A museum dedicated to prominent Ukrainian poet and artist Taras Hryhorovych Shevchenko has opened in the town of Kaniv in central Ukraine where he is buried.
Hanna Herman, President Viktor Yanukovych’s deputy chief of staff, said at the ceremony that Ukraine intends to recover Shevchenko’s heritage from Russia and Kazakhstan. She said Yanukovych has started talks with Russian and Kazakh officials on the possible return of Shevchenko’s works and personal belongings to Ukraine.
Shevchenko (1814 – 1861), the national bard of Ukraine, also left many masterpieces as a painter and an illustrator. He lived mainly in Russia, and spent many years in exile in what is today western Kazakhstan.
Image: Gipsy Fortune Teller by Taras Shevchenko
