Starovolya. The birthplace of the artist Stanislav Zhukovsky

The village of Staraya Volya was first mentioned in the 16th century during the time of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, when Queen Bona Sforza donated this place to the church in Shereshevo. During the period of the Russian Empire, it was part of the Pruzhany district of the Grodno region. At the end of the 19th century, there were 646 inhabitants and 64 courtyards. There was an Orthodox church and a mill.

It was in this village that the famous Belarusian, Polish and Russian artist Stanislav Yulianovich Zhukovsky (1875-1944) spent his childhood and youth. The artist was born in the Grodno region near the village of Ross. His parents were Julian Zhukovsky and his mother Maria from the Verzhbitsky family, who had their own estate in Staraya Volya in the Pruzhany region. After Stanislav's birth, the family returned to live in their ancestral estate Staraya Volya, which is now called Starovolya.

It was in these places that the future artist spent his childhood and adolescence. S. Zhukovsky left an image of his estate - this is a small wooden house covered with a four-pitched roof. The main entrance is decorated with four columns. There were overgrown ornamental shrubs around the house. There is a flower bed in front of the house.

The ancestral manor has not reached our time, and now there is an ordinary wooden hut in that place.

Stanislav studied in Warsaw and Belostok. It was in Belostok that S. Zhukovsky became interested in art, where he was taught by the famous Russian artist Sergei Yuzhanin.

Then Zhukovsky studied in Moscow with famous artists. Participates in exhibitions of Peredvizhnik artists. In 1897, Stanislav excelled in exams and received two silver medals. After the revolution, he moved to live in Poland.

During the Second World War, he took part in the Warsaw underground. He was arrested by the Nazis and exiled to a concentration camp, where he died. It is planned to install a memorial stone in honor of the outstanding artist in the village of Starovolya.