Ivan Mikitavič Sierada ( – after 19 November 1943), better known by the pseudonyms of Jan or Janka was a Belarusian statesman, pedagogist and writer who served as the first president of the Rada of the Belarusian Democratic Republic.

Biography

Ivan Mikitavič Sierada was born in the village of in

Minsk Governorate Minsk Governorate was an administrative-territorial unit (''guberniya'') of the Russian Empire, with its capital in Minsk. It was created from the land acquired in the partitions of Poland and existed from 1793 until 1921. Its territory covered th ...

of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

(now in Brest Region,

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

). From 1905 to 1906, Sierada served in the

Imperial Russian Army The Imperial Russian Army () was the army of the Russian Empire, active from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was organized into a standing army and a state militia. The standing army consisted of Regular army, regular troops and ...

Manchuria Manchuria is a historical region in northeast Asia encompassing the entirety of present-day northeast China and parts of the modern-day Russian Far East south of the Uda (Khabarovsk Krai), Uda River and the Tukuringra-Dzhagdy Ranges. The exact ...

during the

Russo-Japanese War The Russo-Japanese War (8 February 1904 – 5 September 1905) was fought between the Russian Empire and the Empire of Japan over rival imperial ambitions in Manchuria and the Korean Empire. The major land battles of the war were fought on the ...

, and was also mobilized during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. He graduated from a veterinary school in

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

in 1903 and worked as a veterinarian in the Minsk Governorate in 1907–1911. At the same time he was a teacher at an agricultural college in Marjina Horka. Jan Sierada was an active member of the Belarusian Socialist Assembly. In 1917, he was elected the chairman of the First All-Belarusian Congress. In 1918, he was elected president of the short-lived

Belarusian Democratic Republic The Belarusian People's Republic (BNR; , ), also known as the Belarusian Democratic Republic, was a state proclaimed by the Council of the Belarusian Democratic Republic in its Second Constituent Charter on 9 March 1918 during World War I. The ...

. In February 1918, he was a member of the Belarusian delegation (together with Simon Rak-Mikhailovsky and Alaksandar Ćvikievič) at the peace talks in Brest-Litovsk. In the 1920s, Sierada worked on different positions in the Agriculture Ministry of the

Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic The Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (BSSR, Byelorussian SSR or Byelorussia; ; ), also known as Soviet Belarus or simply Belarus, was a Republics of the Soviet Union, republic of the Soviet Union (USSR). It existed between 1920 and 19 ...

, and was also a teacher at several colleges and published several works on agriculture. On 4 July 1930, Sierada was arrested by the

NKVD The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (, ), abbreviated as NKVD (; ), was the interior ministry and secret police of the Soviet Union from 1934 to 1946. The agency was formed to succeed the Joint State Political Directorate (OGPU) se ...

as part of the so-called Case of the Union of Liberation of Belarus. In April 1931, he was sentenced to 5 years of exile in

Yaroslavl Yaroslavl (; , ) is a city and the administrative center of Yaroslavl Oblast, Russia, located northeast of Moscow. The historic part of the city is a World Heritage Site, and is located at the confluence of the Volga and the Kotorosl rivers. ...

, in the

Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Russian SFSR or RSFSR), previously known as the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and the Russian Soviet Republic, and unofficially as Soviet Russia,Declaration of Rights of the labo ...

. After this, he was again sentenced in 1941 to 10 more years in the Gulag. He was set free, on 19 November 1943, from the

gulag The Gulag was a system of Labor camp, forced labor camps in the Soviet Union. The word ''Gulag'' originally referred only to the division of the Chronology of Soviet secret police agencies, Soviet secret police that was in charge of runnin ...

camp chain (

Krasnoyarsk Krai Krasnoyarsk Krai (, ) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject (a krai) of Russia located in Siberia. Its administrative center is the types of inhabited localities in Russia, city of Krasnoyarsk, the second-largest city in Siberia after ...

) and his further fate is unknown. He has been rehabilitated on his cases in 1988 and 1989.

Works

* Yak treba kavats horses. Mn., 1926. *Veterinary and zoohygiene. Book. 1-2. Mn., 1927-1928. *Pabudov's strength in Kalgas and Saugas. Mn., 1930.

Notes

References

* Маракоў Л.У. Рэпрэсаваныя літаратары, навукоўцы, работнікі асветы, грамадскія і культурныя дзеячы Беларусі, 1794-1991. Энц. даведнік. У 10 т. Т.2. —Мн:, 2003. {{DEFAULTSORT:Sierada, Jan 1879 births People from Baranavichy district People from Novogrudsky Uyezd Belarusian Socialist Assembly politicians Belarusian socialists Government ministers of Belarus Members of the Rada of the Belarusian Democratic Republic Belarusian people of World War I Russian military personnel of World War I Russian military personnel of the Russo-Japanese War Academic staff of Belarusian Agricultural Academy Heads of state of states with limited recognition Belarusian scientists Belarusian prisoners and detainees Year of death missing