Exhibitions organised by the Slavonic Library in 2023

Only in Czechoslovakia  did I Feel Entirely Belarusian

The exhibition and memorial meeting on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the death of the Belarusian poet Larysa Henijuš (1910–1983) have been organised by the Skaryna Educational Association and the National Library of the Czech Republic – Slavonic Library.
The exhibition presents the personality and work of Larysa Henijuš, a Belarusian poet and a leading representative of the Belarusian interwar diaspora. Through a combination of panels and showcases, the exhibition outlines the key moments of the poet’s life as well as her literary work. Larysa Henijuš came to Czechoslovakia in 1937 to visit her husband, a physician. During the war, they both worked in the Belarusian Self-Help Committee, and Ms Henijuš was in charge of the archives of the Council of the Belarusian People’s Republic (the Belarusian government in exile). After the war, the Soviet authorities requested the extradition of the couple. In 1948, both were illegally deprived of Czechoslovak citizenship and were handed over to the USSR, where they spent many years in Gulag camps. Larysa Henijuš continues to be a model of civil defiance against Soviet totalitarianism and an example of the struggle for the democratic future of the Belarusian nation.

Organised by the Skaryna Educational Association and the National Library of the Czech Republic – Slavonic Library

Date: 12 April - 31 May 2023

Poster - Invitation ceremony