Historian who headed the government of the Belarusian People’s Republic in exile, moved to Soviet Byelorussia and was executed
Born into a landless noble family in the Disna district of the Vilna Governorate in 1883, he had almost no formal schooling. He was active in the Hramada in 1906–1908, was editorial secretary of Nasha Niva and from 1915 openly advocated independence from both Russia and Poland. In 1918 he joined the Rada as a delegate of the Belarusian Council of Vilnius, and in 1919 he led the Belarusian Socialist Revolutionaries. Appointed prime minister in December 1919, he was soon arrested by the Polish authorities; released the following year, he went to Riga and toured European capitals seeking recognition until he stepped down in 1923. In 1927 he moved to Soviet Byelorussia, where he became director of the State Museum and a member of the Academy of Sciences, but he was arrested in 1930, exiled to Saratov and shot in 1938.
Also known as: Vatslaw Lastowski · Vacłaŭ Lastoŭski · Wacław Łastowski · Vaclovas Lastauskas · Vatslav Lastovsky
Activities and affiliations
Career Timeline
- 1909Editorial secretary of Nasha Niva
- 1918Member of the Rada for the Belarusian Council of Vilnius
- 1918Head of the Belarusian representation in Lithuania
- 1919–1923Prime minister of the Belarusian People’s Republic
- 1927–1930Director of the Belarusian State Museum
- 1928Academician of the Belarusian Academy of Sciences