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Maksim Tank
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<h2 id="childhood-and-activism-in-west-belarus">Childhood and activism in West Belarus</h2> <p>Jaŭhien Skurko was born into a wealthy<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:1" href="#fn:1"><sup>1</sup></a> peasant family in a <i><a href="/facts/Khutor/3nr70lsn">khutor</a></i> about a kilometer away from the village Piĺkaŭščyna (<a href="/facts/Belarusian_language/yRuE1cfX">Belarusian</a>: Пількаўшчына), now in <a href="/facts/Myadzyel_District/3L7yRXrp">Myadzyel District</a>, <a href="/facts/Minsk_Oblast/kEbTJyNm">Minsk Oblast</a>, Belarus. In 1914, his family went to Moscow as refugees from the approaching <a href="/facts/First_World_War/vITTUanQ">First World War</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:2" href="#fn:2"><sup>2</sup></a> and lived there till 1922. </p><p>Because of the hunger in Russia, the family returned to its home village, which by then became part of the <a href="/facts/Second_Polish_Republic/YEYGMvn9">Second Polish Republic</a>. </p><p>In 1928, Skurko joined an underground communist youth organization in his school in <a href="/facts/Radashkovichy/fLjXhr5b">Radashkovichy</a>. Despite good performance in the school, in 1929 he was expelled together with several other pupils for participating in a protest against <a href="/facts/Polonization/T6tn3qfm">closure of Belarusian schools</a> by the Polish authorities. He was also expelled from his following school in <a href="/facts/Wilno/ecy21qeQ">Wilno</a> for participation in student protests. </p><p>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 <a href="/facts/Luki%25C5%25A1k%25C4%2597s_Prison/qKlK2QTw">Lukiškės Prison</a> in Wilno.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a> </p><p>In late 1932, he illegally crossed the border with the <a href="/facts/Soviet_Union/m7wWsPto">Soviet Union</a> and joined Belarusian underground group in <a href="/facts/Minsk/CwJXyVHH">Minsk</a>. He was eventually arrested by the Soviet authorities, interrogated by the <a href="/facts/NKVD/IA8Nwh1T">NKVD</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a> and deported to Poland. After his return, he was an activist of the illegal youth branch of the <a href="/facts/Communist_Party_of_West_Belarus/3LByQtxy">Communist Party of West Belarus</a> in Wilno and <a href="/facts/Navahrudak/vtfLnyRD">Navahrudak</a>. He was several times arrested and spent a total of two years in prison. </p><p>In 1936, Skurko was admitted into the underground <a href="/facts/Communist_Party_of_West_Belarus/3LByQtxy">Communist Party of West Belarus</a>. </p> <h2 id="career-in-the-ussr">Career in the USSR</h2> <p>After the annexation of <a href="/facts/West_Belarus/I1nmIJvL">West Belarus</a> by the Soviet Union, Skurko worked as a culture journalist and as an education administrator in <a href="/facts/Vilejka/VkGh0B7y">Vilejka</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a> </p><p>After the beginning of the war, Skurko was evacuated to <a href="/facts/Saratov/cpPqPuSL">Saratov</a> and then returned to the <a href="/facts/Bryansk_Front/0D6lAfUa">Bryansk Front</a> to work as a reporter for several Soviet publications.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a> </p><p>In 1945 – 1948, Skurko worked as editor at the satirical magazine <i><a href="/facts/Vozhyk/3hl4XFcK">Vozhyk</a></i>. From 1948 to 1966, he was editor in chief of the major Belarusian literature magazine <i>Polymia</i>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7"><sup>7</sup></a> </p><p>Since the late 1940s, Skurko held various senior positions in the Belarusian Soviet legislative system. In 1947–1971 he was member of the <a href="/facts/Supreme_Soviet_of_Belarus/w6p7zQYn">Supreme Soviet of Belarus</a>; of which he was chairman in 1963–1971.