Ivan Shamiakin (January 30, 1921 – October 14, 2004) — a Soviet Belarusian writer, he was perhaps one of the most prolific writers of the Soviet BSSR, writing in a socialist realist

Socialist realism

Socialist realism is a style of realistic art which was developed in the Soviet Union and became a dominant style in other communist countries. Socialist realism is a teleologically-oriented style having its purpose the furtherance of the goals of socialism and communism...

 style.

He was born in 1921 the village of Karma, Homiel Voblast

Homiel Voblast

Homiel Voblast or Gomel Oblast is a province of Belarus with its administrative center being Homyel.Important cities within the voblasts include: Gomel, Mazyr, Zhlobin, Svetlahorsk, Rechytsia, Kalinkavichy, Rahachow, Dobrush...

, Belarus

Belarus

Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...

, studied construction engineering in a vocational school (1940), then fought in World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, taking part in battles near Murmansk

Murmansk

Murmansk is a city and the administrative center of Murmansk Oblast, Russia. It serves as a seaport and is located in the extreme northwest part of Russia, on the Kola Bay, from the Barents Sea on the northern shore of the Kola Peninsula, not far from Russia's borders with Norway and Finland...

 and in Poland

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

. After the war he studied at the Homel Pedagogical University, worked as an editor and had different Communist Party

Communist Party of the Soviet Union

The Communist Party of the Soviet Union was the only legal, ruling political party in the Soviet Union and one of the largest communist organizations in the world...

 positions in the local party offices in Belarus. In 1963 he worked at the United Nations

United Nations

The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...

 as a part of the Belarusian UN delegation. In 1980 Shamiakin became the chief editor of the Soviet Belarusian Encyclopedia. In 1994 he became the academician

Academician

The title Academician denotes a Full Member of an art, literary, or scientific academy.In many countries, it is an honorary title. There also exists a lower-rank title, variously translated Corresponding Member or Associate Member, .-Eastern Europe and China:"Academician" may also be a functional...

of the National Academy of Sciences.

Novels

• Hlybokaja Plyn (Deep streams), 1949
• U dobry chas (In the Good Times), 1953
• Niepautornaja viasna (Unrepeatable Spring), 1957 — a part of the pentology Tryvoznaje scascie (Restless Happiness)
• Krynicy (The Springs), 1957
• Nacnyja zarnicy (Lightnings in the Summer Night), 1958 — a part of the pentology Tryvoznaje scascie (Restless Happiness)
• Ahon i snieh (Fire and Snow), 1959 — a part of the pentology Tryvoznaje scascie (Restless Happiness)
• Poshuki i sustrechy (Searching and getting together), 1959 — a part of the Tryvoznaje scascie (Restless Happiness)
• Serca na daloni (The Heart on the Open Palm), 1964
• Most (The Bridge), 1965 — a part of the pentology Tryvoznaje scascie (Restless Happiness)
• Snieznyja zimy (Snowy winters), 1970
• Atlanty i karyjatydy (Telamones and Caryatides), 1974
• Vazmu tvoj bol (I will take your pain), 1979
• Petrahrad-Brest (Petrograd-Brest), 1983
• Zenit (Zenith), 1987
• Zlaja zorka (Wicked Star), 1993

Shorter novels and short stories collections

• Pomsta (Revenge), 1945
• Na znajomych shlachach (On the Familiar Path), 1949
• Dzvie sily (Two Forces), 1951
• Apaviadanni (Stories), 1952
• Piershaje spatkannie (The First Date), 1956
• Matchyny ruki (Mother's Hands), 1961
• Viacherni seans (Late-evening movie), 1968
• Los majho ziemlaka (The Fate of My Fellow Countryman), 1970
• Backa i dzieci (Father and children), 1971
• Sciahi pad sztykami (Flags under bayonnets), 1976
• Handlarka i paet. Shlubnaja noch. (Saleswoman and poet. Prima notte), 1976
• U rodnaj siamji (In the Native Family), 1986
• Drama (Drama), 1990
• Apoviesci Ivana Andrejevicha (Stories of Ivan Andreevich), 1993
• Dzie sciezki tyja... (Where are those paths...), 1993
• Padziennie (The Falling), 1994
• Sataninski Tur (Satan's tour), 1995

Plays

• Nia viecie cishyni (Don't Believe in Silence), 1958
• Vyhannie bludnicy (Eviction of the adulteress), 1961
• Dzieci adnaho doma (Children of one house), 1967
• Ekzamen na vosien (Exam for the Autumn), 1973
• Batalija na luzie (The Battle on the Meadow), 1975
• I zmoukli ptushki (And the Birds Stopped Singing), 1971
• Zalaty medal (The Gold Medal), 1979

Non-fiction

• Razmova z chytachom (Talking to the Reader), 1973
• Karenni i haliny (Roots and Branches), 1986
• Rozdum na aposznim pierahonie: Dzionnik 1980-1995. (Thoughts before the last station: Diary 1980-1995), 1998

External links

• A Plain Woman, a short story by Ivan Šamiakin