Taras Hryhorovich Shevchenko is the foremost Ukrainian poet, prose writer, painter and playwright of the 19th century. He was a major figure of the Ukrainian national revival.
Taras Shevchenko was a man of universal talent. All his life and creative work were dedicated to the people of Ukraine. The poet dreamed about the times when his country would be a free sovereign state, where the Ukrainian language, clture and history would be highly valued, and the people would be happy and free.