Taras Shevchenko

Taras Hryhorovych Shevchenko (Ukrainian: Тарас Григорович Шевченко, Ukrainian pronunciation: [tɐˈrɑz‿ɦrɪˈɦɔrowɪt͡ʃ ʃeu̯t͡ʃɛnko]; Russian: Тарас Григорьевич Шевченко, romanized: Taras Grigoryevich Shevchenko; 9 March 1814 – 10 March 1861) was a Ukrainian poet, writer, artist, public and political figure, folklorist and ethnographer. His literary heritage, in particular the poetry collection Kobzar, is regarded to be the foundation of modern Ukrainian literature and to some degree also of the modern Ukrainian language. The significance of Shevchenko's creative genius for the Ukrainian and wider Slavic culture has led some to compare his figure to that of Robert Burns.

Shevchenko was born into a poor family of serfs during the period of Russian rule over Ukraine. In his youth, he demonstrated a talent for art and became a fellow of the Imperial Academy of Arts in Saint Petersburg. After his return to Ukraine, he joined the emerging national movement. Exiled to Central Asia due to his association with the Brotherhood of Saints Cyril and Methodius, Shevchenko continued to create art and poetry despite prohibitions, and his figure attained fame among the liberal-minded circles of the Russian Empire. He wrote poetry in Ukrainian and prose (nine novellas, a diary and his autobiography) in Russian. Freed from exile after the onset of liberal reforms of Alexander II, he was barred from settling in Ukraine and died in Saint Petersburg.