Mikola Yermalovich

Mikola Yermalovich (Belarusian: Мікола Іванавіч Ермаловіч; 29 April 1921 – 5 March 2000) was a Belarusian writer, publicist, and historian. He is best known for his revisionist historiography regarding the origins of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Ruthenia and Samogitia, arguing that the historical "Lithuania" was located in modern-day Belarus rather than the modern Republic of Lithuania. He used several pseudonyms, including Symon Belarus, M. Yermolov, and Mikola Navasieĺca.^[1]

While mainstream Lithuanian and Western historiography reject his theories, Yermalovich played a significant role in the formation of modern Belarusian national identity and the revival of historical memory during the late Soviet and early independence periods.

Yermalovich was born in the village of Malyja Navasiolki (in the modern Dzyarzhynsk Raion, Minsk Region). In 1938, he graduated from the Kojdanava secondary school and entered the Belarusian literature department of the Minsk Pedagogical Institute. His studies were interrupted by World War II; due to poor eyesight, he was exempted from military service and evacuated to the Mordovian ASSR, where he worked as a teacher. He returned to Belarus in 1943, eventually resuming his studies in 1946 and graduating in 1947.

Following graduation, he worked as a teacher of Belarusian literature, a school inspector, and a headmaster in the Maladzyechna region. Due to severe visual impairment, Yermalovich was forced to retire from active teaching at the age of 35 in 1957. He subsequently devoted several decades to the independent study of ancient chronicles and primary sources, working largely outside the Soviet academic establishment.

During the 1970s and 1980s, his manuscripts were circulated as samizdat (underground publications) because they contradicted the official Soviet historiography of Belarus. In 1963, he began publishing the handwritten samizdat journal Padsniežnik (Snowdrop), and later in 1975, Hutarki (Conversations), which were widely copied and distributed among the Belarusian intelligentsia. His major works were only officially published after the relaxation of censorship during Perestroika.

From the late 1980s, Yermalovich was active in the political life of independent Belarus. He was a member of the Belarusian Popular Front (BNF) and a co-chairman of the National Democratic Party of Belarus.

Yermalovich's primary contribution was an alternative geography of medieval Eastern Europe.

He formulated several core theses regarding the region's geography. He argued that the historical annals referring to "Litva" (Lithuania) in the 11th–13th centuries did not refer to the territory of modern Lietuva (Republic of Lithuania), but rather to a territory in the upper Neman River basin, covering modern Novogrudok, Minsk, and Grodno.

Furthermore, he posited that the Grand Duchy of Lithuania emerged not through the conquest of Ruthenian (Belarusian) lands by Baltic tribes, but as a consolidation of these territories. Following this logic, he claimed that Novogrudok, a city in modern Belarus, was the first capital of the Grand Duchy and the site of King Mindaugas's coronation.^[2]

Yermalovich's work is a subject of significant controversy and is viewed differently depending on the context. In Belarus, he is often regarded as a "romantic historian" who returned agency to the Belarusian people. His works encouraged a shift away from Russocentric views of Belarusian history, and state awards and monuments testify to his status as a figure of national revival.^[3]

However, in academia, professional historians in Lithuania and the West generally characterize Yermalovich's theories as Litvinism, a form of fringe history or pseudohistory. Critics argue his work relies on a selective interpretation of sources and toponyms to fit a patriotic narrative. Despite scientific criticism, historians acknowledge that Yermalovich's books stimulated public interest in the ancient history of Belarus and forced academic historians to re-examine the origins of the Grand Duchy.

• Dear to Belarusians Name (Дарагое беларусам імя, 1970)
• On the Tracks of One Myth (Па слядах аднаго міфа, 1989) (1st edition: ISBN 5-343-00016-9)
• Ancient Belarus: Polatsk and Novogrudok Periods (Старажытная Беларусь: Полацкі і Новагародскі перыяды, 1990) (2nd edition: ISBN 985-02-0503-2)
• Ancient Belarus: Vilna Period (Старажытная Беларусь: Віленскі перыяд, 1994)
• The Belarusian State: Grand Duchy of Lithuania (Беларуская дзяржава Вялікае Княства Літоўскае, 2000) ISBN 985-6576-08-3

• State Prize of the Republic of Belarus for the book Ancient Belarus (1992)
• Francysk Skaryna Medal (1993)
• Uladzimir Karatkievich Prize
• A memorial sign was unveiled in Maladzyechna in 2003.
• Yermalovich is buried in the Old Cemetery of Maladzyechna. His tombstone bears the inscription: "He loved Belarus."

• Litvinism
• Grand Duchy of Lithuania