Ceremony to present For Spiritual Revival awards, Belarus President special prizes to distinguished Belarusians

In Belarus, a blessed Christmas time is a time of a beautiful tradition. Every January the Belarusian President honors outstanding Belarusians: clergymen, art luminaries, workers of healthcare, education, mass media, and sportspeople. These are the Belarusians who make a significant contribution to the spiritual development of the Belarusian nation, to the preservation of its history and growth of its cultural legacy, to establishing the ideals of compassion and charity…

This year the official ceremony to present For Spiritual Revival awards, Belarus President special prizes and the Belarusian Sports Olympus awards took place on 10 January.

When opening the ceremony, Alexander Lukashenko remarked that “history gave a unique chance to our creative people. This is a chance to make a contribution to the development of the Belarusian nation. Together with you, the present generations fulfilled the centuries-old dream of our ancestors to create the first independent Belarusian state in history. Today our common goal is to protect the freedom and independence of the country for the future generations.” The Belarusian leader encouraged creative intellectuals not only to do what they love but to make their achievements public, and then the awards will find their heroes.

For Spiritual Revival Award 2016 was bestowed upon Father Evsevy (Konstantin Tyukhlov), Abbot of St. Elisha of Lavrishevo Monastery of the Novogrudok eparchy, Professor Sergei Sergachev, Doctor of Architecture, for his book Vernacular Architecture of Belarus. History and Present Days, the personnel of the Belarusian National Rehabilitation Center for Children with Disabilities and the Maxim Tank Belarusian State Pedagogical University, the Federation of Trade Unions of Belarus.

Among the Belarus President special prizes awardees were teams of authors of BelTA News Agency, the Belarusian TV and Radio Company, the Golas Radzimy Newspaper editorial staff, Gomel State Circus, Michal Kleofas Oginski Estate Museum, member of the Belarusian Union of Artists Konstantin Vashchenko for the artistic design of the multi-volume facsimile edition, The Book Legacy of Francysk Skaryna, and Raisa Ramanenya, head of the decorative art studio Belarusian Souvenir.

The Belarusian Sports Olympus 2016 awards were presented to Ruslan Vasilyev, an editor at the Sportivnaya Panorama newspaper, Elvira German, an athlete of the national track and field team, and Alexander Shimkoviak, a basketball coach of the Grodno State School of Olympic Reserve.

Awards ceremony and best moments from the awardees’ life in our photo gallery…