Hasan Konopacki

[1] He graduated from the Polotsk Cadet Corps (Russian: Полоцкий кадетский корпус) and transferred in 1897 to Saint Petersburg Artillery School.

Subsequently, he letf Nerczyńsk to the Chinese border, at Blagoveshchensk, near the Amur river, to set up and command the 2nd Battery of the 10th Siberian Field Artillery Brigade.

Upon his own request, on 13 October 1912, Hasan moved to the 3rd Field Artillery Brigade in Kaluga, 150 kilometres (93 mi) southwest of Moscow.

On May 10, 1918, in relation with the reform of the 69th Field Artillery Brigade, he handed over documents and finances to the "Moscow Regional Commissariat of Military Affairs".

[1] He moved to the area under the control of the Republic of Lithuania and started to cooperate with the Belarusian military troops he trained.

With the invading Red Army approaching the city, Hasan evacuated on December 27, with his unit and most of the activists to Grodno then under German control.

[4] He became a member of the newly established "Belarusian Military Commission" (Polish: Białoruska Komisja Wojskowa) or "BKW".

[5] In mid-October 1919, he was a member of a delegation from the Belarusian Central Council in Vilnius and Grodno going to Warsaw to talk with the Polish authorities on Belarusian-Polish cooperation.

[5] On October 22, 1919, by a decree of Józef Piłsudski, Hasan Konopacki was appointed Commander of the Belarusian military units in the Polish Army and was also approved as a full member of the "BKW".

[1] Together with activist Paweł Aleksiuk and poet Alyaksandr Pruszynski, he participated in talks with the Polish military authorities towards this concept, resulting in March 1920, on an agreement to offer 100 to 120 seats:[4] Furthermore, he choose the city of Slonim as a main training place.

In addition, he welcomed in his troops former officers from the Russian Empire army, who were not connected with the original Belarusian national movement.

[5] Trapped in this stalemate, Hasan Konopacki confirmed his resignation from the BKW on April 17, 1920, citing his poor health.

In parallel, the "Provisional Belarusian Council" accused Hasan, previously treasurer's guardian of the organization, of financial mismanagement.

In addition he represented the "Praswieta Society (for education)" at a congress organized by the "Provisional Belarusian Council" in Western Belarus (June 26–28, 1926).

After the Polish Coup in May 1926, he joined his voice to a group of activists (comprising Wsiewołod Pawlukiewicz, S. Drucki-Podbereski, A. Kabyczkin, Frantsishak Alyakhnovich, Znamierowski and B. Szyszkow) striving to create a "Belarusian Intelligentsia Club".

From November 27, 1927, to April 2, 1928, he worked as the editor-in-chief of the newspaper "Biełaruski Radny", devoted to local government affairs of the Belarusian community in Poland.

[6] From this "Vilnius" period, Hasan kept long life friend: in addition to poet, playwright and journalist Kupala, there were Maksim Tank and writer Frantsishak Alyakhnovich.

[1] With Vilnius occupied by the Red Army in July 1944, Soviet colonel Mietelenka was billeted in the Konopackis' apartment.

[7] At the train station, they were looked after by Mr. and Mrs. Markovich, from the State Repatriation Office, who lived at Plac Wolności: momentarily housed in a barrack near Poznańska Square (at today's Św.

[7] He turned to journalism: first in the news editorial office "PAP", then from 1956 to 1964 in Białystok's "Niwa", a weekly newspaper addressing the local Belarusian minority.

He supported the development of a tourist route, called the "Tatar trail" (Polish: Szlak Tatarski), leading from Białystok to Sokółka.

Young Hassan at 10
Yanka Kupala in 1923
Konopacki in Iwye, second from the right
Hassan Konopacki tombstone in Bydgoszcz
Helena, Tamara and Hassan Konopacki
Young Maciej and Hassan Konopaccy in Vilnius