On March 17, the National Library of Belarus hosted a roundtable titled "Aliaksej Sapunou: the Legacy of the Vitsiebsk Antiquity Collector," dedicated to the 170th anniversary of historian, archaeographer, local historian.
The programme of the scientific event included reports by experts in the field of studying the legacy of an outstanding scientist. Researchers, specialists of libraries, museums and archives took part in the meeting.
The event was moderated by Mr Alies Susha, Deputy Director General – Director of Research and Publishing Activities, who recalled previous projects on Aliaksej Sapunou's heritage research, including the collection of materials of the scientific and practical conference "Book Heritage of A. Sapunou" published by the National Library.
Mr Susha invited the participants of the event to the exhibition "The Champion of the Belarusian Past" at the Book Museum, dedicated to the 170th anniversary of Aliaksej Sapunou and the 100th anniversary of the National Library of Belarus. The speaker drew attention to the exhibit, which was not present at the exhibition. It was the famous "lost" Statute of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania 1588 from the collection of Sapunou. In the 1920s, he joined the Belarusian State and University Library (now the National Library of Belarus). Aliaksej Sapunou offered Iosif Simanouski, Director of the Library, to acquire the Statute and other valuable books from his book collection, which did happen after some checks. During World War II, the Statute disappeared. After a certain time, it appeared at the Belarusian Library and Francysk Skaryna Museum in London. The speaker paid attention to the curious owner's marks of the copy.
Ms Tatsiana Zakharava, Head of the Museum Sector of the Bibliology Research Department of the National Library of Belarus made a report “Book Collection of A. Sapunou in the collections of the National Library of Belarus".
Ms Nadzeja Varlamava, Head of the Research and Exhibition Department of the Vitsiebsk Regional Museum, presented a report "The Archives of A. Sapunou" in the Collections of the Vitsiebsk Region Local History Museum."
Ms Sviatlana Miasajedava, Lead Archivist of the State Archives of the Vitsiebsk Region, presented a report "Documents of the State Archive of the Vitsiebsk Region about Life, Activity and Legacy of Aliaksej Sapunou."
Ms Iryna Gradoukina, Head of the Bibliology Research Department of the National Library of Belarus, presented a report "A. Sapunou in the History of Vitsiebsk Scientific Archive Committee."
Ms Liudmila Khmialnitskaja, historian and editor of the historical non-fiction almanac "Vitsiebski Sshytak", gave a report "Professor A. Sapunou: Commemoration Work. 1924–2021».
The event, as well as the exhibition in honour of the 170th anniversary of A. Sapunou, is another link in the chain of commemoration projects. It draws attention to the scientific activity of the outstanding historian, a true champion of the Vitsiebsk past.
The roundtable took place online on YouTube. You can watch the recording here.
Bibliology Research Department
