Brovka Petrus

Brovka Petrus (Petrus Ustini's son) [12 (25) June 1905, village of Putilkoviči, now Ushachi District, Vitebsk Oblast—24 March 1980, Minsk], was a Belarusian writer and public figure, People's Poet of Belarus (1962), and a full member of the Belarusian Academy of Sciences (1966). He received the USSR State Prize twice (1947, 1950) and won the Lenin Prize (1969) and was a Hero of Socialist Labor (1972). He was chief editor of the Belarusian Encyclopedia (1967–1980).

Brovka started publishing his works in 1926. He wrote poems and short stories. He is the author of many poetic and prose collections.

Brovka had strong ties with Georgian poets like P. Iashvili, T. Tabidze, S. Chikovani, G. Leonidze, and I. Abashidze and highly valued his friendships with them. Georgian themes are reflected in his poems written in the 1940s–1970s, such as "Caucasia" (1942), "Water" (1962), "Georgian Song" (1965), "Caucasian Sketches" (1972), "Talk with Elburs" (1979), and others. These works clearly demonstrate the author’s interest in Georgian history and culture. He masterfully depicted Georgian landscapes and published articles about Georgian literature, Shota Rustaveli, and I. Grishashvili. He translated K. Lortkipanidze’s “Dzirs simindis Respublika” [Down with the Corn Republic], M. Gelovani's poems, and other works into Belarusian. In 1937, he poetically translated excerpts from "The Knight in the Panther's Skin.". His poems and the novel "When the River Joins the River" (Tbilisi, 1963) were translated into Georgian.

Literary works: Збор твораÿ, т. 1–7, Мinck, 1975–78.

N. Gafrindashvili