Ex-Chairman of the Supreme Council, heads the Party of the Belarusian Social Democratic Hramada. He lectures on political science at the universities around the world, speaking, among other things, about the political situation in Belarus.

Born on December 15, 1934 in Minsk. His parents came from an impoverished gentry. His mother Alena (Helena) Ramanouskaya belonged to the Polish branch of the Belarusian Union of Writers and wrote about the fate of the Poles in the USSR. She stopped her involment in literature due to the political conditions, she later taught language and literature at school. His father, also Stanislau Shushkevich, wrote poetry and stories for children, got published in the press. In 1936, he was sentenced to eight years in the camps for “belonging to a counter-revolutionary organization of social democrats.” In 1940  he was sentenced again. Finally he returned to Belarus from Siberia in 1956.

Shushkevich is a specialist in nuclear electronics. He is a Doctor of physical and mathematical sciences, professor, corresponding member of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus. A supporter of nuclear power plant construction in Belarus.

In 1960-61б while working at the Minsk Radio and Television plant (now Horizon), he taught the Russian language to Lee Harvey Oswald – the alleged future  murderer of John F. Kennedy.

He headed the Supreme Council (SC) of the 12th convocation (1990-1994). In 1991 he was one of the few Belarusian politicians who opposed the coup in Russia. He signed the Belavezha Accords which put an end to the Soviet Union.

He headed the government until 1994, until shortly before the first presidential election in Belarus, he was removed from the post of Chairman of Supreme Council on the basis of secret voting of deputies for alleged malpractice. In his report, Chairman of the Anti-Corruption Commission, Deputy Alyaksandr Lukashenka,  accused Shushkevich of ordering a box of nails for the construction of private house and never paying for it.

During the presidential campaign in 1994, he campaigned for integration with Europe, economic reform and military neutrality. He never again ran in the presidential race as a candidate, since he considered all the regular elections illegitimate. Despite that, he supported other candidates for presidency in 2001 – Uladzimir Hancharyk, in 2006 – Alyaksandr Milinkevich, and in 2010 – Andrei Sannikau.

In 1994 he headed the Center for Political and Economic Studies banned by the authorities of the European Humanities University, which was forced to “emigrate” to Vilnius. He taught at universities in Poland, South Korea, Japan, USA, UK, Russia, Ukraine and Canada. Winner of the Supreme Award in Lithuania – the Order of Vytautas the Great for his support of Lithuania’s independence (as the first Deputy Chairman of the Supreme Council in 1990, he arrived in Vilnius and expressed his solidarity with the Lithuanian people during the capture of the television station and the threat of dispersal of parliament). He also received a  Truman-Reagan Medal of Freedom for achievements in spreading democracy.

Married with a daughter who graduated from the conservatory, his son is a businessman. He also has a granddaughter.