Taras Shevchenko 

Taras Shevchenko, born 9 March 1814 in Moryntsi, Kyiv gubernia, died 10 March 1861 in St. Petersburg, Russia, Artist, poet, and national bard of Ukraine.

Born a serf, Shevchenko was orphaned in his early teens and grew up in poverty and misery. He was taught to read by the village precentor and was often beaten for "wasting time" on drawing, for which he had an innate talent. At the age of 14 he was taken by his owner, P. Engelhardt, to serve as a houseboy, and traveled extensively with him, first to Vilnius and then to St. Petersburg. Engelhardt noticed Shevchenko's artistic talent and apprenticed him to the painter V. Shiriaev for four years. During that period he met his compatriots I. Soshenko, Ye. Hrebinka, V. Hryhorovych, and O. Venitslavov. Through them he met the Russian painter K. Briullov, whose portrait of the Russian poet V. Zhukovsky was disposed of in a lottery, the proceeds of which were used to buy Shevchenko's freedom from Engelhardt in 1838.

Shevchenko enrolled in the Academy of Fine Arts in St. Petersburg and pursued his art studies as well as his general education. In 1840 he published his first collection of poems, "Kobzar". It was followed by the epic poem "Haidamaky" (1841) and the ballad "Hamaliia" (1844). In the 1840s Shevchenko visited Ukraine three times. Those visits made a profound impact on him. He was, furthermore, struck by the ravaged state of Ukraine.

After graduating from the Academy (1845) he became a member of the Kyiv Archeographic Commission. That position gave rise to extensive travels during which he sketched a lot, and wrote some of his most satirical and politically subversive poems ("Dream", "Caucasus" and others).

In 1846 Shevchenko came to Kyiv and joined the secret Cyril and Methodius Brotherhood. A denunciation resulted in the arrest of the members of the brotherhood. Shevchenko was arrested in 1847 and sent as a private to the Orenburg special corps in a remote area of the Caspian Sea. Tsar Nickolas I himself initiated the sentencing order preventing the prisoner from writing and painting. But Shevchenko managed to continue doing both. .

Shevchenko was released in 1857 but he was not allowed to live in Ukraine. He lived in St. Petersburg and was buried there, but two months afterward his remains were transferred to the Chernecha Hill near Kaniv. Ukraine.

Shevchenko has a uniquely important place in Ukrainian history. He created the conditions that allowed the transformation of the Ukrainian literature into a fully functional modern literature. His influence on the Ukrainian political thought and his role as an inspirer of a modern democratic ideal of renewed Ukrainian statehood are without parallel. His poetry contributed greatly to the evolution of national consciousness among the Ukrainian intelligentsia and people, and his influence on various facets of cultural and national life is felt to this day.

Shevchenko's literary output consists of one middle-sized collection of poetry ("Kobzar"); the drama "Nazar Stodolia"; two dramatic fragments; nine novelettes; and over 250 letters.

Although Shevchenko is seen mainly as a poet, he was also a highly accomplished artist. There are 835 works extant from that domain of his creativity. Another 270 are known but have been lost. Shevchenko painted over 150 portraits, 43 of them are self-portraits. He also painted numerous landscapes which recorded the architectural monuments of Ukraine. He was also very proficient in watercolor, aquatint, and etching.