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Selected dates:
October 1, 1990
Born in Lebedevo, Vilna Governorate (Russian Empire, now the Republic of Belarus) into a peasant family. Semashkevich ends up in a shelter for children from low-income families and orphans. At that time, the shelter was under the patronage of the famous socio-political figure and historian Adam Stankevich, who in the future would also become a victim of Stalin’s repressions. This gives Roman the opportunity to receive a creative education.
1920
He studied at the Belarusian Teachers' Seminary in the town of Baruny.
1921
He studied at the Belarusian Gymnasium in Vilna.
1922
He joined a revolutionary organization, which was soon discovered, and was forced to leave for the USSR.
1920—1930
He studied painting and drawing at the Międziblotsky school in Vilna, then at the Vitebsk Art School in the sculpture department. He completed his education in Moscow, at the Higher Art and Technical Institute, where his teachers were D. Kardovsky, A. Drevin, S. Gerasimov.
1930
Took part in the exhibition of the "All-Artist" association.
1931
First personal exhibition in Moscow. In the same year, Roman Semashkevich’s paintings were exhibited at the exhibition of the Thirteen group.
1932
Member of the Moscow Union of Artists.
1932—1937
The artist made creative trips to the Urals, Altai, and Belarus.
1935
Arrested for the first time, after his release he finds himself in a difficult financial situation; the artist has to draw on cardboard and pieces of plywood.
November 2, 1937
Arrested on trumped-up charges of “counter-revolutionary agitation.”
December 22, 1937
Shot at the Butovo firing range near Moscow. At the time of his arrest, the artist’s twenty-four-year-old wife was pregnant, and his works were confiscated from the studio by NKVD officers.
1958
He was posthumously rehabilitated.
1990
The first posthumous exhibition of his works took place in Moscow.
May 24, 2015
In Moscow, on the facade of house 17 on Vspolny Lane , a memorial sign “Last Address” of Roman Matveevich Semashkevich was installed.