About Nasha Niva newspaper

Nasha Niva (Naša Niva in Belarusian, what means «Our Field») weekly was established in Vilnius (Vilnia) in 1906 and later renewed in 1991. The periodicity is weekly, the paper is issued on Wednesday. Since 1997 the web site of the weekly — nn.by — has been launched in parallel with the printed edition.

History of the newspaper

Belarusian historiography calls the years of 1906—1915 “Nasha Niva period”, since the first issue of Nasha Niva on November 10 (23), 1906, started a whole epoch in the development of Belarusian culture and society.

In fact, Nasha Niva created Belarusian literary language, classical literature and state idea in the beginning of the 20th century. Aimed at wide educational work, this newspaper became centre for mass civic information. The edition was followed by the revival of intellectual life. The newspaper published works of a whole constellation of writers, who later became classics of Belarusian literature — Janka Kupala, Jakub Kolas, Maksim Bahdanovic were among them.

Nasha Niva covered a wide range of political, economic and cultural issues. The newspaper had a definite goal to consolidate Belarusian political nation. At the same time, as the contemporaries would note, the paper was the first source of true information for lots of people.

Strong interactive communication was a peculiar feature of the paper since its first edition. The paper had more that 3000 staffers and short-term workers, who sent information and their materials to the editorial board. Plenty of authors from various Belarusian regions who came into literature and journalism motivated a possibility to build up a literary language, establishing the most widespread language phenomena as literary norms. The very kind of modern Belarusian language, major grammar rules were built up thanks to the functioning of the paper and genuine language practice on the pages of Nasha Niva. In the articles devoted to language issues, it was constantly stressed that the Belarusian language is the national wealth of the Belarusians.

Subscribers and correspondents to the paper turned into key figures of national political and intellectual life (e.g. Ciska Hartny — future leader of BSSR).

Prominent Belarusian literary men, publicists and political figures worked in the editorial board. Alaksandar Ulasau was the publisher and editor of Nasha Niva. Ivan Luckievic — the founder of the well-known Belarusian museum in Vilnia and sponsor of numerous political and cultural projects — was one of the ideologists of the edition. Anton Luckievic, his brother and ideologist of Belarusian Socialist Hramada, worked side by side with them. Vaclau Lastouski, author of the first History of Belarus, became secretary of Nasha Niva in 1909, and in 1912—1913 he was actually its editor. Jakub Kolas, a classic of Belarusian literature, worked with Nasha Niva. Such authors as Maksim Bahdanovic and Zmitrok Biadula, known to every schoolboy and schoolgirl, made their debut in Nasha Niva, and the famous national poet Janka Kupala became the editor in February of 1914. He managed the newspaper till the fall of 1915, when czarist military censorship put Nasha Niva into unbearable conditions.

Assertion of Belarusian national interests provoked attacks from official censorship through the whole history of the paper. In 1907, when a discussion on agricultural issue was organized in the paper, there was found a “revolt” and “disrespect towards the government” — even in the article “Agricultural issue in New Zealand”. Legal prosecution was started against the editor-in-chief Alaksandar Ulasau. The circulation of the paper was confiscated several times, the board had to pay fines.

Despite the accusations of revolutionary character, Nasha Niva advocated peaceful and gradual progress through democratizing central and local authorities. The paper continually reminded of the necessity to have respect for the rights of each people and value any culture.

Cultural openness of Nasha Niva manifested itself in 2 types of Belarusian alphabet — Cyrillic and Latin. The newspaper could afford publishing in these two alphabets from the very start till 1912.

Various independent cultural and social projects emerged around the editorial board. Nasha Niva functioned as a coordinating publishing centre. Yearly “Belarusian calendars” enjoyed particular popularity. Those were almanacs, containing not only regular supplemental information, but also writings. The publishing house also printed books — originals and translations. The satirical magazine “Krapiva” (“Nettle”) was started in 1912 in Vilnia, and agricultural department of Nasha Niva evolved into an independent magazine “Sacha” (“Plough”), which was published in Minsk from the end of 1913. Ivan Luckievic, one of the founders of Nasha Niva, in cooperation with the editorial board initiated a collection for the future Belarusian National museum in Vilnia. Major part of its stock is exhibited in the National historical museum of Lithuania.

Members of the board helped formation of the first Ihnat Bujnicki’s theatre troupe. The paper did a lot to popularize natural, economic, legal and agricultural sciences. The scale of the achievements and given impulses allowed historians and cultural scientists to mark the period of Belarusian culture development at the beginning of the 20th century as “Nasha Niva period”, meaning qualitative and quantitative changes in the formation of modern culture and society.

The first attempt to recommence the edition of the paper was made in 1920, again in Vilnius. The first edition of Nasha Niva, social, political and literary weekly, was published on October, 28. However the paper was banned by Polish military censorship in December, 1920.

Newspaper’s present day

Large scale transformations in our part of the world and deployment of national liberation movement made another recommencement of the paper possible. Nasha Niva was renewed in May, 1991, edited by Siarhiej Dubaviec. The renewed edition got an exceptional place among Belarusian periodicals. Nasha Niva rejected “defensive strategy” aimed at Belarusian culture emancipation. Discussions over universal issues got to the pages of Nasha Niva; lots of translations were also published there. The attention was focused on the synthetic culture of Vilnius as legacy of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and model of mutual relations between the peoples of the region.

Political and social developments in Belarus entailed formation of new challenges for Belarusian society. The issue of full value mass media came to the agenda. Thus, in 1996 a decision was made to transfer the editorial board to Minsk and transform the newspaper from literary and intellectual into social and political edition. Nasha Niva became a paper that paid huge attention to political, social and cultural processes in Belarus and worldwide.

In 1998 the paper gains a symbolic victory in the Supreme commercial court, asserting its right to be printed in classical, not russified, spelling.

In 1999 the paper comes back to weekly periodicity.

In 2000 Andrej Dynko takes over the newspaper.

In 2002 the number of pages increases from 12 to 16, in 2005 — to 24.

In 2005 the authorities ban the paper from “Bielposta” and “Bielsajuzdruk”. The paper survives thanks to its own system of distribution. It changes to pocket format and increases the number of pages to 48.

In 2006 the internet-version of Nasha Niva starts its evolution to internet-newspaper, adjusting the publishing technology to the epoch of electronic mass media.

Despite intermissions, the tradition of Nasha Niva publishing exists for 100 years. It’s a unique phenomenon for Belarusian press, especially enhanced by the fact that Nasha Niva has always been a social edition and never a state owned one, it never got under control of authoritarian or totalitarian power. Through the whole history of Nasha Niva various cultural models, which helped the Belarusians become a modern nation, were proposed and discussed.

Facsimile re-editions of Nasha Niva of 1906—1915 and “Vocabulary of Nasha Niva” were initiated in the 1990’s. Nasha Niva is a cultural symbol and a living tradition. Even now, as 100 years ago, it is the embodiment of independent Belarusian society struggling for its political and cultural rights.

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