Alena Aladava

Alena Vasileŭna Aładava (née Puk; ; ; 22 May 1907 – 29 May 1986) was a Soviet art historian and curator, who was Director of the Belarusian National Arts Museum from 1944 to 1977. Aladava was responsible for the reconstruction of the museum's collection in the post-war period in Belarus, tracking down lost collections, acquiring new pieces and undertaking expeditions to the country's regions in search of existing works.

Biography Alena Puk was born in 1907 in Pruzhany, in the Grodno Governorate of the Russian Empire. She studied at the Belarusian State University. They had three children, the musicologist Radaslava Aladava (be), the architect Valmen Aladov, During the invasion of 1941, all 2771 works from the collection were stolen; some were deliberately selected by Hans Posse and Cajetan Müllmann, for German collections. On one occasion, whilst director of the museum, Aladava complained to the visiting artist Nadia Léger about a lack of funding. Léger removed a gold brooch from her coat and offered it to Aladava for the museum. Aladava did not accept it.

Aladava retired in 1977. She was also featured on a commemorative stamp.

Awards Honoured Art Worker of the BSSR.