Ms Hardziejenka was born on August 1, 1936, in the village of Prysna, Mahiliou district.
The Great Patriotic War made the girl grow up early, leaving an indelible mark on her life. Five-year-old Nina lost her parents at the very beginning of that terrible period in the country's history. Her father was drafted into the ranks of the Soviet army and never returned home; in August 1941, the Nazis took her mother away forever. The orphaned Nina and her younger brother Kolia lived with their grandparents until 1942, until their lives were taken away by a cruel hurricane of war. Ms Hardziejenka still preserves terrible memories of how relatives were shot in front of their children's eyes for contact with partisans.
When the Nazis soon burned down the village, Nina and her brother ended up first in a partisan detachment, and later in foster families. Only in the summer of 1944 did the children meet and spent the next ten years in orphanage no. 1 of Shklou.
Ms Hardziejenka recalls those years with tears: “… Our teachers were 18-year-old girls who, looking into our hungry eyes, gave us their bread. Everyone lived there as one family... ".
In 1954, after finishing 10 classes, the girl entered the Kyiv Technological Institute of the Food Industry (now the National University of Food Technologies). But soon her eyesight began to drop sharply, and health problems appeared. And since Nina did not have any of her relatives in Kyiv, she accepted her brother's offer to move to him in Minsk. There, Nina transferred to the Library Faculty of M. Gorky Minsk State Pedagogical Institute (now Maxim Tank Belarusian State Pedagogical University).
After graduating from the university in 1958, Ms Hardziejenka received a diploma and was hired to work in Ja. Kupala City Library, where she worked for seven years, five of which she was in charge of the subscription department.
In September 1963, she married Uladzimir Hardziejenka, an art school teacher who later became a famous artist and was awarded the honorary title "Honoured Art Worker of the Republic of Belarus".
Due to the birth of her daughter, Ms Hardziejenka quitted the library in 1965, and in May 1968 she was admitted to the temporary position of librarian at the State Library of the BSSR named after V.I. Lenin (now the National Library of Belarus).
A year later, she was transferred to a permanent position in the Legal Deposit Sector of the Acquisition Department, where she worked at the site of reception, selection and processing of periodicals and continuing publications.
Ms Hardziejenka was appointed to the post of Senior Librarian in July 1973 and in 1985 she headed the Acquisition Sector of the National Collections. Thanks to her excellent professional knowledge and huge experience in library work, a year later she was transferred to the position of Head of the Department. Under her strict guidance, the tasks of the formation, use and preservation of the library collections were carried out quickly and efficiently.
Ms Hardziejenka was an exceptionally hard worker. She always strived for self-improvement and the search for new methods in work. Ms Hardziejenka approached the duties assigned to her with a great sense of responsibility and always stood her ground.
She effectively dealt with the issues of popularizing Belarusian literature in the libraries of the Republic, while completing the collection of the State Library of the BSSR named after V.I. Lenin, and made every effort to achieve the maximum completeness of its national component.
Ms Hardziejenka headed the department for more than 5 years until she retired.
She took an active part in the social life of the staff: for a long time, she was the trade union organizer of the department, a member of the people's control of the Library.
For 24 years of work experience in the State Library of the BSSR named after V.I. Lenin, the name of Ms Hardziejenka was entered on the Board of Honour more than once; she often received gratitude and encouragement from the administration. In 1987, she was awarded the Certificate of Honour of the Ministry of Culture of the BSSR for many years and conscientious work with the main collections of the Library. She was also awarded the Veteran of Labor medal for her professional merits.
The staff of the National Library of Belarus send our most sincere congratulations and wish Ms Hardziejenka long life, inexhaustible energy and strength, happiness and prosperity, love and attention of family and friends.
The photos are from the personal archive of Ms Volha Hardziejenka.
Bibliology Research Department
