Mikhail Savitsky

[2] Mikhail Savitsky was born on February 18, 1922, in the village Zvenyachi, Orshansky Uyezd, Vitebsk Governorate, Russian SFSR.

[3] Savitsky became the head of the national program “Creative academic studios for painting, drawing, and sculpturing” in Minsk.

He was USSR's People's Deputy from 1989 to 1991,[3] became a member of the International Slavic Academy, and received the Order of Francis Skaryna in 1997.

[3] One of his famous paintings, “Partisan Madonna” (1967), depicts a peasant mother, whom people saw as a Belarusian defense symbol during World War II.

[3] The painting's theme is to show the contrast between Dark and Light, as the struggle between Good and Evil is apparent.