Occupation linguist, politician Name Branislaw Tarashkyevich | Role Politician Children Radaslaw Tarashkyevich | |
 | ||
Born 20 January 1892 ( 1892-01-20 ) Matsyulishki, Vilna Governorate, Russian Empire
(now Lithuania) Nationality Russian Empire, Poland, Soviet Union Died November 29, 1938, Minsk, Belarus | ||
Branislaw Adamavich Tarashkyevich (Belarusian: Браніслаў Адамавіч Тарашкевіч, Łacinka: Branisłaŭ Taraškievič, Russian: Бронислав Адамович Тарашкевич, Lithuanian: Bronislavas Taraškevičius, Polish: Bronisław Adamowicz Taraszkiewicz; January 20, 1892 – November 29, 1938) was a Belarusian public figure, politician, and linguist.
He was the creator of the first standardization of the modern Belarusian language in the early 20th century. The standard was later Russified by the Soviet authorities. However, the pre-Russified (classical) version of the standard was and still is actively used by intellectuals and the Belarusian diaspora and is informally referred to as Taraškievica, named after Branislaw Tarashkyevich.
Tarashkyevich was a member of the underground Communist Party of West Belarus (KPZB) in Poland and was imprisoned for two years (1928–1930). Also, as a member of the Belarusian Deputy Club (Беларускі пасольскі клуб, Byelaruski pasol’ski klub), he was a deputy to the Polish Parliament (Sejm) in 1922–1927. Among others, he translated Pan Tadeusz into Belarusian, and in 1969 a Belarusian-language high school in Bielsk Podlaski was named after him.
In 1933 he was set free due to a Polish–Soviet prisoner release in exchange of Frantsishak Alyakhnovich, a Belarusian journalist and playwright imprisoned in a GULAG, and lived in Soviet exile since then.
He fell victim to the Great Purge of the late 1930s.