Belarus: persons and events (Panchenko Pimen Yemelyanovich)

23 august 2024

Interesting

Pimen Panchenko was born on August 23, 1917 in Tallinn, where his parents (landless peasants) left in search of work. Later, the family returned to Belarus, lived in Begoml, Kirovsk, Tolochin. After graduating from the age of seven, he worked as a worker at a woodworking plant in Bobruisk and at the same time studied at one-year pedagogical courses, worked as a teacher.

Since 1939 began the front epic of P. Panchenko, who took part in the liberation of Western Belarus, remained in the service of the Red Army. He traveled the roads of the Great Patriotic War as a frontline correspondent and completed his military service in 1945 in Iran.

After the war Pimen Panchenko worked in various periodicals: he headed the department of the magazine «Vozhyk», was deputy editor-in-chief of the newspaper «Literature and Art», editor-in-chief of the almanac «Sovetskaya otchizna». From 1966 to 1971 he was the Secretary of the Board of the Union of Writers of Belarus. He was engaged in public activities, was a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the BSSR. On a voluntary basis headed the Republican Committee for the Defense of Peace.         Pimen Yemelyanovich Panchenko is an honorary academician of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus (1994). Awarded the Order of Lenin, the Order of Patriotic War II degree, the Order of October Revolution, three Orders of the Red Banner of Labor, two Orders of the Badge of Honor, medals and diplomas.

P. Panchenko started writing in his youth. First published his poems («Urozhaynoe» and «youth») in 1934 in the almanac «percussionists». The first collections of lyrics - «confidence» (1938) and «September banners» (1940). They reflected the romantic and elevated mood of the artist.

P. Panchenko's poetic maturity was brought by the poems he wrote during the war. On the front roads he saw blood and death, painfully experienced the tragedy of the Belarusian people. His war lines are imbued with faith in victory over the enemy, empathy, compassion for other people's grief. The poem «Blue Irises» became one of the best works of that time not only in Belarusian, but also in the whole Soviet poetry. The poet's war impressions made up the collections «The Road of War» (1943), «Distant Stations» (1945), «Hot Winds» (1947). The cycle of his poems «Iranian Diary» (1944-1947) became a distinctive phenomenon in Belarusian literature. The war theme did not leave the poet throughout his creative life.

The lyrical and publicistic poem «Patriotic Song», in which the poet expressed his sincere declaration of love for the Motherland and people, was awarded the Yanka Kupala literary prize (1959). The book of his poems «In the Lightning Light» (1966, Yanka Kupala State Prize of the BSSR 1968) became a notable phenomenon in the literary life of Belarus. P. Panchenko's collection «Where the Zhavranok Spends the Night», which received the USSR State Prize (1981), is imbued with deep lyricism.

A great civil resonance was caused in his time «poem of shame and anger». After the poet's death, his books «I have only one Earth» (1996) and «Rye Bell» (2002), which collected works from different years, were published.

Pimen Panchenko has numerous journalistic articles and essays, memoirs about famous Belarusian writers and events from literary life. He translated into Belarusian the works of A. Mitskevich, M. Nagnibeda, E. Rainis, F. Schiller and others. The poetry of Pimen Emelianovich Panchenko entered the golden fund of Belarusian literature.

Based on the materials of the National Library of Belarus

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