The master of the Belarusian socio-psychological and intellectual-philosophical prose created a wide panorama of human life at the crucial stages of the history of our country, he showed the rich figurative possibilities of the Belarusian language.
The collections of the National Library of Belarus (NLB) contain the largest collection of writer's works (both lifetime and later editions) and literature about him. You can find these documents in the electronic catalogue. The consolidated EIR “The National Bibliography of Belarus” also contains information on publications missing in the NLB collections. Digital copies of the selected works by K. Chorny from periodicals are presented in the virtual resource “Belarusian Literary Heritage. Magazines 1919–1939”. Information about the life and work of the writer can be found in the database “Belarus in Persons and Events” and the virtual project “On the Wave of Time, Throughout the Life”.
Kuzma Chorny (real name Nikolai Romanovsky, 1900–1944) was born in the village of Borki, Slutsk district, Minsk province (now the village of Zhabchevo, Kopyl district, Minsk region). The small town of Timkovichi became the dearest for the writer, the hometown of his parents and where the family moved in 1908. He studied at the Nesvizh Teachers' Seminary at the Belarusian State University.
He was a member of the literary association "Maladnyak" (since 1923). He was the Chairman of the literary association "Uzvyshsha" in the years 1926–1931, and the Chief Editor of the magazine of the same name from 1927 to 1931.
Kuzma Chorny was groundlessly arrested, spent 8 months in a Minsk prison in 1938. During the Great Patriotic War, he lived in Moscow. He actively participated in public life, wrote articles, appeals, and feuilleton despite the poor health.
The writer signed his works with his own surname, cryptonyms "М. Р., М. Р-скі, К. Ч.", Pseudonyms such as Maxim Aleshnik, M. Birulia, Іgnat Bulava from Turov, Vyasely, Symon Charapkevich, K. Chorny, etc.
Kuzma Chorny also entered the history of Belarusian literature as a master of large prose works. Some of the novels remained incomplete. K. Chorny is also the author of the plays. He translated into Belarusian a number of works by A. Pushkin, N. Gogol, A. Ostrovsky, M. Gorky, V. Korolenko.
Kuzma Chorny was awarded the Order of the Red Star and the Partisan Medal. Kuzma Chorny Literary Museum, a branch of the State Museum of the History of Belarusian Literature, was founded in his homeland (Timkovichi agro-town of the Kopyl region). Streets in Minsk, Nesvizh, Bobruisk, Slutsk are named after the famous writer.
Bibliology Research Department
