Taras Shevchenko

Taras Hryhorovych Shevchenko was a Ukrainian poet, writer, artist, public and political figure, folklorist and ethnographer. His literary heritage, in particular the poetry collection Kobzar, is regarded to be the foundation of modern Ukrainian literature and to some degree also of the modern Ukrainian language. The significance of Shevchenko's creative genius for the Ukrainian and wider Slavic culture has led some to compare his figure to that of Robert Burns.