Ukrainian Poet and Artist. Also known as Kobzar Taras, or simply Kobzar, his literary heritage is regarded to be the foundation of modern Ukrainian literature and, to a large extent, the modern Ukrainian language. Born in a family of peasants, his parents died when he was a youth. He developed an interest in art and literature while working odd jobs while in servitude. In 1831 he moved to Saint Petersburg, Russia, along with his master, and in 1838 he was accepted as a student into the Academy of Arts in the workshop of Karl Briullov in the same year. The following year, he became a resident student at the Association for the Encouragement of Artists. During annual examinations at the Imperial Academy of Arts, he won the silver medal for landscape painting. In 1840 he again received the silver medal, this time for his first oil painting, "The Beggar Boy Giving Bread to a Dog." The same year, his first collection of poetry entitled "Kobzar" was published. The following year, his epic poem "Haidamaky" was released, and he was awarded his third silver medal for his painting "The Gypsy Fortune Teller." He also wrote plays, including the tragedy "Mykyta Haidai" and in 1843 he completed the drama "Nazar Stodolia." in 1847 he was politically convicted for explicitly promoting the independence of Ukraine, writing poems in the Ukrainian language, and ridiculing members of the Russian Imperial House with his poem "Dreams." He was then exiled, first by conscription into the Russian military, then later in a penal settlement at the remote fortress of Novopetrovsk, in the Mangyshlak Peninsula. While he was conscripted, he was permitted to accompany a naval expedition in the Aral Sea and tasked to sketch various landscapes around the coast. In 1857 he finally returned from exile to Russia after receiving amnesty from the new Emperor Alexander II, and two years later he was allowed to return to the Ukraine. Following another arrest on the charge pf blasphemy, he was ordered to Saint Petersburg, where he died at the age of 47. Originally interred at Smolensky Cemetery in Saint Petersburg, his body was moved to Taras Hill two months later as a fulfillment of his wish to be buried in the Ukraine. Among his other notable works include the painting "Kateryna" (1842). His image is portrayed on the Ukranian 100-hryvnia banknote and monuments have been erected to his honor in Washington DC, the Ukraine, Croatia, and Brazil.