A.Mickiewicz monument in Novogrudok

Adam Mickiewicz is a Polish poet, essayist, leader of the national liberation movement in Poland. He is one of three greatest Polish poets of the Romantic era, along with Juliusz Slowacki and Zygmunt Krasinski. However in Belarus, Adam Mickiewicz is considered the national Belarusian writer who was creating his works in Polish.

Adam Mickiewicz was born on a farm near Novogrudok in the family of an impoverished Polish gentleman. When he was 25 years old, he was forced to leave Belarus. But the nature, history, folklore of Novogrudok formed a romantic style of the writer. All his life Adam Mickiewicz had been seeking a way to return home, praising Belarus in his works. The most famous of his poems are «Konrad Wallenrod», «Dzyady», «Pan Tadeusz» and many others.

Today citizens of Novogrudok revere famous compatriot”s memory. In the city there are a street and an industrial enterprise named in honor of the poet. There are two monuments and a museum. However all this appeared in the city only in the end of XX century. More than 100 years it took to build in Novogrudok the first monument dedicated to Adam Mickiewicz.

The first attempt to build a memorial in honor of the writer was in 1860. The local gentry sent a letter asking the authorities to commemorate the famous compatriot”s memory in the homeland. But the petition were not cosidered in Novogrudok nor in Minsk. The authorities referred to the wrong time for the placing of a memorial - the decree of the abolition of serfdom had been recently adopted in the country, the political situation was worsening - in some regions there were active preparations for an armed rebellion (1863) - there were appearing warehouses for weapon and provisions, Polish patriotic songs had being sung in Catholic churches and etc.

While the petition for a monument was lying on the shelves of local authorities, it became clear that on the place where they initially planned to construct a memorial (on the Castle Hill, or near it), a local doctor decided to build a house.

In 1903 thanks to the eldest daughter a memorial stone with a bronze bust of A. Mitskevich was placed in Novogrudok Michael Church. But due to religious and other circumstances this place did not become public.

At the 85th anniversary of his death local dwellers tried again to build a monument in Novogrudok. The local authorities allowed the constructions works and announced a competition for the best project. But the Great Patriotic War began in 1941, and the plans for the construction of the memorial had to be postponed.

Only in 1992 Adam Mickiewicz monument appeared in Novogrudok near the ruins of ancient castle and a park .

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