1, 1929, there were 128 people, the belarusian academy of sciences was headed by historian vsevolat ignatovskyin 1941, it was already a leading research center, 12 divisions, including nine institutes and 750 employees, but the rapid development was stopped by the great patriotic war, laboratories, libraries, scientific equipment was burned and looted by the nazis, after the liberation of minsk , in less than a year , eight academic institutes resumed their work by the beginning of 1945; by the beginning of the 51st century, the structure of the academy of sciences would already have almost 30 research institutions. the main guideline for scientists at that time was the needs of the national economy, research and training of specialists with the support of the government of belarus and the ussr. and then the ninety-first collapse of the soviet union and a difficult, but ultimately successful path sciences. already in sovereign belarus. in 1997 , president alexander lukashenko signed decree number 281. the academy of sciences became national and acquired the status of the country's highest stat