country_of_citizenship tadeusz kruczkowski
Grodno or Hrodna (" Hrodna " see also other names ) is a city in western ___MASK78___ . It is located on the Neman close to the borders of ___MASK77___ and Lithuania ( about and away respectively ). It has 365 , 610 inhabitants ( 2016 census ). It is the capital of Grodno Region and Grodno District . Tadeusz Kruczkowski ( Belarusian :   ; born January 5 , 1961 in Jaskoda near Vyalikaya Byerastavitsa ) is a Polish - Belarusian historian and activist . He was the President of the Union of Poles in ___MASK78___ from 2000 to 2005 . He is a lecturer at the Hrodna University . Vialikaja Bierastavica (, ) is an town in ___MASK78___ , Grodno Region , Byerastavitsa District . It is the capital city of Byerastavitsa District . It is located near the city of Grodno . A historian is a person who researches , studies , and writes about the past , and is regarded as an authority on it . Historians are concerned with the continuous , methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race ; as well as the study of all history in time . If the individual is concerned with events preceding written history , the individual is a historian of prehistory . Although " historian " can be used to describe amateur and professional historians alike , it is reserved more recently for those who have acquired graduate degrees in the discipline . Some historians , though , are recognized by publications or training and experience . " Historian " became a professional occupation in the late nineteenth century as research universities were emerging in ___MASK50___ and elsewhere . ___MASK78___ ( lat . ',      ), officially the Republic of ___MASK78___ , formerly known by its Russian name Byelorussia ( though this name is no longer used in ___MASK78___ itself , even in Russian language ), is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe bordered by Russia to the northeast , ___MASK69___ to the south , ___MASK77___ to the west , and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest . Its capital and most populous city is Minsk . Over 40 % of its is forested . Its strongest economic sectors are service industries and manufacturing . Until the 20th century , different states at various times controlled the lands of modern - day ___MASK78___ , including the Principality of Polotsk ( 11th to 14th centuries ), the Grand Duchy of Lithuania , the Polish  Lithuanian Commonwealth , and the Russian Empire . Grodno / Hrodna Region (" Hrodzienskaja vobas " " Grodnenskaya oblast ") is one of the regions of ___MASK78___ . It is located in the northwestern part of the country . The Union of Poles in ___MASK78___ is an organization located in ___MASK78___ . The group , which has a membership of 20 , 000 people , represents the Polish minority in ___MASK78___ , numbering about 400 , 000 , as per official data ( and much higher according to unofficial estimates ). Byerastavitsa District is an administrative subdivision , a raion of Grodno Region , in ___MASK78___ .