Americans of Belarusian Origin

  1. U.S. Assistance to Belarus
  2. Americans of Belarusian Origin
  3. Public Diplomacy

Nikolai Sudzilovskiy

Born in Mogilev in 1850, was a man of many educations and anything but a stay-at-home. His dissent with the official policy of the tzarist Russia eventually took him, after years of extensive traveling through Europe, to the Hawaii where, in the early 1900´s, Sudzilovskiy is at the helm of the movement for independence from the United States. For a short period of time Sudzilovskiy was even elected president of the Hawaian Senate. Died in China in 1930.

David Sarnov

Born in Minsk in 1891, is an acknowledged pioneer of radio broadcasting in America. His chairmanship of the Marconi Wireless Telegraph Corporation was followed by taking over of the world-famous gramophone company His Master´s Voice. During World War II as a Brigadier General, Sarnov became communications adviser to General (later President) Eisenhower. Died in 1971.

Irving Berlin

Born in Mogilev in 1888, Berlin moved with his parents to the United States at the age of five. His musical abilities were evident since his very childhood. He sang and composed lyrical songs, and it was not before long that Berlin started writing musicals. It was for a musical that he wrote ‘God Bless America’ in 1918, the United States’ unofficial anthem. The song, however, was not included in the musical and was not performed in public until twenty years later. Berlin’s musical legacy comprises about 1,500 songs, as well as music to movies and theatrical plays, much of which is still so fondly remembered by the American people.