Pavel Sieviarynec: If it were not for Buraukin, we won’t be having national television

Famous poet and civil activist passed away in his 78th year. Last public appearance he made was at the church wedding ceremony of Pavel Sieviarynec and Volha Shylak in the Cathedral of St. Virgin Mary

Last time the poet appeared in public was in February 2014, when he wanted to congratulate the former political prisoner Pavel Sieviarynec and his beloved Volha Shylak with their church wedding ceremony. The poet wished happiness to the newly married couple, and several days after he was undergoing operation – for several months he was combating with a severe oncology. The poet went to resuscitation department, his health got relatively better, he was discharged from the hospital back home, then got back to hospital and went to coma for several weeks. Last days of his life Henadz Buraukin spent at home together with his wife, children and grandchildren.

Belarusan politician and publicist Pavel Sieviarynec told “EuroBelarus” Information Service about the personality of the poet as he remembered, and the loss that our country felt with his death.

- Henadz Buraukin was one of those people who revived Belarus, and did so even back in BSSR. If it were not for Buraukin, we won’t be having national television.

He was one of the lights in the Belarusan poetry; when it comes to lyrics, we have no one to compare him with. The poetry of Buraukin is the best lyric poetry.

Apart from that, he always had firm civic stance, both in regard to independence, democracy and freedom. Such people are simply epochs; we respect them, name streets after them, set monuments for them.

Henadz Buraukin was very witty, well-organized, very efficient Belarusian: he could portray and present Belarus to reach the results that nobody usually reaches. The fact that BT (“Belarus TV”) was made a national TV-channel in the 80s means a lot. Of course, this is a huge loss for Belarus…

He was very shrewd person with a good artistic taste. We could discuss any topic with him; he had his own deep opinion and impression about everything, and there was no shallowness.

I thought that if Belarus had statesmen such as Henadz Buraukin, our country would be one of the leaders in Europe, an exemplary country!

A person with an artistic talent, with statecraft, great organizing skills is a dream of any state. And the fact that at a state level his funeral and his memory were basically ignored is a shame.

Henadz Buraukin and I mainly met at different official events - congresses, conventions, meetings. I only saw him once or twice in private, when he was at home, in his apartment. We were talking about literature and about Belarus. He was very even-tempered person with a diplomatic character. It is no coincidence that he represented Belarus in the United Nations Organization.

It was very nice to sit for a while with him, to drink coffee, even to be silent, not to say about talking. You could feel certain steadiness, reference point for life.

I thank God for knowing Henadz Buraukin. May he rest in peace! The place he is now is better and more joyous than we are in now.

Reference

Henadz Buraukin was born on August 28, 1936 in the village of Shuliatsina, Rasony District. He was a graduate of the BSU faculty of journalism, worked for the magazine Belarus’ Communist, newspaper Literature and Art, and occupied the position of the editor-in-chief of Maladost magazine.

He was the head of the BSSR State Radio and Television in 1978-1990 but was sacked from the position for his democratic views and became a diplomat. He was a permanent representative of Belarus in the UN and deputy Minister of Culture and Press, headed the Belarusian Language Association and was a member of the PEN-centre.