Biography of Bykov Vasil
(19.06.1924 – 22.06.2003)
He was born on June 19, 1924 in the village of Bychki, Ushatsky district, Vitebsk region.
He studied at the sculptural department of the Vitebsk Art College (1939 – 1940), at the FZO school. He passed exams for the 10th form in June 1941. He served in the Red Army (from the summer of 1942), graduated from the Saratov Infantry School. Since 1943 on the 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian fronts. Twice wounded. Parents received a report of his death. With the acting army passed through Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Austria; senior lieutenant, regimental platoon commander, then army artillery. Demobilized in 1947. Worked in Grodno. Again in the Soviet Army (1949 – 1955).
Member of the Great Patriotic War, twice wounded.
Since 1947 has been published.
In 1972 – 1978 years. secretary of the Grodno branch of the Writers’ Union of the BSSR.
In the spring of 1989 he was elected a deputy of the Congress
In the period from 1990 to 1993, president of the Belarusians Union of Peace “Batskaўshchyna”.
He left Belarus in late 1997. Initially, at the invitation of the PEN center of Finland, he lived in the vicinity of Helsinki, then, having received an invitation from the German PEN center, he moved to Germany.
A creative biography is taken from the stories written in 1951. Heroes – young soldiers and officers with a tragic frontal fate – will determine for years ahead the feature of Bykov’s prose. Then in it will appear partisan stories, events of the times of collectivization. The harsh truth and uncompromising works have caused attacks of official criticism. The writer was accused of denigrating the Soviet system, hero warriors, adherence to “trench truth”. Written in 1965, the story “Dead does not hurt” was included in the Collected Works only thanks to the dedication of the publishers, first of all Michael Dubenetsky (1982). Yes, and its previous publication in