Taras Shevchenko was an unique individual with many talents, which he used to inform people of the Ukrainians peoples plight. From early on Shevchenko indured the hardships of serfs first hand, since he himself was a serf for the early part of his life.

He saw before him the great abuses of the most elementary human rights, and he saw his duty clearly before him. He would fight oppression, slavery and exploitation of the Ukrainian people in all of its forms. And to his credit he did; notwithstanding the fact that he was born and raised as a serf, that at all times he was poverty stricken, that he was continually harried by the Russian police, and that finally he was deprived of his freedom for over ten years merely for the writing of verses, during which time he was not permitted to have even a pencil or paper in hand. But despite all these obstacles and persecutions, discouraging to any one else, he never faltered; but kept true to his principles and ideals.His indescribably beautiful and stirring poems exposed the terrible conditions under which the Ukrainian nation was suffering, and on the other hand he aroused the Ukrainian people out of their sleep and lethargy. Through the medium of his poems he awakened thoughts of liberty within the hearts of the Ukrainian people, crystallized these thoughts and finally showed the people the only road to freedom - by way of fearlessness, unity and brotherly love. He was Moses of the Ukrainian people who led them out of the wilderness. Every year Ukrainian pilgrims from all over the world come to visit Taras Shevchenko's grave at Kaniv, in his beloved Ukraine - overlooking the famed roaring, rushing and surging Dnieper. They come to pay their respects to him. Let us also in spirit make this pilgrimage to his grave, and there resolve to obey his precepts of unity, brotherly love and self-sacrifice for our fellow Ukrainians. And let us also resolve never to rest until we have achieved that for which he struggled and slaved for, that for which our ancestors sacrificed their lives and fortunes, and that which is dear to all Ukrainian people - the establishment of a free and independent state of Ukraine.

Taras Shevchenko was born in 1814 as a serf in a village in central Ukraine. Shevchenko became an orphan in 1925 when his father died. In order to get over his sorrow Taras Shevchenko spent a lot of his private time on what became his first real passion drawing. His owner P. Engelhardt noticed his talent

In the painting Kazakh Katya Taras Shevchenko portrayed a Kazakh girl holding a candle in front of a tombstone. What is unique about this painting is the fact that Shevchenko was the first famous painter to depict the everyday life of the Kazakh people. This painting gained Shevchenko a special place in the hearts of the Kazakh people so much so that he was named their first national artist.