Kastus Kalinovsky the Fighter for Independence ofBelarus. K.Kalinovskywas born in 1838 on the 21-st of January not farfrom Grodno in Belarus. His parents were not rich.There were 18children in the family. Kalinovsky s mother Veronica Rybinskayadied early and the elder brother, Victor, a student of MoscowUniversity, took care of Kastus.In 1855 Kastusgraduated from asecondary school in Svisloch and entered Moscow University. Butin 1856 he changed his mind and became a student ofSt.PetersburgUniversity.
There Kalinovsky met Russian democrats Belynsky,Chernyshevsky, Dobrolubov. He shared their ideas and followedthem. In 1861 K.Kalinovsky came back to Belarus. He took anactive part in organizing the uprising of 1863 in Belarus andLithuania. But the tsarist army dispersed theuprising.In 1864Kastus Kalinovsky was arrested and hanged as thelearder of theuprising. He fought for national independence of Byelorussianpeople, the development of national culture and education.
Hisname became a symbol of action and struggle for the rights ofoppressed people in Belarus and Lithuania.