The presentation and ceremony of donation of the multivolume facsimile edition The Book Heritage of Francysk Skaryna (Книжное наследие Франциска Скорины) to representatives of business circles and educational institutions was held in the library, on September 1st.

The completion of the project for facsimile reprint of the book heritage of Francysk Skaryna has become a nice present to the 500th anniversary of the Belarusian book-printing, which is widely celebrated both in Belarus and abroad. This remarkable date is included in the UNESCO Calendar.

The project lasted five years, starting in 2013, when an agreement was signed between the National Library of Belarus and the BelVEB Bank to implement the program for the facsimile edition of Skaryna’s books. The initiators of the project, having combined their forces, managed to achieve a common goal – to find electronic copies of Francysk Skaryna’s books dispersed all over the world and to recreate them in 2017 as a multi-volume facsimile edition. And now, the solemn moment: the project is completed!

The 21-volume edition comprises the complete set of books printed by Skaryna in Prague and Vilna. This work is not only the rich history of our country and the heritage of our famous countryman, but also the effort of a large team of professionals and enterprising people who were originators of the project and who made a great contribution to its implementation.

During the presentation the Minister of Culture Boris Svetlov, the Minister of Information Lilia Ananich, the Metropolitan of Minsk and Zaslavl Pavel, the Patriarchal Exarch of All Belarus, the Deputy Foreign Minister Valentin Rybakov, the First Deputy Minister of Communications and Informatization Dmitry Shedko addressed solemn words to the guests.

The words of congratulations were delivered by the director of the National Library of Belarus and chairman of the editorial board Roman Motulsky, the first chairman of the editorial board, which he headed until 2014, the director of the Republican Institute of Chinese Studies named after Confucius of the Belarusian State University Anatoly Tozik, the chairman of the Board of the National Bank of the Republic of Belarus Pavel Kallaur, the deputy chairman of the Board of the BelVEB Bank Sergey Zelenko, the first deputy director for scientific work of the Center for the Belarusian Culture, Language and Literature Alexander Lukashanets.

The special thanks were addressed to the members of the editorial board: the deputy director for research and publishing activities of the National Library of Belarus Alexander Susha, the head of the research department of the National Library of Belarus Galina Kireeva, the chief researcher of the Institute of History of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus Georgy Golenchenko, the corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences Yevgeny Nemirovsky, the leading scientist of the Institute for Slavic Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences Yuri Lobyntsev, the corresponding member of the National Academy of Sciences Alexander Lukashanets, the senior researcher at the Center for the Belarusian Culture, Language and Literature Alexander Brazgunov.

A significant contribution to the project was made by the chairman of the Presidium of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus Vladimir Gusakov, the chairman of the Board of Trustees of the National Library of Belarus and chairman of the Belarusian Scientific and Industrial Association Alexander Shvets, the artist and designer Konstantin Vashchenko.

The ceremony of presenting facsimiles to representatives of diplomatic missions accredited in the Republic of Belarus: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the Federal Republic of Germany, Italy, the Republic of Poland, the Russian Federation, the United States of America and Ukraine was a continuation of the solemn event.

The valuable publication was also donated to the educational institutions of Belarus. Roman Motulsky and Pavel Kallaur presented to the Minister of Education Igor Karpenko a certificate for 80 sets of the facsimile edition The Book Heritage of Francysk Skaryna

As part of the event a presentation and solemn cancellation of a souvenir sheet timed to the 500th anniversary of the Belarusian book-printing took place. This postal project, which includes a souvenir sheet, an envelope "The First Day" and a special stamp, was prepared by the Republican Unitary Enterprise of Postal Communication "Belpochta" and the Ministry of Communications and Informatization of the Republic of Belarus in close cooperation with the National Library of Belarus.

The cancellation ceremony was attended by Roman Motulsky and Dmitry Shedko. Now the postal release will fly all over the world, and the original stamps will be placed in albums of domestic and foreign collectors.

The presentation has opened a marathon of September events dedicated to the anniversary of the Belarusian book-printing. The culmination of the holiday will be the international congress “500 Years of the Belarusian Book-Printing” and the opening of the international exhibition project “Francysk Skaryna and his Epoch”, which will be held in the National Library on September 14th and 15th.