杨卡·库巴拉

杨卡·库巴拉（白俄罗斯语：Я́нка Купа́ла，英语：Yanka Kupala或Janka Kupała，1882年7月7日—1942年6月28日），笔名Ivan Daminikavich Lutsevich（白俄罗斯语：Іва́н Даміні́кавіч Луцэ́віч），白俄罗斯诗人和作家。库巴拉被认为是20世纪最伟大的白俄罗斯语作家之一。

Ivan Daminikavich Lutsevich (Belarusian: Іван Дамінікавіч Луцэвіч, romanized: Ivan Daminikavič Łucevič, Polish: Iwan Daminikawicz Łucewicz; 7 July [O.S. 25 June] 1882 – 28 June 1942), better known by his pen name Yanka Kupala (Янка Купала), was a Belarusian poet and writer.

Biography

Early life

Kupala was born on July 7, 1882, in Viazynka, a folwark settlement near Maladzyechna. His family had been well-known since the early 17th century, coming from the szlachta, although grown poor so both of his parents had to work as tenant farmers at the folwark. Yanka’s grandfather leased the land from the Radziwiłł family who eventually expelled him from his home. The story later formed the basis of Kupala’s drama ‘The Ravaged Nest’. Young Ivan had to help his father support the family. When his father died in 1902 he became the only provider. He worked a variety of short-term jobs, including as a tutor, a shop assistant, and a record keeper. Later he was hired as a labourer at the local distillery. Despite the hard work he managed to find time for self-education. He wrote almost all books from his father’s library, graduated from the local folk school and successfully qualified as a teacher.

He took part in the 1905 Russian Revolution. Between 1908 and 1909 Ivan lived in Vilnius and worked at the Nasha Niva newspaper. At the time he composed his most famous poem ‘Who goes there?’ that was eventually put into music and became a hymn of Belarusians.

In 1909-1913 he studied at Cherniaev’s courses in St Petersburg, then in 1915 he spent a year at Schanjawski Moscow Public University. His studies were interrupted by the First World War. Ivan was called up for military duty in 1916 and served in the road-building unit of Warsaw District Railway in Minsk, Polotsk and Smolensk.

Personal life

The names of two women are still remembered when it comes to Yanka Kupala’s personal life: his wife Vladislava Stankevich (Lutsevich) and his muse Paulina Myadzyolka. Myadzyolka met Yanka Kupala in 1909 at her friend Stankevich's house in Vilnya (Vilnius). From her memoir Сцежкамі жыцця (Paths of Life): "Kupala was making jokes, asking if there are many beautiful girls in Vilnya. I frowned and kept silent, unhappy with the playful nature of the conversation."

The encounter with Paulina Myadzyolka sank so deep into Kupala’s mind that in four years he named his new play Paulinka and even invited Myadzyolka to play a lead role. The aspiring actress accepted the offer and kept communicating with the author.

Kupala married Vladislava Stankevich in 1916 in Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral, Moscow. There is a comment in Paulina Myadzyolka’s memoir that she only learned about the marriage of Kupala and her friend a full year after the ceremony.

The marriage of Yanka Kupala and Vladislava Lutsevich lasted for over 25 years. When the poet died in 1942, his always energetic wife took it very heavily. She decided to devote her life to preserving the memory of her late husband. It was Vladislava Lutsevich who created and became the director of the Museum of Yanka Kupala in Minsk.

Literary career

Kupala's first serious literary attempt was Ziarno, a Polish-language sentimental poem which he completed around 1903–1904 under the pseudonym "K-a." His first Belarusian-language work ("Мая доля") was dated July 15, 1904. Kupala's first published poem, "Мужык" ("Peasant"), was published approximately a year later, appearing in Belarusian in the Russophone Belarusian newspaper Severo-Zapadnyi Krai (Northwestern Krai) on May 11, 1905. A number of subsequent poems by Kupala appeared in the Belarusian-language newspaper Nasha Niva from 1906 to 1907.