Vasil Bykaŭ

Vasil Bykaŭ
Bykaŭ in Romania, 1944
Native name
Васіль Уладзіміравіч Быкаў
Born(1924-06-19)19 June 1924
Byčki, Byelorussian SSR, Soviet Union (now Belarus)
Died22 June 2003(2003-06-22) (aged 79)
Belarus
LanguageBelarusian, Russian
GenreWar novel
SubjectWorld War II
Literary movementLieutenant prose
Years active1960–2003
Military career
AllegianceSoviet Union
Service / branchRed Army
Years of service
  • 1941–1945
  • 1949–1955
RankJunior lieutenant
Battles / warsWorld War II

Vasil Uladzimiravič Bykaŭ (also spelled Vasil Bykov, Belarusian: Васі́ль Уладзі́міравіч Бы́каў, Russian: Василь Влади́мирович Быков; 19 June 1924 – 22 June 2003) was a Belarusian dissident and opposition politician, junior lieutenant, and author of novels and novellas about World War II. A significant figure in Soviet and Belarusian literature and civic thought, his work earned him endorsements for the Nobel Prize nomination from, among others, Nobel Prize laureates Joseph Brodsky and Czesław Miłosz.