Dear Members and Friends of Anglo-Belarusian Society,

You are cordially invited to the talk by Francis Young on Saturday 14th June 2025 at Francis Skaryna Library, 1.30pm arrivals for 14.00 start.

” Latin Literature in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania” event is co-organised by ABS and Francis Skaryna Library.

Latin was the most popular literary language in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania until well into the 18th century, with more books published in the GDL in Latin than in any other language in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. The Grand Duchy’s Latin literary tradition began in the early 1500s and encompassed the epic poetry of Nicolaus Hussovianus and Jan Radwan, the world-famous odes of Maciej Kazimierz Sarbiewski, and a flourishing tradition of lengthy encomia. The tradition was sustained by the Grand Duchy’s lack of a single elite language, by the high standards of Latin at Vilnius University and other Jesuit colleges (where laymen as well as clerics were educated), and by a belief that the Lithuanians descended from Romans. However, the tradition remains poorly understood and work to translate this body of literature into Belarusian – not to mention English – remains ongoing. In this talk Francis Young introduces the Latin literature of the GDL and his book Poetry and Nation-Building in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, as well as speaking about his current work translating more epic poetry from the GDL.

Info about Dr Francis Young, University of Portsmouth is here:-

About Francis Young

TIME: June 14th, 2025 1:30 PM London
VENUE : The Francis Skaryna Belarusian Library, 37 Holden Road, London, N12 8HS