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Dozens pay tribute to Belarusian literary great Yanka Kupala

A dozens-strong crowd gathered near the monument to Yanka Kupala in Minsk on Wednesday to mark the Belarusian literary great's 128th birthday, BelaPAN reports.

Addressing the crowd, Alena Matsevasyan, director of the Yanka Kupala State Literary Museum, described the poet and playwright as Belarus' "symbol" who devoted his entire life to the Belarusian people and the Belarusian language.

She said that the museum, which opened in 1945, "carefully preserves the legacy" of Kupala. "However, our main mission is to initiate into Kupala's legacy as many visitors of the museum as possible and, above all, youths, on which the poet pinned Belarus' hopes of happiness and a better destiny," Ms. Matsevasyan said.

Vyachaslaw Rahoysha, chairman of the Yanka Kupala International Foundation, expressed certainty that the poet would get a broader following in Belarus in the future, with more people reading his works and newlyweds laying flowers at his monument.