Погруддя Тараса Шевченка / Busto di Taras Shevchenko Vyshhorod urban hromada

Taras Shevchenko (1814-1861) is an iconic figure in Ukraine. Literally: many Ukrainians have kept his portrait alongside icons in their homes for over a century now. His importance as a national poet was so high that not even the Soviet regime dared challenge him. The founder of modern Ukrainian literature and, to a large extent, of the modern Ukrainian language, Taras Shevchenko is to Ukrainians what William Shakespeare is to the English.