December 6th marks the 90th anniversary of the birth of Zinaida Yakovlevna Mozheiko (1933–2014), the founder of Belarusian ethnomusicology.
She was born in Orsha in the family of an employee. In 1952 she graduated from the Journalism department of the Philological Faculty of the Belarusian State University, in 1956 from the Minsk Music College, in 1961 from the Theoretical Composition Faculty of the Belarusian State Conservatory. In 1954–1958, the girl worked as a teacher at a music school in Minsk, from 1958 to 1962 – at the Minsk Music College.
For many years (1962–1963, 1966–2011) Zinaida Yakovlevna was a researcher at the Institute of Art History, Ethnography and Folklore of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus. She defended her PhD thesis in 1971 and her doctoral thesis in 1992.
Zinaida Mozheiko's main research is devoted to the systemic typology of Belarusian song folklore. She is the author of the monographs "Song Culture of the Belarusian Polesie" (1971), "Songs of Belarus Lakeshire" (1981), "Calendar and song culture of Belarus" (1985), "Ecology of traditional folk music culture: intangible culture of Belarus in the light of socio-environmental problems" (2011), etc. The works reflect the calendar and song culture, the traditions of song art in the modern musical life of Belarusians, the systematic typology of song genres. The researcher's talent also manifested itself in the field of practical folklore studies: she actively participated in expeditions, during which she studied the folk song traditions of all regions of Belarus.
Zinaida Mozheiko is the author of the scripts of the musical and ethnographic films "Polesie Carols" (“Палескія калядкі”) (1972), "The Voices of Centuries" (“Галасы вякоў”) (1979), "The Memory of Centuries" (“Памяць стагоддзяў”) (1982), "Oh God, Pass the Cloud by" (“Пранясі, божа, хмару”) (1990), "The Movement of the Earth" (“Рух зямлі”) (1999), etc. The films are characterized by a reflection of local architecture, everyday life, folklore, and nature.
The activity of the talented ethnomusicologist was aimed at popularizing and preserving authentic manifestations of musical folklore as a valuable and independent field of artistic culture.
In 1987, Zinaida Yakovlevna was awarded the title of Honoured Artist of the BSSR, in 1991 she became a laureate of the prize named after Boris Asafyev in the field of musicology, in 1994 – the State Prize of Belarus. In 1988, she received the UNESCO Grand Prix for the preparation of records of Belarusian folklore. The documentary film "And I will sing my song till the very end" (2001) is dedicated to the researcher's life and professional path.
More complete information about the life and work of Zinaida Yakovlevna Mozheiko can be found the electronic resources of the National Library of Belarus: electronic catalog, online encyclopedia "Belarus in persons and events".
The material was provided by the Research Department of Bibliography.
