Jazep Drazdovič

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Jazep Drazdovič (Belarusian: Язэп Нарцызавіч Драздовіч; Polish: Józef Drozdowicz) was a Belarusian painter, archaeologist, and ethnographer who lived from 1888 to 1954.

He was born on 13 October 1888 in Punki, in the Hłybokaje District of the Russian Empire. He came from a landless noble family; his father died when Jazep was two, and he and his five brothers were raised by their mother. The family moved often and had little money.

Jazep studied first with a private teacher, then at the Dzisna Gymnasium. In 1906 he moved to Vilnius to study art at Ivan Trutnev’s school, finishing in 1908. He created landscapes of the Dzisna region and designed the cover for the First Belarusian Calendar for 1910, published by Nasha Niva.

In 1910 he was drafted into the Russian army. He spent two years in Saratov, completed paramedic courses, and worked in a clinic. He fought in World War I as part of a reserve battalion on the Western Front. He fell ill with typhoid fever and was hospitalized for two months. After a seven-month leave to visit home, he returned to the army.

Drazdovič’s works are kept in the Belarusian National Arts Museum, the Belarusian National History Museum, and the National Museum of Lithuania. He died on 15 September 1954 in Padśville, Hłybokaje District, Belarusian SSR.