Klaudzi Duzh-Dusheuski

Who was Klaudzi Duzh-Dusheuski?

Klaudzi Duzh-Dusheuski was a Belarusian architect, diplomat and journalist. He is believed to be the creator of the Flag of Belarus in 1917.

Dusheuski was born into an impoverished szlachta family. In 1912 he graduated the Vilna non-classical secondary school where he had joined the Belarusian national movement. In 1912–1918 Duzh-Dusheuski has studied in the Saint Petersburg Mining Institute. Being in St. Petersburg, he also took part in Belarusian social life. For instance, he was editor of the Belarusian magazine Ranica.

In 1917 he joined the Belarusian Socialist Assembly. In 1918 he worked at the Refugee Assistance Department of the Belarusian National Committee in St. Petersburg. At that time, according to his own memories, he has created the draft of the white-red-white Flag of Belarus that was very quickly adopted by the Belarusian national movement throughout the European part of the former Russian Empire and later adopted as the state flag of the Belarusian Democratic Republic.

In 1919 Dusheuski moved to Vilna. In autumn 1919 he was appointed diplomatic representative of the Belarusian Democratic Republic in the Baltic states. In early 1921 Duzh-Dusheuski was arrested by Polish authorities.