Vasil Bykov

Vasily Vladimirovich Bykov, Belarusian prose writer, playwright, publicist. He was born in 1924 in the village of Bychki in Vitebsk region.

The basis of Bykov's creative manner - harsh truth in the depiction of war, its dramatic and tragic situations, close attention to the richness of human thoughts and feelings, democracy and acute humanity, philosophical richness and expressiveness of the narrative.

Vasil Bykov's fame came from the novel "The Third Rocket" written in 1962. In the 1960s he published the story "The Alpine Ballad", "Dead is not hurt" in the 1970s - "Sotnikov," "Obelisk", "Until Dawn", "Go and do not go back.

These works put Vasil Bykov on a par with prominent masters of military prose of the twentieth century.

In 1974 Vasil Bykov was awarded the State Award of the USSR (for the novel To Live Until Dawn, 1973), in 1980 he was awarded the title of People's Writer of Belarus, Hero of Socialist Labor (1984), in 1986 - was awarded the Lenin Prize for the story The Bad Sign.

People's Writer of Belarus Vasil Bykov died on June 22, 2003.