Maksim Tank

Maksim Tank Jaŭhien Skurko
Miadziel Raion
Pen name	Maksim Tank, Aŭhien Bura, A. Granit
Occupation	Writer, journalist, editor, statesman
Language	Belarusian
Citizenship	Poland Soviet Union Belarus
Period	Late 1920s – 1990s
Genre	Poetry
Subject	Belarusian national liberation, social issues
Years active	more than 60
Spouse	Luboŭ Asajevič[1]
Signature

Maksim Tank
Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the Belarusian SSR
In office 1963–1971
Member of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR
In office 1969–1989
Personal details
Political party	Hero of Socialist Labor

Maksim Tank (Belarusian: Максі́м Танк, Russian: Макси́м Танк, real name Jaŭhien Skurko, Belarusian: Яўге́н Іва́навіч Скурко́; Russian: Евге́ний Ива́нович Скурко́; 17 September 1912 – 7 August 1995) was a Belarusian Soviet poet, journalist and translator.

Childhood and activism in West Belarus

Jaŭhien Skurko was born into a wealthy

and lived there till 1922.

Because of the hunger in Russia, the family returned to its home village, which by then became part of the Second Polish Republic.

In 1928, Skurko joined an underground communist youth organization in his school in

for participation in student protests.

In early 1930s, Jaŭhien Skurko participated in the Belarusian underground communist activism, writing for Belarusian and Polish underground publications. In 1932, he was arrested and placed in the Lukiškės Prison in Wilno.^[3]

In late 1932, he illegally crossed the border with the

. He was several times arrested and spent a total of two years in prison.

In 1936, Skurko was admitted into the underground

.

Career in the USSR

After the annexation of

After the beginning of the war, Skurko was evacuated to Saratov and then returned to the Bryansk Front to work as a reporter for several Soviet publications.^[3]

In 1945 – 1948, Skurko worked as editor at the satirical magazine Vozhyk. From 1948 to 1966, he was editor in chief of the major Belarusian literature magazine Polymia.^[2]

Since the late 1940s, Skurko held various senior positions in the Belarusian Soviet legislative system. In 1947–1971 he was member of the

After Belarus regained independence, Maksim Tank admitted being supporter of the Belarusian White, Red and White flag and opposed the controversial referendum to change the national symbols of Belarus organized by president Alexander Lukashenko.^[1]

Maksim Tank died in Minsk in August 1995.

Selected works

Collections of verses:

• On Stages (Belarusian: На этапах, 1936)
• The Cranberry Colour (Belarusian: Журавінавы цвет, 1937)
• Under the Mast (Belarusian: Пад мачтай, 1938)
• Sharpen the Arms (Belarusian: Вастрыце зброю), Through the Fiery Horizon (Belarusian: Праз вогненны небасхіл, both 1945)
• In Order to Know (Belarusian: Каб ведалі, 1948)
• On the Stone, Iron and Gold (Belarusian: На камні, жалезе і золаце, 1951)
• On the Road (Belarusian: У дарозе, 1954)
• The Lightning Track (Belarusian: След бліскавіцы, 1957)
• My Daily Bread (Belarusian: Мой хлеб надзённы, 1962)
• The Gulp of Water (Belarusian: Глыток вады, 1964)
• Listen, the Spring is Coming (Belarusian: Паслухайце, вясна ідзе, 1990)
• My Arch (Belarusian: Мой каўчэг, 1994)

Poems:

• Narach (Belarusian: Нарач, 1937)
• Yanuk Sialiba (Belarusian: Янук Сяліба, 1942)

Memory

Miadziel

The Maksim Tank Belarusian State Pedagogical University in Minsk was renamed after Maksim Tank in 1995.

There is a monument to Maksim Tank in

.

Awards

• People's Poet of Belarus, 1968
• Hero of Socialist Labour, 1974
• Four-time laureate of the Order of Lenin
• Order of the October Revolution
• other Soviet and Polish awards

References

External links

• Танк Максим. warheroes.ru (in Russian)
• Максим Танк (Евгений Иванович Скурко). Belarusian Academy of Science. bas-net.by (in Russian)