Taras Hryhorovych Shevchenko (Ukrainian: Тара́с Григо́рович Шевче́нко), 9 March 1814 – 10 March 1861, was a 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 convicted for writing works satirising the Tsar and Tsarina.
