The work of Andrej Makajonak (1920-1982), playwright, screenwriter, translator, public figure is one of the brightest pages in the history of Belarusian literature. His plays, dynamic, action-packed, saturated with juicy humor, have always aroused interest in theatrical groups and spectators, truthfully and vividly reflecting the life of the people.
Andrej Makajonak was born in the village of Borkhaw, Ragachow district, Gomel region, in a family of a farmer. He received his secondary education at the Zhuravichy school (now the Ragachow district), and was one of the best students. It was during his school years that the young man showed interest in his future vocation and his artistic abilities. He gladly recited humorous poems and fables on the school stage, participated in many stages. After school, he even made an attempt to enter the Moscow Institute of Cinematography but failed.
In 1939 he was called up for military service. During World War II he took part in the Soviet-British operation in Iran, battles in the North Caucasus and on the Crimean front. In April 1942, he was seriously wounded, and could lose both legs, but luckily, he didn't. After demobilization, he worked for some time as a teacher in one of the Georgian schools. In the winter of 1943, he returned to his homeland. He worked as secretary of the Zhuravichi District Komsomol Committee, Hrodna City Komsomol Committee (1945), headed the party cabinet of the Magiliow railway junction, was assistant secretary of the Zhuravichy district party committee. After graduating from the Republican party school of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Belarus in 1949, A. Makajonak became Head of the prose department of the magazine "Vozhyk". In the same year, he was admitted to the Union of Writers of the BSSR. In 1966-1977 he was Chief Editor of the magazine "Nioman". Since the 1970s he was elected a deputy of the BSSR Supreme Soviet. In 1965, as a member of the BSSR delegation, he took part in the session of the UN General Assembly.
More detailed biographical information can be found in the online encyclopedia “Belarus in Persons and Events” (in Belarusian). Factual information about the playwright is also available in the National Authority / Regulatory Records Database (in Russian).
Andrej Makajonak's active literary work began with war diaries, sketches, psychological sketches, scenes and notes, as well as humorous verses and feuilletons for the "Vozhyk" magazine. He appeared in print for the first time in 1946 with a one-act play "It's Good When it Ends Well". The piece received a diploma and a prize at the national competition. The first serious test for A. Makajonak in drama was the play "At Dawn" (1951), which was staged at the Yanka Kupala Theatre (at the moment destroyed by the establishment). In 1953, a poignant, accusatory satirical comedy "Excuse me, sir!" was written. The play was staged by the Yanka Kupala Theater (1953), Yakub Kolas Theater (1954), as well as in more than 200 theatres outside Belarus.
In the satirical comedies "So that People Wouldn't Feel Blue" (1958) and "Liavonikha at the Orbit" (1961, literary prize named after Ya. Kupala), the playwright revealed the problems of rural reality, showed people with philistine psychology. For almost ten years A. Makajonak did not offer theaters new plays, he was looking for new means of stage expression. As a result of his intense search, the tragicomedy "Downtrodden Apostle" (1969), "Military Court" (1970), "Fire Victims" (1980) appeared. For a long time, performances have been successfully staged in domestic and foreign theaters. In 1974, A. Makajonak was awarded the State Prize of the BSSR named after Y. Kolas for the plays "Military Court" and "A Pill Under the Tongue", and in 1977 he was awarded the title of People's Writer. All the playwright's plays have original form and content, they raise painful social and moral problems of life, which are relevant to this day. A. Makajonak translated many plays: "Good People" by L. Zorin, "Blockade" by V. Ivanov, "The Fourth" by K. Simonov and others. He also wrote scripts for films "In a Single Family", "Happiness Must Be Protected", "Kandrat Krapiva", "After the Fair".
The collections of the National Library of Belarus contain numerous editions and reprints of the writer's pieces (in Belarusian and in translations), publications about his life and work, photographs, posters of theatrical performances, audiovisual documents, including a sound recording of the heroic musical comedy by G. Surus "The Hour of Judgment" (based on the play by A. Makajonak "Military Court"). You can find these documents through the E-Catalogue of the National Library, as well as by visiting the anniversary book exhibition here.
Andrej Makajonak was an artist of bright, unique talent. He developed many genre traditions of Belarusian drama, raised the level of national comedy to the best world examples. The Grodno central city library, a secondary school in Zhuravichi with a literary museum (in Russian), a Zhuravichi rural library, streets in Gomel and Minsk has been named after the playwright.
A number of events are timed to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the famous fellow citizen in the Gomel region: exhibitions, concerts, conferences, tours, literary competitions, Internet projects, quizzes, etc. A detailed plan of events for the Gomel Regional Universal Library named after V.I. Lenin is on the website of the institution. There you can also get acquainted with a new virtual resource "Andrej Makajonak - A Man, A Playwright, A Master".
Bibliology Research Department
