Тарас Шевченко Quotes
Poet, painter, abolitionist
Тарас Шевченко was poet, painter, abolitionist from UA. March 9, 1814.
“Fight on, you will prevail. God helps you. Truth, strength and holy will are on your side.”— Тарас Шевченко
From the poem Caucasus, written 1845, dedicated to Yakov de Balmen killed in the Caucasian War. Published in Kobzar editions after his death.
The Story of Тарас
Born Into Bondage
March 9, 1814. Village of Moryntsi, Kyiv Governorate. Taras came into the world as property. His parents belonged to landowner Engelhardt. By age 11 he was an orphan. He herded sheep, copied icons in secret, got beaten for drawing. The serf boy who would one day shake an empire learned letters from a drunken deacon.
Bought For 2,500 Rubles
In Petersburg, painters Bryullov and Venetsianov noticed the serf sketching statues at night in the Summer Garden. They organized a lottery in 1838. Bryullov painted Zhukovsky, the portrait sold for 2,500 rubles, and Taras walked out a free man at 24. He entered the Academy of Arts that same year.
Kobzar Ignites a Nation
1840. His first poetry book Kobzar appeared in Petersburg, written in Ukrainian when the language was banned in print. Critics savaged it. Readers across Ukraine wept and memorized it. He toured his homeland in 1843, sketching ruined Cossack churches, writing poems about peasant girls destroyed by landlords.
A Voice Tsars Could Not Mute
Arrested 1847 for the Kyrylo-Methodian Brotherhood. Tsar Nicholas himself wrote on the verdict: forbid him to write and paint. Ten years in barracks. Released 1857, broken in health, dead at 47. Today over 1,250 monuments to him stand across Ukraine. Streets, universities, the highest national prize bear his name.
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