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus. He was born on July 21, 1883. In 1913, Nekrashevich graduated from the Vilnius Teacher's Institute and went on to work as a teacher in the Telšiai district of the Kovno Governorate. During the First World War, he served on the Romanian front. After the proclamation of the Belarusian People's Republic in 1918, he represented the republic in southern Ukraine, specifically in Odessa.
In 1922, while serving as the chairman of the scientific and terminological commission of the People's Commissariat of Education of the BSSR in Minsk, Nekrashevich proposed the creation of the Institute of Belarusian Culture and played a key role in its organization. In 1928, the institute was transformed into the Academy of Sciences, and Nekrashevich became its first chairman. He also served as the Vice President of the Belarusian Academy of Sciences from 1928 onwards.
Nekrashevich's scholarly works focused on dialectology, lexicography, and orthography. He developed theoretical foundations and principles for creating dialectological dictionaries of the Belarusian language. He also co-authored the Belarusian-Russian Dictionary (1925) and the Russian-Belarusian Dictionary (1928) with N. Ya. Baykov.
Arrest and Rehabilitation
On July 21, 1930, Nekrashevich was arrested in connection with the "Union for the Liberation of Belarus" case and was sentenced by the OGPU of the USSR to five years of exile in Sarapul, Udmurtia. His term of exile was later extended by two years. During his exile, he worked as a planner-economist and accountant. In November 1937, he was arrested again and executed in December of the same year. Nekrashevich was posthumously rehabilitated by the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the USSR in 1957 (for the second sentence) and by the Supreme Court of the BSSR in 1988 (for the first sentence).
Legacy
In recognition of his contributions, a memorial sign was installed in Danilovka, the former residence of the Nekrashevich family. Additionally, a memorial plaque with the names of prominent scholars, including Nekrashevich, was placed in the building in Minsk that housed the Institute of Belarusian Culture and later the Belarusian Academy of Sciences. A sculptural sketch of a monument to Nekrashevich, created by E. Astafyev, is displayed in the G. Pryanishnikov "Tradition" Art Gallery in Svetlogorsk. To commemorate the 125th anniversary of Nekrashevich's birth, the Ministry of Communications of the Republic of Belarus issued a commemorative envelope on May 8, 2008.
