Vasil Uładzimiravič Bykaŭ (June 19, 1924 - June 22, 2003) was an author of many novels and novellas about World War II. He is a big figure in Belarusian literature and civic thought. The writer's talent earned him endorsements for the Nobel Prize nomination from, among others, Nobel Prize laureates Joseph Brodsky and Czesław Miłosz.