Smarhoń
Encyclopedia
Smarhoń is a city
in Hrodna Voblast
, Belarus
. It is located at 54°29′1"N 26°24′0"E. It was the site of Smarhoń air base
, now mostly abandoned. Smarhoń is located 107 km from the capital, Minsk
.
In the early 17th century it was established in Poland but in 1793 passed on from Poland to Russia as part of the Russian Pale of Settlement. Until the mid 19th century, Smarhoń was a private property of the princes of Radziwill with most of its population being Jewish. Shortly after World War I until World War II Smarhoń was part of the independent Poland.
City
A city is a relatively large and permanent settlement. Although there is no agreement on how a city is distinguished from a town within general English language meanings, many cities have a particular administrative, legal, or historical status based on local law.For example, in the U.S...
in Hrodna Voblast
Hrodna Voblast
Hrodna Voblast or Grodno Oblast is a voblast in northwestern Belarus.The capital - Grodno is the biggest city of the province. It lies on the Neman River. Grodno's existence is attested to from 1127. Two castles dating from the 14th - 18th centuries are located here on the steep right bank of...
, 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 ,...
. It is located at 54°29′1"N 26°24′0"E. It was the site of Smarhoń air base
Smarhon (air base)
Smarhon was a Soviet Air Force base in Belarus located 8 km northwest of Smarhon. It was a small 1950s airfield with an unpaved revetment complex hidden in the forest to northwest. The airfield is currently abandoned and increasingly overgrown....
, now mostly abandoned. Smarhoń is located 107 km from the capital, Minsk
Minsk
- Ecological situation :The ecological situation is monitored by Republican Center of Radioactive and Environmental Control .During 2003–2008 the overall weight of contaminants increased from 186,000 to 247,400 tons. The change of gas as industrial fuel to mazut for financial reasons has worsened...
.
In the early 17th century it was established in Poland but in 1793 passed on from Poland to Russia as part of the Russian Pale of Settlement. Until the mid 19th century, Smarhoń was a private property of the princes of Radziwill with most of its population being Jewish. Shortly after World War I until World War II Smarhoń was part of the independent Poland.
Famous natives and citizens of Smarhoń
- Peter BlumePeter BlumePeter Blume was an American painter and sculptor. His work contained elements of folk art, precisionism, Parisian Purism, Cubism, and Surrealism.-Biography:...
(1906–1992) US painter, in magic realism style - Alexander Deruga, Belarussian musician and folklore researcher, founder of the Smarhoń cymbals orchestra
- Abba Gordin, Belarussian YiddishYiddish languageYiddish is a High German language of Ashkenazi Jewish origin, spoken throughout the world. It developed as a fusion of German dialects with Hebrew, Aramaic, Slavic languages and traces of Romance languages...
writer, playwright and theatre director, founder of the Hebrew school "Ivriya" in Smarhon, settled later in USAUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... - Aharon Abraham Kabak (1881–1944) HebrewHebrew languageHebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...
writer, settled in PalestinePalestinePalestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands.... - Abraham SutzkeverAbraham SutzkeverAbraham Sutzkever was an acclaimed Yiddish poet. The New York Times wrote that Sutzkever was "the greatest poet of the Holocaust."-Biography:...
(1913–2010) a Yiddish and Polish poet and Second World War partisan. - Moyshe KulbakMoyshe KulbakMoyshe Kulbak was a Yiddish-language writer, born in Smarhon to a Jewish family. He studied at the Volozhin Yeshiva in Lithuania.-Overview:...
(1896–1937) Belarussian Yiddish poet, writer, executed by the NKVDNKVDThe People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs was the public and secret police organization of the Soviet Union that directly executed the rule of power of the Soviets, including political repression, during the era of Joseph Stalin.... - Abraham Isaac KookAbraham Isaac KookAbraham Isaac Kook was the first Ashkenazi chief rabbi of the British Mandate for Palestine, the founder of the Religious Zionist Yeshiva Merkaz HaRav, Jewish thinker, Halachist, Kabbalist and a renowned Torah scholar...
, Jewish theologist, rabbi, was Ashkenazi chief rabbiChief RabbiChief Rabbi is a title given in several countries to the recognized religious leader of that country's Jewish community, or to a rabbinic leader appointed by the local secular authorities...
of Palestine, learned in Smarhon yeshivaYeshivaYeshiva is a Jewish educational institution that focuses on the study of traditional religious texts, primarily the Talmud and Torah study. Study is usually done through daily shiurim and in study pairs called chavrutas...
with rabbi Noakh Shapira - David Kussevitzki (1911–1985) Polish-US Jewish cantor
- Moshe Kussevitzki (1899–1966) Polish-US Jewish cantor
- Ida Lazarovich Gilman or Ida MettIda MettIda Mett was a Russian-born anarchist and author....
(1901–1973) RussianRussiansThe Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....
anarchistAnarchismAnarchism is generally defined as the political philosophy which holds the state to be undesirable, unnecessary, and harmful, or alternatively as opposing authority in the conduct of human relations...
militant and author, exiled in FranceFranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France... - Rabbi Menashe ben Porat from Ilia or Menashe m'Ilia (1767–1831) Belarussian-LithuanianLithuanian languageLithuanian is the official state language of Lithuania and is recognized as one of the official languages of the European Union. There are about 2.96 million native Lithuanian speakers in Lithuania and about 170,000 abroad. Lithuanian is a Baltic language, closely related to Latvian, although they...
Jewish scholar, near to HaskalahHaskalahHaskalah , the Jewish Enlightenment, was a movement among European Jews in the 18th–19th centuries that advocated adopting enlightenment values, pressing for better integration into European society, and increasing education in secular studies, Hebrew language, and Jewish history...
trend - Karol Dominik PrzezdzieckiKarol Dominik PrzezdzieckiKarol Dominik Przezdziecki was a Polish count.In 1806 he was the ruler of Smarhon . He fought in the French invasion of Russia in 1812 as commander of the 21st infantry regiment of Bielostok until August, and commander of the 18th lancer Regiment of Nesvizh...
(1782–1832) PolishPolesthumb|right|180px|The state flag of [[Poland]] as used by Polish government and diplomatic authoritiesThe Polish people, or Poles , are a nation indigenous to Poland. They are united by the Polish language, which belongs to the historical Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages of Central Europe...
count, fighter for the liberation of PolandPolandPoland , 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...
in the revolt of 1830–1831November UprisingThe November Uprising , Polish–Russian War 1830–31 also known as the Cadet Revolution, was an armed rebellion in the heartland of partitioned Poland against the Russian Empire. The uprising began on 29 November 1830 in Warsaw when the young Polish officers from the local Army of the Congress... - David RazielDavid Razielthumb|David RazielDavid Raziel was a fighter of the Jewish underground during the British mandate, and one of the founders of the Irgun.-Biography:...
(1910–1941) fighter for the emancipation of Jews in Palestine, commander of the Irgun Tzvai Leumi nationalist resistance organization, was killed in IraqIraqIraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
in an anti-Nazi mission - Esther Raziel Naor (1911–2002) IsraelIsraelThe State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i politician, was militant in the Irgun Jewish nationalist resistance during the British mandate in Palestine - William Schwartz (1896–1977) US painter
- Nachum Slushch (1871–1969 Israeli historian, archeologist and Hebrew writer