Text 2 Kazimir Semenovich

Kazimir Semenovich (1600–1651) – Belarusian compatriot, military engineer and theorist of artillery. He is considered as one of the founders of world rocket ballistics and astronautics.

There is no exact information on Semenovich’s date of birth. Presumably, he was born in 1600, but it’s known that he came from an impoverished gentry family of the Semenoviches who owned some land in Vitebsk region. Semenovich considered himself as Lithuanus. He had good knowledge of arithmetics, geometry, mechanics, hydraulics, pneumatics, architecture, physics and chemistry as well as fine arts, sculpture, engraving etc. He is believed to have aqcuired such encyclopedic knowledge (right in the spirit of the Renaissance) in Vilnia University.

Kazimir Semenovich was a participant of the war between Russian state and Poland (1632–34) and the siege of the Moscow garrison in the town of White (March-May 1634), a participant of the battle of Rzecz Pospolita forces against the Tatars at the Akhmatovo (30.01.1644), where he was a witness of the Tatar fireworks. In 1645 he went to the Netherlands and in the same year took part in the siege of different cities by the troops of Frederick Henry of Oranski. In 1648 he took part in the war with the Cossacks.

Although his parents wanted him to become a politician, Semenovich strongly believed that it’s artillery which combines both science and art as well as all the wisdom of the world. He studied artillery in Holland, took part in the war between Holland and Spain, on returning home he took posts of engineer of the Crown artillery and then leutenant-general. After he retired he went back to Holland to publish his treatise “The Great Art of Artillery”. Kazimir Semenovich’s work was first published in Latin language in 1650. One year later the second edition in French language appeared. The book consisted of five parts and included a plenty of engravings based on the author’s sketches. The book described the multi-staged rocket, the delta wing and the rocket system of volley fire. Original Belarussian words such as “berkavets” and “baryla” (old units of measurement) become international scientific terms. This study attracted the attention of experts in different countries and was translated into numerous European languages. During centuries this work had been not only one of the major scientific works in Europe, but also one of the most demanded textbooks on artillery.

Soon after the book was published he died. The causes of death are unknown.

Text 3 Barys Kit

Barys Kit (was born April 6, 1910) is a famous Belarusian and American rocket scientist. 

Kit was born on April 6, 1910 in Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire to the family of an employee at the Post and Telegraph Department, a Belarusian in origin. In 1918 Kit’s family moved to their native village of Aharodniki (now merged with the town of  Karelichy, Hrodna Region).

After graduation from Navahrudak Belarusian Lyceum in 1928 Kit entered the physics and mathematics faculty of Vilnius University. After graduation in 1933 he worked as a teacher at Vilnius Belarusian Lyceum. In 1939 he was appointed its Principal. After the Vilnius Region had been annexed to Lithuania in 1939, Kit returned to his native region. He was the Principal of Navahrudak Belarusian High School there and later a superintendent of a large school system district. Hundreds of elementary schools and several dozen high schools were opened in the region within a year due to Kit's direct participation.

During the Nazi Occupation of Belarus (1941–1944) Kit worked as a teacher in the village of Lebedzeva near Maladzyechna and later as a director of the Pastavy Teachers College. He was suspected of having partisan connections and was arrested by the German SD punitive bodies. He spent a month in prison and was saved from execution by his former pupils. In 1944 Kit and his family with the retreating German army moved to Germany, first to Offenbach-Lindau in Bavaria, then to Munich. In 1948 Kit emigrated to the United States. In 1950 he settled in Los Angeles and worked there as a chemist in various companies.

In the mid-1950s Kit began his scientific activities in the field of astronautics. For 25 years he worked in the American space research program. As a mathematician and systems analyst, he took part in projects aimed at the development of intercontinental missile systems. Kit took part in all the American space research projects, including mathematical support of the mission to the Moon.

In 1972 Kit moved to Frankfurt-am-Main in Germany, where he lives as of 2013. In 1982 Kit earned a Ph.D. in mathematics and science history from the University of Regensberg.

Kit is the author of the first manual on rocket propellant "Rocket Propellant Handbook", published by McMillan in 1960. The book received many positive reviews and is referenced in rocket science publications even today.

Kit is a long-standing member of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, an honorary member of the Hermann Oberth German Astronautics Society Board of Directors, a member of the International Astronautics Academy in Paris, Vice-President of the Eurasian International Astronautics Academy, Professor Emeritus of Maryland University, Honorary Doctorate of Science of Hrodna State University, and Navahrudak's honorable resident.

A "time capsule" with Kit's name was immured in the wall of Capitol in Washington, D.C. Kit has always remained a conscious Belarusian: “Everything I did in my life – I did for my homeland and its fame”.