Taras Shevchenko

Taras Hryhorovych Shevchenko (9 March 1814 – 10 March 1861) was an Ukrainian poet, writer, artist, public and political figure, as well as folklorist and ethnographeR. His literary heritage is regarded to be the foundation of modern Ukrainian literature and, to a large extent, the modern Ukrainian language. Shevchenko is also known for many masterpieces as a painter and an illustrator. He was a member of the Sts Cyril and Methodius Brotherhood and an academician of the Imperial Academy of Arts. In 1847 Shevchenko was politically convicted for writing in the Ukrainian language, promoting the independence of Ukraine and ridiculing the members of the Russian Imperial House.