The Monument to Vintsent Dunin-Martinkevich in the Village of Malaya Lyutinka

The heart of every town, even the smallest forgotten village, beats if the hearts of its inhabitants beat too. The town comes to life at the moments of holidays and festivities, at the times of commemoration events and concerts. Bronze monuments dedicated to some prominent historical figures of different times and epochs appear in every town. So, there has been recently installed a monument to the creators of the National Opera of Belarus – Stanislav Monyushko and Vintsent Dunin-Martinkevich. The site for the sculptural composition was chosen not by chance. Today the sculpture is not only a big monument to these two prominent figures, but also it reflects the history and development of culture and art in Belarus.

Although, few people know that there is an equally important monument to such a prominent historical figure as Vintsent Dunin-Martinkevich – in the small village Malaya Lyutinka of Minsk region. In comparison with the monument in Minsk, that memorial was installed as early as in 1986. Nowadays the inhabitants of the village are proud that an original stele with a bas-relief of that famous writer, outstanding playwright and classic of the Belarusian literature stands in their small homeland.

The village of Malaya Lyutinka wasn’t chosen by chance as a site for the memorable sculpture of that man. Vintsent stood out for its special charisma; he always attracted people and did the life and soul of the party, while possessing a fine sense of humor and many talents. Dunin-Martinkevich created private theatre in that village. The writer’s children, friends, and sometimes pupils of a private school performed there. For the record, the theatre was supported by the Dunin-Martinkevich family. That small educational institution had grown another famous Belarusian writer S. Yadvigin.

Vintsent’s house was always full of friends: the writer’s family could create a warm atmosphere and homishness, where it was pleasant to come back again and again. Amongst the most frequent guests of the Dunin-Martinkevich family’s house, there were the well-known composer Stanislav Monyushko, the poet Vladislav Syrokomla and many other equally famous people of different fields of art. In most cases, the guests visited the premieres of satirical vaudevilles or some opera performance, the author of which was Vintsent Dunin-Martinkevich.

In the village of Malaya Lyutinka, the writer had lived many happy years – almost half a century (since 1840 to 1884). It is true, only once the classic mentioned that place in his works – in the historical sketch “Lyutinka, or the Swedes in Lithuania”. However, that place became the cradle of his creative work, where the greater part of his works had appeared. Unfortunately, just a little of the Dunin-Martinkevich family’s old house has survived to us: the stairs of the porch and the basement of the house. The house was burnt after the death of the writer.

Apart from the well-known bust of the writer in Malaya Lyutinka, there is another very unusual evidence of the life and creative work of the classic of the Belarusian poetry – a stub of a lime tree that Vintsent had planted. According to the local old-timers, in times gone in the shade of that tree, he wrote “Pinsk Szlachta” – the cult work of playwriting of the XIX century. Besides, every year, the commemoration event in honor of Vintsent Dunin-Martinkevich is held in the village.