He attended school in Radashkovichy. In 1923, after the civil war in Russia, he emigrated to Czechoslovakia, lived in Prague, and studied agricultural sciences there. He was a member of the Association of Belarusian Student Organization.
In 1930 he went to Paris, where he developed the Belarusian association of workers, Chaurus. He published the magazines Biuleten and Recha. He worked in the emigration for cultural and political organizations. He was a member of the Belarusian Committee of Self-leadership in Berlin. In 1943, he was removed by the Germans from the Committee in charges of conducting prohibited activities and arrested. After being released, he returned to Paris, where he was chosen the president of the Belarusian Democratic Republic in exile. He showed particular concern about the fate of Belarusian refugees. Throughout the time was under surveillance by the Gestapo because of his rumoured Jewish background and suspicion of conspiracy to the detriment of the Third Reich. After the war he was involved in international anticommunist activities.