ON MARCH 9 UKRAINIANS CELEBRATE THE ANNIVERSARY OF THE BIRTH OF THE GREAT TARAS SHEVCHENKO

On March 9, 1814 in the village of Morintsy, Zvenigorod province of Kyiv gubernia (now - Cherkassy region) was born an outstanding genius of Ukrainian nation, a founder of Ukrainian national idea Taras Shevchenko - a prophet, poet, artist, and philosopher.



Shevchenko has a special place in Ukrainian history: his poetry is considered to be a foundation for modern written Ukrainian and for Ukrainian literature.  Aside from his literary work, his paintings earned him many awards and a professional title from the Imperial Academy of Arts.

 In the European literature the name of Taras Shevchenko is on a par with such outstanding poets, as George Byron, Wolfgang Goethe, Dionysios Solomos, Alexander Pushkin. The poet's most great work is "Kobzar," a collection of poems:

"Who better to tell the story of Ukraine than a kobzar, one of the  country’s blind wandering minstrels that sang of its history and people? It is this iconic and entertaining figure, who walked the land and conveyed its traditions, that serves as the prism through which Taras Shevchenko composed his pioneering collection of poems, The Kobzar." 

Shevchenko's heroic way of life, as well as his prophetic words have kindled a fire in hearts of many outstanding Ukrainians, they promoted to consider own deeds and thoughts from a position of personal responsibility. His fate is closely connected with past and present of Ukrainian nation and its struggle for the right to be a master on its God-given land!

When I die, pray, bury me 

In my beloved Ukraine, 

My tomb upon a grave mound high 

Amid the spreading plain, 

So that the fields, the boundless steppes, 

The Dnieper's plunging shore 

My eyes might see, and my ears hear 

The mighty river roar. 

When from Ukraine the Dnieper bears 

Into the deep blue sea 

The blood of foes... then will I leave 

These hills and fertile fields — 

I'll leave them all and fly away 

To the abode of God, 

And then I'll pray... But till that day 

I nothing know of God.

Oh bury me, then rise ye up

And break your heavy chains 

And water with the tyrants' blood 

The freedom you have gained.

And in the great new family, 

The family of the free,

With softly spoken, kindly word 

Pray, men, remember me