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:8" href="#fn:8"><sup>8</sup></a> In 1969 – 1989 he was member of the <a href="/facts/Supreme_Soviet_of_the_USSR/bSTuBKwh">Supreme Soviet of the USSR</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:9" href="#fn:9"><sup>9</sup></a> </p><p>After <a href="/facts/Belarus/vweHwgob">Belarus</a> regained independence, Maksim Tank admitted being supporter of the Belarusian <a href="/facts/Flag_of_Belarus/fHXABHy5">White, Red and White flag</a> and opposed the controversial <a href="/facts/1995_Belarusian_referendum/y7BFIY0R">referendum to change the national symbols of Belarus</a> organized by president <a href="/facts/Alexander_Lukashenko/qGR9Nf1p">Alexander Lukashenko</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:10" href="#fn:10"><sup>10</sup></a> </p><p>Maksim Tank died in Minsk in August 1995. </p> <h2 id="selected-works">Selected works</h2> <p>Collections of verses: </p> <ul><li><i>On Stages</i> (<a href="/facts/Belarusian_language/yRuE1cfX">Belarusian</a>: На этапах, 1936)</li> <li><i>The Cranberry Colour</i> (<a href="/facts/Belarusian_language/yRuE1cfX">Belarusian</a>: Журавінавы цвет, 1937)</li> <li><i>Under the Mast</i> (<a href="/facts/Belarusian_language/yRuE1cfX">Belarusian</a>: Пад мачтай, 1938)</li> <li><i>Sharpen the Arms</i> (<a href="/facts/Belarusian_language/yRuE1cfX">Belarusian</a>: Вастрыце зброю), <i>Through the Fiery Horizon</i> (<a href="/facts/Belarusian_language/yRuE1cfX">Belarusian</a>: Праз вогненны небасхіл, both 1945)</li> <li><i>In Order to Know</i> (<a href="/facts/Belarusian_language/yRuE1cfX">Belarusian</a>: Каб ведалі, 1948)</li> <li><i>On the Stone, Iron and Gold</i> (<a href="/facts/Belarusian_language/yRuE1cfX">Belarusian</a>: На камні, жалезе і золаце, 1951)</li> <li><i>On the Road</i> (<a href="/facts/Belarusian_language/yRuE1cfX">Belarusian</a>: У дарозе, 1954)</li> <li><i>The Lightning Track</i> (<a href="/facts/Belarusian_language/yRuE1cfX">Belarusian</a>: След бліскавіцы, 1957)</li> <li><i>My Daily Bread</i> (<a href="/facts/Belarusian_language/yRuE1cfX">Belarusian</a>: Мой хлеб надзённы, 1962)</li> <li><i>The Gulp of Water</i> (<a href="/facts/Belarusian_language/yRuE1cfX">Belarusian</a>: Глыток вады, 1964)</li> <li><i>Listen, the Spring is Coming</i> (<a href="/facts/Belarusian_language/yRuE1cfX">Belarusian</a>: Паслухайце, вясна ідзе, 1990)</li> <li><i>My Arch</i> (<a href="/facts/Belarusian_language/yRuE1cfX">Belarusian</a>: Мой каўчэг, 1994)</li></ul> <p>Poems: </p> <ul><li><i>Narach</i> (<a href="/facts/Belarusian_language/yRuE1cfX">Belarusian</a>: Нарач, 1937)</li> <li><i>Yanuk Sialiba</i> (<a href="/facts/Belarusian_language/yRuE1cfX">Belarusian</a>: Янук Сяліба, 1942)</li></ul> <h2 id="memory">Memory</h2> <p>The <a href="/facts/Maksim_Tank_Belarusian_State_Pedagogical_University/UJG1YpUq">Maksim Tank Belarusian State Pedagogical University</a> in <a href="/facts/Minsk/CwJXyVHH">Minsk</a> was renamed after Maksim Tank in 1995. </p><p>There is a monument to Maksim Tank in <a href="/facts/Miadziel/DYHHmrEq">Miadziel</a> and a street named after him in <a href="/facts/Minsk/CwJXyVHH">Minsk</a>. </p> <h2 id="awards">Awards</h2> <ul><li>People's Poet of Belarus, 1968</li> <li><a href="/facts/Hero_of_Socialist_Labour/xRq2HTt4">Hero of Socialist Labour</a>, 1974</li> <li>Four-time laureate of the <a href="/facts/Order_of_Lenin/sbotsKuu">Order of Lenin</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Order_of_the_October_Revolution/fk44omgY">Order of the October Revolution</a></li> <li>other Soviet and Polish awards</li></ul> Wikimedia Commons has media related to Maksim Tank. <h2 id="external-links">External links</h2> <ul><li><a href="http://www.warheroes.ru/hero/hero.asp?Hero_id=11239">Танк Максим</a>. warheroes.ru (in Russian)</li> <li><a href="http://csl.bas-net.by/anews1.asp?id=28467">Максим Танк (Евгений Иванович Скурко)</a>. Belarusian Academy of Science. bas-net.by (in Russian)</li></ul> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>Skurko, Andrej (17 September 2012). "Дубы Максіма Танка: пра Яўгена Скурко піша Андрэй Скурко" [The oaks of Maksim Tank: Andrej Skurko writes about