Ms Valentina Dyshinevich was born on May 31, 1930 in Omsk in the family of a public servant. After finishing the 3rd grade of an elementary school, 10-year-old Valentina and her parents moved to Grodno to the place of her father's work (he was a doctor).
At the age of 11, she had to face the horrors of World War II. In her autobiography, Ms Dyshinevich recalls: "... On June 22, 1941, when German planes began bombing Grodno, my mother and I left the city and headed east towards Minsk. By the time we reached Minsk, it was already occupied by German troops and we had to stay in the occupied territory..."
Valentina and her mother lived in Dushkovo village of the Radoshkovichi district during the occupation. After the liberation in 1945 of the Molodechno Region from the Nazi invaders, Valentina continued her studies at the Rakov Junior Secondary School. However, they moved to Smorgon in a year.
Later it became known that Ms Dyshinevich's father, an officer of the Soviet army, died on the Northwest Front. Therefore, the girl and her mother had to stay in Smorgon, where she finished school in 1949 and entered the Library Department of the M. Gorky Minsk Pedagogical Institute immediately after.
Having received a diploma with honors in the major of Library Studies, Ms Dyshinevich began a professional career in the V.I. Lenin State Library of the BSSR in 1953 where she was admitted as a Senior Librarian and where she fruitfully worked until her retirement.
In 1956, Ms Dyshinevich was appointed Head of the Library's Scientific Reading Room and Specialized Offices, and since 1961 was Head of the Art Sector. With her direct participation the Art Department was founded, which she consequently headed in 1966.
A capable and knowledgeable library worker, a demanding leader and a well-read specialist, Ms Dyshinevich carried out her official duties thoroughly and carefully. She had extensive knowledge of art, philosophy, religion and history. There was a number of methodical materials on aesthetic education written by her.
Ms Dyshinevich is the author of the first bibliography guide on domestic artists "Belarusian Art." It was published in 1965 and contained bibliographic materials on the history of the Belarusian fine art, information about the artistry of individual artists and lists of literature about them, a list of printed reproductions of their pieces.
An index “Belarusian Musical Leniniana”, “Theater Leniniana of Belarus”, “Theater. Variety shows. Choreography. Circus” Compiled by her and a number of others were highly appreciated by figures of culture and art.
Ms Dyshinevich perfectly knew the scope of interests of each reader, which allowed her to always fulfill their information requests very accurately.
Outstanding and creative representatives of the intellectual society highly appreciated the personal qualities of Ms Dyshinevich. Among them were theater and cinema figures, book illustrators, sculptors, architects, directors, etc. Many talented people visited the Department exclusively due to their acquaintance with its Head. They would have long fascinating conversations.
In the collection of the National Library of Belarus, one can find publications gifted by the authors to Ms Dyshinevich as a token of gratitude. Thus, the famous Belarusian poet A. Ryazanov placed a dedication inscription on the title page of his collection of poems “Coordinates of Being”: “For the dearest Valentina Dyshinevich, whose observant and friendly eyes look at the core of writing. On her name day, May 31, 1982. A. Ryazanov.”
Ms Dyshinevich worked at the Art Department for more than 20 years. Since 1977, she continued her career in the Rare Book Sector of the Service Department, where she studied bibliography of art, theoretical issues of library science and the history of the book.
She worked a lot on the texts of F. Skaryna, actively studied the pieces of the 16th century by the Belarusian poet and latinist N. Gusovsky and devoted her numerous publications to them. She became the author of the first annotated retrospective index of Belarusian literature and art “Dedicated to Francysk Skaryna” published in 1982. Ms Dyshinevich wrote 15 articles for the encyclopedia "Francysk Skaryna and His Time", which stood out due to its innovation and originality.
Ms Dyshinevich actively shared her professional experience: she gave lectures and talks about F. Skaryna and N. Gusovsky to library visitors, institutions and enterprises of Minsk.
Her scientific research in the field of Skaryna studies was highly appreciated by bibliographers. This is evidenced by the article by G.Ya. Golenchenko, Doctor of historical sciences, in the encyclopedic reference "Francysk Skaryna and His Time", dedicated to her.
The professionalism and creative merits of Ms Dyshinevich did not go unnoticed: she was awarded the Certificate of Honour of the Ministry of Culture of the BSSR and the Belarusian National Committee of the Trade Union of Cultural Workers and the badge “For excellent work”.
Ms Dyshinevich went on a well-deserved rest in 1985, having devoted more than 30 years of her life to work in the library.
The colleagues and administration always spoke of her as an outstanding person, a demanding and principled leader.
Ms Lyudmila Skibina, a library employee in the 60–90s, described Ms Dyshinevich like this: "... I liked her as a person who knew a lot and had her own point of view. I was always cautious when I spoke to her for fear of losing her trust...".
Ms Dyshinevich passed away in 2005.
Bibliology Research Department
