The Francis Skaryna Belarusian Library and Museum and the Institute of the Belarusian Language invite scholars and researchers to participate in a language symposium marking the centenary of Fr Alexander Nadson, to be held on 18–19 September 2026 at the Francis Skaryna Belarusian Library and Museum in London and online.
“One’s attitude towards any language is the best indicator of one’s attitude towards the people who speak it.”
— Fr Alexander Nadson
Fr Alexander Nadson — priest, scholar, and leading figure of the Belarusian diaspora — made important contributions across many disciplines.
His achievements as a linguist and translator of liturgical and biblical texts were especially significant. The archives of the Skaryna Library preserve valuable correspondence between Fr Alexander and Western Belarusianists as well as linguists in Belarus, manuscripts, and a substantial body of liturgical texts translated by him.
The symposium aims to draw the attention of the scholarly community to Fr Alexander Nadson’s contribution to linguistics and, more broadly, to Belarusian intellectual and humanitarian discourse, as well as to encourage new philological research connected with his legacy.
Thematic areas of the symposium:
– the linguistic legacy of Fr Alexander Nadson in the context of the Belarusian linguistic tradition;
– Fr Alexander Nadson’s approaches to biblical translation;
– the state and development of the linguistic collections of the Skaryna Library;
– the creation of a corpus of Fr Alexander Nadson’s texts;
– publication of Fr Alexander Nadson’s unpublished legacy;
– rare editions preserved in the Library’s collections;
– studies of the language of the Belarusian diaspora;
– presentation of Uladzislau Harbacki’s book presenting an intellectual portrait of Fr Alexander Nadson.
Abstracts of papers will be published on the website of the Francis Skaryna Belarusian Library and Museum. Following the symposium, an edited volume of conference materials is planned.
Languages of the symposium: Belarusian and English.
Applications for participation should be submitted by 1 June 2026 via the application form.
For all enquiries, please contact: instytutbelmovy@gmail.com