Jaŭhien Skurko]. nn.by (in Belarusian). Naša Niva. Retrieved 13 October 2016. <a href="http://nn.by/?c=ar&i=79959" target="_blank">http://nn.by/?c=ar&i=79959</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>"Біяграфія Максіма Танка" [Biography of Maksim Tank]. maksimtank.ru (in Belarusian). Retrieved 13 October 2016. <a href="http://maksimtank.ru/content/biyagrafiya-maksima-tanka" target="_blank">http://maksimtank.ru/content/biyagrafiya-maksima-tanka</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>"Жыццёвы i творчы шлях Максiма Танка" [The life and writing of Maksim Tank]. Official website of the Miadziel Regional Executive Committee (in Belarusian). Archived from the original on 12 April 2020. Retrieved 13 October 2016. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20200412084736/http://myadel.minsk-region.by/ru/zhyccevy_tvorchy_shlyah-ru/" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20200412084736/http://myadel.minsk-region.by/ru/zhyccevy_tvorchy_shlyah-ru/</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:4"><p>"Біяграфія Максіма Танка" [Biography of Maksim Tank]. maksimtank.ru (in Belarusian). Retrieved 13 October 2016. <a href="http://maksimtank.ru/content/biyagrafiya-maksima-tanka" target="_blank">http://maksimtank.ru/content/biyagrafiya-maksima-tanka</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:5"><p>"Жыццёвы i творчы шлях Максiма Танка" [The life and writing of Maksim Tank]. Official website of the Miadziel Regional Executive Committee (in Belarusian). Archived from the original on 12 April 2020. Retrieved 13 October 2016. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20200412084736/http://myadel.minsk-region.by/ru/zhyccevy_tvorchy_shlyah-ru/" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20200412084736/http://myadel.minsk-region.by/ru/zhyccevy_tvorchy_shlyah-ru/</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:6"><p>"Жыццёвы i творчы шлях Максiма Танка" [The life and writing of Maksim Tank]. Official website of the Miadziel Regional Executive Committee (in Belarusian). Archived from the original on 12 April 2020. Retrieved 13 October 2016. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20200412084736/http://myadel.minsk-region.by/ru/zhyccevy_tvorchy_shlyah-ru/" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20200412084736/http://myadel.minsk-region.by/ru/zhyccevy_tvorchy_shlyah-ru/</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:7"><p>"Біяграфія Максіма Танка" [Biography of Maksim Tank]. maksimtank.ru (in Belarusian). Retrieved 13 October 2016. <a href="http://maksimtank.ru/content/biyagrafiya-maksima-tanka" target="_blank">http://maksimtank.ru/content/biyagrafiya-maksima-tanka</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:8"><p>"Біяграфія Максіма Танка" [Biography of Maksim Tank]. maksimtank.ru (in Belarusian). Retrieved 13 October 2016. <a href="http://maksimtank.ru/content/biyagrafiya-maksima-tanka" target="_blank">http://maksimtank.ru/content/biyagrafiya-maksima-tanka</a> <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:9"><p>"Жыццёвы i творчы шлях Максiма Танка" [The life and writing of Maksim Tank]. Official website of the Miadziel Regional Executive Committee (in Belarusian). Archived from the original on 12 April 2020. Retrieved 13 October 2016. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20200412084736/http://myadel.minsk-region.by/ru/zhyccevy_tvorchy_shlyah-ru/" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20200412084736/http://myadel.minsk-region.by/ru/zhyccevy_tvorchy_shlyah-ru/</a> <a href="#fnref:9" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:10"><p>Skurko, Andrej (17 September 2012). "Дубы Максіма Танка: пра Яўгена Скурко піша Андрэй Скурко" [The oaks of Maksim Tank: Andrej Skurko writes about Jaŭhien Skurko]. nn.by (in Belarusian). Naša Niva. Retrieved 13 October 2016. <a href="http://nn.by/?c=ar&i=79959" target="_blank">http://nn.by/?c=ar&i=79959</a> <a href="#fnref:10" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>